Author: Dr. BIZIMANA Jean Damascene

{{1.The french operation Amaryllis abandoned Tutsi in the hands of the killers}}

One hundred and ninety (190) paratroopers are dropped off in Kigali. It was the start of the operation called Amaryllis, which was deployed between April 9 and 12, 1994. The official justification for this operation was the evacuation of the French and other foreigners.

This operation took place while massacres were being systematically and massively committed in Kigali and throughout Rwandan territory. The French did not want to intervene to stop the massacres, they left several victims in front of them, who were being massacred by the FAR and the Interahamwe.

The French did not want to intervene to stop the massacres that were taking place before their eyes, especially in front of Kanombe airport, they left several victims in the hands of the killers.

Tutsis who had succeeded in getting into the trucks of French soldiers had forcibly descended at the first barrier, they were killed in front of the French soldiers.
Mixed couples between French and Rwandans are separated or left behind, European women are forced to abandon their mixed-race husbands and children. Embassy workers, mainly Tutsi, are abandoned.

Meanwhile, the French Embassy opened its doors to the family of late President Juvenal Habyarimana, members of the regime’s death squad, members of the criminal presidential circle, the Akazu said. Tutsis who tried to hang on to the gate of the French embassy were repelled and killed by the militiamen.

Employees of the Ste Agathe orphanage belonging to Agathe Kanziga, wife of the president, are evacuated, but France refuses political asylum to the children of Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, murdered two days earlier by members of the Rwandan army led by Major Bernard Ntuyahaga.

The decision to evacuate the French and other foreigners was not made after the death of President Habyarimana, or the two days that followed. French military and political officials have taken their time to analyze the situation with a view to reacting at the right time. By doing so, the French wanted to strengthen the position of the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR) in the war.

On April 9, 1994, the Habyarimana family, including Agathe Habyarimana, and several Hutu extremists who had just launched massacres against Tutsi were evacuated to the capital of the Central African Republic, Bangui, and transferred to Paris, included Felicien Kabuga and Ferdinand Nahimana.

{{2.Swearing in of the genocidal government composed by Hutu-Power extremists and led by Jean Kambanda}}

Early in the morning of April 8, 1994, Bagosora brought together leaders of political parties of the Hutu-Power tendency to form a government, all, unsurprisingly, on the side of the extremists. The composition of this government took place in the premises of the French Embassy in Rwanda.

The MRND was represented by its president Mathieu Ngirumpatse, Edouard Karemera its vice-president and Joseph Nzirorera, its secretary general; the MDR by its Hutu-Power wing leaders, Froduald Karamira, Donat Murego, the PL by, Justin Mugenzi and Agnès Ntamabyaliro. The PSD was represented by two extremists, François Ndungutse and Hyacinthe Nsengiyumva Rafiki, while the PDC was represented by Jean-Marie Vianney Sibomana, Célestin Kabanda, and Gaspard Ruhumuliza.

On the recommendation of the MRND leaders, the group decided to install Dr. Théodore Sindikubwabo, as President of the Republic. Colonel Bagosora appointed Jean Kambanda to the post of Prime Minister.

This government’s sole agenda was the coordination and spread of the genocide against the Tutsi across the country. Its members have crisscrossed the country, inciting massacres, distributing weapons to militiamen, and justifying on the international scene the criminal acts that were being committed in Rwanda.

{{3. Tutsi were killed at the Saint Vincent de Pallotti Catholic Parish in Gikondo, in Kigali.}}

On April 9, 1994, Interahamwe and soldiers from the Presidential Guard killed Tutsis who had taken refuge in the Vincent de Paloti Catholic Parish in Gikondo, these refugees were about 500. Today, UN troops witnessed the massacre of Tutsi, including many children, in this church in Gikondo. Also on that date, soldiers burnt Tutsi who had taken refuge in the village of Nyakabanda II, below the Baobab hotel.

