Chronology of Rwandan genocide

2004-04-07 07:44

Nairobi - The following is a chronology of the key events of Rwanda's genocide, in which up to a million people were slaughtered over 100 days in 1994.

April 6: Rwanda's President Juvenal Habyarimana is killed when his plane is shot down over Kigali as he returns from holding talks in Tanzania with Tutsi rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) commanded by Paul Kagame. President Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi is in the same plane and is also killed.

April 7: In Kigali, Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, 10 Belgian paratroopers guarding her and other top officials in a coalition government are assassinated by soldiers. Thousands of Rwandans, Tutsis for the most part, accused of collaborating with the rebels are killed by troops of the Hutu-dominated government and allied militia.

April 8 onwards: Killings spread to other parts of the country. Roadblocks are set up by soldiers and militiamen. Lists of those to be killed, mostly Tutsis (referred to as "cockroaches") but also opposition Hutus, are distributed to all levels of government. Officials and media outlets incite the general population to carry out the massacres, to loot and rape. The killing of men, women and children is done with machetes, grenades and bullets, in streets, homes, churches and schools where people had sought sanctuary.

April 11: French and Belgian troops evacuate foreign residents. RPF forces advance on Kigali.

April 12: The Hutu government abandons the capital and flees to Gitarama in the southwest. The French and Belgian embassies are closed.

April 20: The UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda is reduced from more than four thousand to 270 men.

April 30: A quarter of a million Rwandans flee the RPF advance and cross the border into Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

May 16: UN Security Council approves deployment of 5 500 peacekeepers.

May 22: RPF forces capture Kigali airport and nearby military camp.

June 22: UN Security Council backs a French military campaign, Operation Turquoise, to protect civilians against massacres. Backed by several African contingents, 2 500 French troops deploy in the southwest and around refugee camps in Zaire.

July 4: RPF takes the capital Kigali and the city of Butare.

July 14: Hundreds of thousands of Rwandan Hutus seek refuge from the RPF in Zaire, mostly around Goma and Bukavu.

July 18: RPF proclaims an end to the war that began in 1990, having taken control of the entire country.

July 19: Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, is inaugurated as president. Paul Kagame becomes vice president and defence minister in a an RPR-dominated coalition government.

- AFP