1994 genocide - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

“Rwanda’s genocide could have been prevented”

AS the world marks the 30th anniversary of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi ethnic group in Rwanda, it is important to understand what the international community could have done to prevent it. In one hundred days an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 Rwandans were killed. The Tutsi were targeted primarily due to long-standing ethnic tensions between the Tutsi minority and the majority Hutu population. Tutsi sympathisers and moderate Hutus were also targeted. As the mass killings were happening, the international community stood by in a stupor, even though the nations of the world had a legal and moral obligation to…

Apr

2024

By JONATHAN BELOFF

30 years after genocide: Rwanda’s older generations fear a return of ethnic tensions, but youth feel more united

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

IT’S 30 years since a genocide ripped through Rwandan society, leaving up to a million Tutsi and non-extremist Hutu dead. Every year in early April, the country enters a 100-day period of commemoration during which Rwandans are asked to remember and reflect on historical divisions between the country’s main ethnic groups: Tutsi, Hutu and Twa. This is done under the banner of Ndi Umunyarwanda, loosely translated as “I am Rwandan”. This post-genocide unified ideology follows the governing Rwandan Patriotic Front’s interpretation of the country’s history. It views Tutsi, Hutu and Twa as a form of socio-economic division rather than being…

Apr

2024

By PHILBERT GIRINEMA

Rwanda’s president leads genocide commemoration 30 years on

NEWS

RWANDA'S president led commemorations to mark 30 years since the 1994 genocide that killed more than 1 million people and said the conditions that led to the slaughter would never be allowed to exist again in his country's politics. Over 100 days, starting on April 7 1994, Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred by Hutu extremists, led by the Rwandan army and a militia known as the Interahamwe. Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and his wife led 37 visiting leaders at a wreath-laying ceremony at a genocide memorial in the capital Kigali that contains the remains of some 250,000 people. "Genocide…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

What happened in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide?

NEWS

FOLLOWING are some details about the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 that killed more than 1 million people. Rwanda marked its 30th anniversary. WAR: * In 1990, rebels of the Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded northern Rwanda from neighbouring Uganda. The RPF's success prompted President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, to speed up political reforms. * In August 1993, Rwanda and the RPF signed a deal to end years of civil war, allowing for power-sharing and the return of refugees. Habyarimana was slow in implementing the agreement, and a transitional government failed to take off. THE SPARK: * On April 6,…

Jun

2023

By The African Mirror

Rwanda genocide accused Félicien Kabuga is ruled unfit to stand trial: this will further erode trust in international justice

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals recently concluded a two-year court hearing on Félicien Kabuga. Kabuga is accused of crimes against humanity during the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda in 1994. The court ruled that he was not mentally fit for trial. Author JONATHAN BELOFF, Postdoctoral Research Associate, King's College London The court proposed that the tribunal judges find an “alternative procedure that resembles a trial as closely as possible but without the possibility of a conviction”. What this “alternative procedure” will look like is still not fully known. Rwanda’s ambassador to the Netherlands, Olivier Nduhungirehe, has suggested…

Jun

2023

By STEPHANIE VAN DEN BERG and CHARLOTTE VAN CAMPENHOUT

Rwandan genocide suspect unfit to stand trial

NEWS

JUDGES at a U.N. war crimes court ruled that elderly Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga is unfit to stand trial but said slimmed-down legal proceedings in his case can continue, in a decision published. The former businessman and radio station owner was one of the last suspects sought by the tribunal prosecuting crimes committed in the 1994 genocide when ruling Hutu majority extremists killed more than 800,000 minority Tutsis and Hutu moderates in 100 days. Kabuga is in his late 80s, though his precise date of birth is disputed. He was arrested in France in 2020 after more than 20…

May

2023

By BART H. MEIJER and WENDELL ROELF

Rwandan genocide suspect arrested in South Africa, to face extradition hearing

NEWS

A Rwandan man accused of ordering the killing of some 2,000 Tutsis who were seeking refuge in a church during the 1994 genocide has been arrested in South Africa, a U.N. war crimes tribunal and South African police said. Former police officer Fulgence Kayishema had been on the run since 2001 when the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) indicted him for genocide over his role in the destruction of the Nyange Catholic Church in Kibuye Prefecture. "His arrest ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes," said Serge Brammertz, prosecutor at the International Residual Mechanism for…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Freed ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero Rusesabagina leaves Kigali, reaches Qatar

NEWS

IMAD CREIDI and PHILBERT GIRINEMA PAUL Rusesabagina, who was portrayed as a hero in the film "Hotel Rwanda" about the 1994 genocide, has arrived in Qatar after being released from prison in Rwanda last week, Rwanda's government spokesperson said. Rusesabagina, a U.S. permanent resident, was sentenced in September 2021 to 25 years over his ties to a group opposed to Rwandan President Paul Kagame that has an armed wing. He was released on Friday after his sentence was commuted following months of negotiations between Washington and Kigali. Washington's historically close ties with Rwanda have been strained by Rusesabagina's detention and by U.S.…

Mar

2023

By PHILBERT GIRINEMA and AARON ROSS

Why Rwanda freed “Hotel Rwanda” hero

NEWS

THE release of Paul Rusesabagina from a Rwandan prison was the result of months of negotiations between Washington and Kigali, with both eager to draw a line under what they described as an "irritant" to their relationship. Two U.S. officials - one from President Joe Biden's administration and a Congressional aide - said no concrete concessions were made to secure the release of Rusesabagina, a U.S. permanent resident made famous by the 2004 film 'Hotel Rwanda,' about his role in saving Tutsis during the 1994 genocide. He was detained in 2019 and subsequently convicted on eight terrorism charges stemming from his leadership…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Rwandan court upholds ‘Hotel Rwanda’ hero’s 25-year sentence

NEWS

CLEMENT UWIRINGIYIMANA A Rwandan appeals court upheld a 25-year jail sentence for Paul Rusesabagina, who was portrayed in the movie "Hotel Rwanda" sheltering hundreds of people during the 1994 genocide, rejecting a bid to extend it to life in prison. Rusesabagina, 67, was convicted in September on eight terrorism charges related to the activities of an organisation opposed to President Paul Kagame's rule, and is being held in a Rwandan prison. He has denied all the charges and refused to take part in the trial, which he and his supporters have denounced as a politically motivated sham. He was not…