The French daily Liberation was the first foreign newspaper to qualify these killings as genocide from the pen of journalist Jean Philippe Ceppi who was in Rwanda during these bloody massacres.

{{4. Tutsi continued to be massacred across the country: in Kibungo, Kigali, Ruhengeri, and Kibuye.}}

On that date Tutsi who had taken refuge on the hills of Murama, Murundi, Mwiri, Nyamirama and Kabare in the District of Kayonza, just like those who had taken refuge in the Catholic Parish of Kabuye in Sector Jabana, District of Gasabo, been massacred.

Interahamwe killed Tutsi in Nyagatare I Sector in Nyagatare District, as did those who had taken refuge in Zaza, in Kibungo, where since April 9, 1994, the massacres continued, and from 500 to 800 Tutsi perished.

Since April 9, 1994, Interahamwe began the massacre of Tutsis who had taken refuge in Kiramuruzi, in Gatsibo District, as well as those who had taken refuge on Nyamagumba hill in Mabanza Commune, Kibuye Prefecture. In the days that followed, more than 12,000 Tutsi were killed.

On the same day, Tutsis who had taken refuge in Nyabikenke, at the office of the former Karama Sector in the Bumbogo region, were also killed, as in several other localities, such as in Cyabingo, in Ruhengeri Prefecture, at the Rusiza Baptist Church in Kabumba, in Gisenyi Prefecture, in and around Nyundo Church, as well as in Nyundo Maternity Hospital in Gisenyi Prefecture, currently in Rubavu District.

In the locality of Kivuruga in Cyabingo commune, there were very many soldiers who arrested the Tutsi to prevent them from fleeing. Tutsis were killed both at this barrier and in Cyabingo and Busengo. The Interahamwe who had just killed them continued towards Mukinga, on the asphalt road, armed with the hands of the Tutsi whom they had cut after having massacred them; before going to Rwaza, in the former Ruhondo Commune, to go kill others.

The massacres of Tutsi continued throughout the country, with the same methods, all Tutsi had to die, many of them were killed even while trying to flee. On this date many Tutsi were killed in places of prayer and churches because people believed to find a safe refuge there.

{{Done in Kigali, on 9/4/2020

Dr. BIZIMANA Jean Damascène
Executive Secretary
National Commission for the fight against genocide
}}

In the context of remembering the victims of the Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi, the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) continues to recall the history of the Genocide, how it was implemented on a daily basis, and here- after how he was executed nationwide on April 8, 1994.

{{1. Members of the Presidential Guard and the Interahamwe joined forces to kill the Tutsi who resided in Nyamirambo}}

On April 8, 1994, Interahamwe and members of the Presidential Guard killed Tutsi in Nyamirambo, in the various places where they had taken refuge, in particular at the Catholic Parish of Saint Charles Lwanga, the convent of the Josephite brothers and the Saint André College. On the same day, the Interahamwe began to massacre the Tutsi who had taken refuge in the Catholic parish of Ruhuha, in Bugesera.

{{2. The massacre of Tutsi who had taken refuge at the place called “Kiryamocyinzovu”, in the locality of Taba}}

The massacres in Taba Commune, in former prefecture Gitarama began on April 8, 1994. The Interahamwe installed barriers at various locations including Rwabashyashya, Buguri, Gishyeshye and around the Remera hospital in Rukoma. Kubwimana Silas, chairman of the MRND in the Taba commune and very influential person, organized a meeting in Kiryamocyinzovu, and declared that the Tutsi is the enemy, that he must be denounced; he continued with the lie that the Tutsi had dug pits into which they were going to throw the bodies of the Hutu. Since April 8, the Tutsi have been gradually brought to Kiryamocyinzovu, which now bears the nickname CND, to be massacred there.

Kubwimana Silas was the head of the killers and coordinated the massacres, it was he who designated who should die: “Kill this one, save this other that I will kill myself later.” The killers came to the commune to wait for Kubwimana’s orders to go and kill. Many Tutsi came to take refuge in the commune but found there Interahamwe who were waiting for them and who had received instructions to bring them to Kiryamocyinzovu to massacre them. Some of them had been designated to kill, while others were to bury the bodies of the victims huddled in a long ditch. The weapons used to kill were clubs, hoes, and rifles.

