What were the key events leading up to the Rwanda Genocide?

Answer 1

During the period of the Arusha Accords the rhetoric of Hutu nationalism escalated. Radio stations, particularly Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), owned by top government leaders, and newspapers, began a campaign of hate and fear. They broadcast and published material referring to the Tutsi as subhuman and making veiled calls for violence. Radical Hutu groups, organized and funded by members of the government, started to amass weapons and conduct training programs. Government leaders met in secret with youth group leaders, forming and arming militias called Interahamwe (meaning "Those who stand (or fight) together" in Kinyarwanda) and Impuzamugambi (meaning "Those who have the same (or a single) goal").

On January 11, 1994 General Romeo Dallaire notified Military Adviser to the Secretary-General, Major-General Maurice Baril of major weapons cache and plans for extermination of Tutsis. Telegram stated that an informant who was top level Interhamwe militia trainer was in charge of demonstrations carried out a few days before. The goal of the demonstrations was to provoke RPF battalion in Kigali into firing upon demonstrators and Belgian UNAMIR troops to use force. Under such scenario several Belgians were to be killed which would guarantee a withdrawal of the Belgian contingent. According to the informant 1,700 Interhamwe militiamen were trained in Governmental Forces camps and he was ordered to register all the Kigali Tutsis. Dallaire informed the Secretariat about UNAMIR's planned action but maintained that the possibility of trap isn't fully excluded. The following day headquarters stated in another cable that the outlined actions went clearly beyond the mandate granted to UNAMIR under the Resolution 872. Instead, President Habyarimana was to be informed of possible Arusha Accords violations and the discovered concerns and report back on measures taken. The January 11 telegram later played important role in discussion about what information was available to the United Nations prior to the genocide.

There is evidence that the killing was well organized, and the evidence was presented at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). By the time the killing started, the militia in Rwanda was 30,000 strong — one militia member for every ten families — and organized nationwide, with representatives in every neighbourhood. Some militia members were able to acquire AK-47 assault rifles by completing requisition forms. Other weapons such as grenades required no paperwork and were widely distributed. Many members of the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi were armed only with machetes, but these were some of the most effective killers.

According to Linda Melvern, in Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwanda Genocide and the International Community, convicted war criminal Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda revealed, in his testimony before the ICTR, that the genocide was openly discussed in cabinet meetings and that "one cabinet minister said she was personally in favour of getting rid of all Tutsi; without the Tutsi, she told ministers, all of Rwanda's problems would be over. In addition to Kambanda, the genocide's organizers included Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, a retired army officer, and many top ranking government officials and members of the army, such as General Augustin Bizimungu (who is portrayed in the film Hotel Rwanda). On the local level, the Genocide's planners included Burgomasters, or mayors, and members of the police.