{{3. Bourgmestre Mubiligi Jean-Napoleon of the Kamembe Commune had Tutsi killed at the Parish of Nkanka.}}

In the old Kamembe Commune, currently in Rusizi District, Tutsi were killed in the Parish of Nkanka, in the Kamembe Commune and in the locality of Busekanka. From April 8, the Tutsi began to take refuge in the Parish of Nkanka because the massacres and the burning of the houses had started in Gitwa and Murambi.

The Tutsi took refuge in the Parish of Nkanka because they had become used to finding a safe refuge there, and that the Mayor of the Kamembe Commune, Mubiligi Jean Napoléon, had declared that the Tutsi had to go to take refuge in the parish and even sent police there to protect them. But that was not what he wanted, because he wanted to know how many Tutsi there were and prevent them from being able to flee to Zaire

Bourgmestre Mubiligi Jean-Napoléon and the parish priest of Nkanka, Ngirinshuti Thaddee, organized a meeting with the leaders of the Interahamwe of Kamembe Commune and planned the extermination of the Tutsi. The day after the Interahamwe attacked the Tutsi and killed them with grenades, clubs called “nta mpongano” ie “Merciless”, machetes, swords and other weapons.

So that the Tutsi could not defend themselves during the attacks, Father Ngirinshuti Thaddee took from the Tutsi all the weapons (spears, machetes, sticks and bows with arrows) which they had carried with them, and said to them: “All refugees must not carry weapons ”. He wanted to take away all of their defenses. The police officers supposed to protect them had in a room made available to them by the parish priest, numerous rifles, grenades, which were then used by the Interahamwe who came to kill the Tutsi. In Kamembe commune, 60 Tutsis who had taken refuge there were killed.

{{4. Yussuf Munyakazi and Marcel Sebatware, who ran the CIMERWA cement factory, exterminated the Tutsi who had taken refuge in this factory.}}

In the Rusizi district, Muganza sector, Shara cell, in the former Bugarama commune, Muganza sector, the Tutsi were killed at a place called “Specialized cell”. It was the place where the infamous Yussuf Munyakazi was born. The Tutsi in this locality were unable to flee and join others with whom they could have confronted the Interahamwe and defended themselves, but rather, as of April 8, 1994, removed from their homes and brought CIMERWA to be killed there.

The director general of CIMERWA, Marcel Sebatware, originally from the Mukingo Commune and currently residing in Belgium, and the Ntawumenyumunsi technical director Jean Marie Pascal, originally from Rubavu and currently residing in Holland, have drawn up the list of Tutsis who were employed there for let them be killed, and ask the other employees to take them out and give them to the Interahamwe. This factory employed some 80 Tutsi who were almost all killed, except a few who had escaped before. It was at CIMERWA that the most terrible barrier in the Muganza Sector was installed in 1994.

{{5. Many Tutsi were killed in the locality of Buhinga, in Cyangugu}}

Buhinga is located at the intersection of the three main roads from Rusizi, Nyamasheke and Nyungwe. In Buhinga was installed a barrier guarded by many Interahamwe, including the famous Makambira, Damien alias Shitani (Satan), Muhutu who was a teacher, Gitare and Mugenzi.

At this barrier, from April 7, 1994, Tutsis who passed there to pick tea leaves were harassed and beaten, some of them were stripped naked and ordered to dance in front of their torturers. On April 8, 1994, 4 Tutsi were killed there. Tutsis whose houses had not yet been burnt down began to be massacred. The Interahamwe of the Bushekeri Sector began to surround the Tutsi of this locality.

The Tutsi from the Ruvumbu, Rundwa and Nyanza cells were also surrounded. All those who were taken were brought to Buhinga, killed and thrown into a quarry dug in Buhinga. The Interahamwe were instructed to kill Tutsis together in large numbers so that they could chase the others who were hiding.

In this career, some were thrown alive, some had been injured in the feet and arms so that once in the career they would not have the strength to rise to the surface, and would die in the worst suffering.

{{6. Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva ordered the extermination of Tutsi who resided in Nyundo}}

Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva ordered the soldiers and the Interahamwe to exterminate all the Tutsi who were in Nyundo, at the minor seminary, at the hospital, in the schools and among the population.

On April 7, 1994, Tutsi took refuge in the Nyundo seminary and were killed the same day. On April 8, 1994, the survivors went to the Diocese to join others and spent their day fighting against the Interahamwe. A group of killers entered the church with soldiers and killed the Tutsi who had taken refuge there.

A priest by the name of Deogratias Twagirayezu was the first who was killed at the minor seminary by Interahamwe from Kibilira.

Among the Interahamwe who coordinated the Nyundo massacres, there is Nkundabanyanga Fidèle, doctor, Kabiligi Stanislas, Councilor of Muhira Sector, Mpozembizi Marc, Mayor of Rubavu Commune and Father Nturiye Edouard.

{{7. Colonel Anatole Nseniyumva and LT-Colonel Alphonse Nzungize coordinated the massacres at Adventist University in Mudende}}

Part of the Adventist University of Mudende was built in the Mudende Sector, while the other was built in the Mugongo Sector, in Mutura Commune, Gisenyi Prefecture. Currently, it is in the Mudende Sector, in the Rubavu district.

During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the killers began attacking the Tutsi at their homes, which led them to take refuge in the Adventist University hoping to find a safe refuge there given the presence of foreigners who worked there. Arrived there, an American confiscated their sticks and tried to hide them in different premises.

At around 3 p.m. a group of killers attacked the university, and before this event the American hastened to surrender to the Tutsi refugees who tried to defend themselves.
Men fought with their sticks while women and girls threw stones and bricks. They repelled 3 attacks and each time the killers retreated.

On April 8, 1994, the attack was carried out by a group of soldiers from the Bigogwe military camp, and the acts of violence increased in intensity. They attacked with grenades and by firing numerous bullets, many Tutsi perished.

The killers included the mayor of the Mutura Commune, Bakiye Jean Berchmans, and other advisers and officials who incited the population to kill the Tutsi. The victims of these massacres at the University of Mudende were buried with dignity at the Kanzenze memorial, in Kanzenze Sector.

{{8. Many Tutsi were killed at the Mizingo barrier, in Mutura}}

At the place called Mizingo, in Kanyirabigogo cell, in Kanzenze sector, in Mutura commune, currently in Mizingo village, Kanyirabigogo cell, Kanzenze sector, there was a barrier led by Ntamaherezo, president of the MRND in Mutura commune. The meetings which planned the Genocide were organized at his home. Since the barrier was installed in 1990, Ntameherezo has killed or saved whomever he wanted.
At this barrier, Tutsis were assaulted until around 8 a.m. on April 8, 1994, many Tutsis were killed there, some of whom had escaped the massacres in the church of Bweramana.

{{9. In Mashyuza, Nyamyumba, and BRALIRWA, the Interahamwe killed many Tutsi}}

On April 8, 1994, 11 truck drivers were killed there who had come from different parts of the country to take loads of drinks from BRALIRWA. The Interahamwe took them out of the small hotels where they were staying to bring them to Mashyuza and kill them. The killers included Musafiri and Sibomana. The bodies of the victims were buried with dignity at the Kanzenze memorial.

{{10. Kinyinya is one of the sites where many Tutsi were killed on April 8, 1994}}

On April 8, 1994, in the Kinyinya sector, nearly 200 Tutsi took refuge on German radio Deutsche Welle because they believed they had found a safe refuge.

Two days later, soldiers from the Kami military camp asked the management of Deutsche Welle to drive the Tutsi who had taken refuge there from their buildings. The Germans were evacuated and left the guard of their buildings to their employee named Uwimfura Callixte. After leaving by plane, this employee quickly called other Interahamwe from Kinyinya to help him kill the many Tutsis who had taken refuge there. They massacred them all and there were only 3 survivors.

In the locality of Kinyinya there were, already before the outbreak of the Genocide, two renowned Interahamwe: Uwimfura who had the Tutsi killed at Deutsche Welle and Chief Warrant Officer Zirimwabagabo who was the instructor of the Interahamwe.

Zirimwabagabo when he went to a cabaret, made his dog taste his beer before sharing it with a Tutsi. When the latter refused to drink it he was beaten to have his ribs broken and become a handicapped person. Communal police are among those who killed many Tutsi in Kinyinya. So far, the Tutsi from Kinyinya who have been killed and who have been buried at the memorial are 441, but others, apparently 77, have been missing.

{{11. In Gatonde, Mugunga sector, in Ruhengeri Prefecture, Tutsis were thrown into the Mukungwa river.}}

The Tutsi who lived in Mugunga, in the former Gatonde Commune, near Ndusu, the Tutsi were thrown into the Mukungwa River at the place called Bukeri, near the Vunga shopping center and market. Bukeri is a bridge over the Mukungwa river which connects the Sectors of Shyira (Nyabihu) and Mugunga (Gakenke). From April 8 until April 22, 1994, Tutsi were gathered, tied up and thrown into the Mukungwa River; their torturers told them they were sending them to Arusha for peace negotiations. Those who were going to die were gathered on the bridge connecting the Gatonde and Ndusu Communes.

Among those responsible for these massacres, there is Councilor Nsanzubukire Ernest, Bourgmestre Nizeyimana Jean Bosco who directed the MRND in Ndusu, Nizeyimana Gaspard alias Kaguta, the Sub-prefect Nzanana Dismas, the Prefect of Ruhengeri Nsabumugisha Basile and FARABARUKA who was a prison guard.

{{12. Zigiranyirazo Protais at the head of those who exterminated the Tutsi of Kesho, Muhanda sector, in Ngororero.}}

On the hill of Kesho, called Rubaya, there are tea plantations and a tea factory. It was in the former Gaseke Commune where the Tutsi Bagogwe (near Mount Bigogwe, at the ends of the Ngororero District) defended themselves with stones and spears until they were killed on the 8 April 1994 by members of the Presidential Guard armed with firearms.

Zigiranyirazo Protais, the mayor of Gaseke Bazubahande Ignace Commune and Djaribu Anastase director of the Rubaya tea factory, coordinated the massacres in this region. On April 8, 1994, the body of the late Habyarimana was accompanied by members of the so-called Abatabazi Government and numerous soldiers who killed Tutsi.

{{13. Throughout the country, the massacres were committed with the violence of those who wanted to exterminate the Tutsi}}

Since April 8, 1994, the massacres have spread throughout the country.

In Rwankuba, in the Murambi sector, more than 500 Tutsi were killed by Interahamwe and their neighbors. The killers were led by Councilor Bizimungu Jean who rounded up the Tutsi and burned them alive.

In Kiziguro, in Rukungu, currently Ndatemwa Cell, Kiziguro Sector, in just 2 hours almost all the Tutsi who lived there had been killed. They were killed by the Interahamwe of Bishenyi and Rukunku led by Gakwerere ALoys and Muganga Manasse and others from Rugurarama, and others still sent by Byansi Valens.
On the same day, Tutsis were killed in Kaje, Rwamitereri cell, Murambi sector and in the center of Rugwiro where the Tutsi were gathered under the pretext of protecting them when in reality it was better to kill them together.

The massacres were planned by Gatete Jean Baptiste and Councilor Nkubana Jérôme.

Tutsi were killed at the orphanage, in Gakenke Cell, Kiramuruzi sector. Many Tutsis had taken refuge in this orphanage believing they were escaping death, but they were decimated and some of them were brought to the Kiziguro church to be massacred there.

Among the organizers of the massacres was Gatete Jean Baptiste, who went to his car to incite the Hutu to kill the Tutsi, Councilor Munyabuhoro Pierre Claver and other Interahamwe who were escorting him and who were led by police officers Rusagara and Deo Niyonzima.

On April 8, 1994, Tutsis who had taken refuge at the Mata tea factory in the Nyaruguru region were massacred just like those who had taken refuge on Nyawera hill, Mwiri sector, Kayonza district.

The same day, nearly 5000 Tutsi who had taken refuge in the Adventist church of Cyambara, Bigogwe sector, Gisenyi Prefecture, were massacred just like those who had taken refuge in Shyira hospital in Ruhengeri Prefecture, currently in Nyabihu district.

Also on the same day, the massacres of Tutsi began in Rutsiro Commune, in Kibuye Prefecture.

{{CONCLUSION}}

On April 8, 1994, the extermination of Tutsi continued throughout the country, all were killed regardless of age, children, old women and old men, all adults, and they were killed in the greatest suffering.

The genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi was planned, which allowed the speed of the massacres and the multiplication of the sites of the massacres.

The National Commission to Combat Genocide will continue to inform you on the way in which it has been implemented.

{{Done at Kigali 9/4/2020
Dr. BIZIMANA Jean Damascene
Executive Secretary
National Commission for the Fight against Genocide}}

It is in the perspective to help Rwandans and the International Community to be ready for this history that the National Commission for the Fight against Genocide (CNLG) continues to highlight some activities that marked the plot to prepare the Genocide against the Tutsi. The following are events that marked the period from March 29 to April 4, 1991-1994.

{{3. GENERAL DEOGRATIAS NSABIMANA CHAIRED A HIGH-LEVEL MEETING TO KICK OFF THE GENOCIDE}}

On March 29, 1993, General Deogratias Nsabimana, then chief of staff of the Rwandan armed forces chaired a meeting to streamline operations of “civil seldefense”, which aimed to incite the population to kill the Tutsi and to lie to them that they could defeat the RPF. In this meeting that brought together the leaders of the town of Kigali, top military leaders, members of the parties in Hutu-Power faction, Impuzamugambi, and Interahamwe, additional weapons that would soon be distributed to the killers were provided.

This clandestine meeting was report in the report by French deputies led by Paul Quiles in 1998 where they reported that the meeting was held in great secret, and that French had its minutes. This report by French deputies reminds that the distribution of weapons to Interahamwe militias was reported from January 22, 1992 in the telegram sent by Colonel Bernard Cussac who was a senior employee of the French embassy in Kigali where he was head of military cooperation between Rwanda and France.

In his Telegram, Colonel Cussac reported that the distribution of weapons was led by Rwanda’s the minister for interior and communal development, and carried out in prefectures of the north of the country namely, Gisenyi, Ruhengeri and Byumba; and distributed to men and young men selected by authorities while those who were given weapons were trained on their use by Rwandan armed forces.

Basing on this, Colonel Cussac confirmed that there was remarkable collaboration between government authorities, military leaders and Interahamwe; he deduced that Interahamwe would undoubtedly use the weapons to kill the people. This time around was in 1992, which clearly shows that the genocidal plan to exterminate the Tutsi is not for April 1994, it rather started years before that year.

The distribution of weapons to Interahamwe militias was recalled by General Dallaire on January 11,1994 in a Telegram he sent to the Secretary General of the United nations, Boutros-Boutros Ghali, requesting that UNAMIR be given the right to confiscate these weapons, but he was not given such right.

{{3. PRESIDENT HABYARIMANA ACCEPTED REPRESENTATION OF CDR IN PARLIAMENT IN BREACH OF ARUSHA PEACE ACCORDS }}

On March 29, 1994, president HABYARIMANA who continued to brush aside the establishment of transitional institutions as provided for by the Arusha peace Accord, despite the fact that the sponsors of Rwanda continuously put pressure on him, accepted representation of the CDR in the transitional parliament in contrary to the provisions of the Arusha Peace Accord; CDR opposed the Accord.

This shows that HABYARIMANA too was in the CDR’s plan to reject the Accord and to exterminate the Tutsi. CDR was a party that never ceased to denounce this Accord that aimed to seek solutions in peaceful ways. CDR argued that peace would only be brought by countering the Inkotanyi to force them back to Uganda in conjunction with extermination of the Tutsi.

{{3. THE PREFECT OF THE CITY OF KIGALI, COLONEL RENZAHO THARCISSE, PREPARED THE GENOCIDE IN KIGALI }}

On 30th March 1994, Colonel Tharcisse Renzaho the prefect of the City of Kigali, sent a list of people, including reservists, to be included in a so called civil self defence force to Army Chief of Staff, Colonel Déogratias Nsabimana. “Self Defence force” was a euphemism for murder squads. Renzaho’s letter followed a broadcast by Ferdinand Nahimana on 28th March 1994, in which he had called for the self-defence of the population, in preparation for the “final solution” to the “Tutsi league” which wanted to create “a Hima Empire” in countries that make up the Great Lakes Region.

This unfounded ideology is still propagated by extremist adversaries of the top leadership of Rwanda. Nahimana called on all local authorities to exhort the population to this cause, a barely veiled call for the Hutu to unite and exterminate the Tutsi.

{{4. CLADHO, A HUMAN RIGHTS UMBRELLA ORGANIZATION IN RWANDA DENOUNCED THE KILLINGS COMMITTED BY HABYARIMANA’S ARMY}}

Also on 30th March 1994, CLADHO published a press release denouncing the attacks by soldiers, including those of the Presidential Guard, and the Interahamwe. CLADHO again demanded that disciplinary measures be taken against the soldiers and demanded the disarmament of the militias.

HABYARIMANA’s regime neglected the CLADHO’s call and carried on the distribution of arms to the populations, giving them military training and inciting them to commit genocide in case the authorities would issue orders to do that. This is one add on to the many proofs that clearly show that HABYARIMANA’s government prepared the genocide and executed through its institutions.

On March 31, 1994, as UNAMIR’s mandate was nearing completion, officials of Rwandan human rights organizations and other non-governmental organizations appealed to the Security Council so ‘it “maintains” and “strengthens” UNAMIR, whose withdrawal would be interpreted as abandoning the civilian population to the worst calamities.

{{5. FRANCE CONTINUED TO SUPPORT HABYARIMANA’S GOVERNMENT WHICH WAS PREPARING GENOCIDE }}

April 2, 1993, After François Léotard, France’s defense minister announced that the RPF “is progressing towards Kigali with troops disguised in civilian clothes. “, Prime Minister Edouard Balladur, supported by President François Mitterrand, decides to strengthen the French military system in Rwanda as well as military cooperation. On April 3, 1993 -Juvénal Habyarimana receives in his residence Ambassador Georges Martres, Defense Attaché Colonel Bernard Cussac, Advisor to the FAR Chief of Staff Colonel Jean Jacques Maurin and Michel Robardey to thank them for France’s help in countering the RPF’s attack of February 8, 1993, when the RPF troops carried out a defeatful offensive to Habyarimana’s army until Shyorongi in the gateways of Kigali.

This continued support of France to the government of Rwanda led the regime to feel that it could carry on preparation for the genocide without obstacles as it was backed by a powerful country like France.

{{6. EXTREMISTS OF THE HUTU-POWER FACTION USED RTLM TO INCITE THE HUTU ON KILLING LYING THAT THEY HAD DISCOVERD THE PLAN OF THE TUTSI TO KILL THE HUTU}}

On April 3, 1994: RTLM predicted that the RPF would do “a little thing” with its bullets and grenades from April 3 to 5 and then from April 7 to 8, 1994. It was probably a “mirror accusation” according to the procedure advocated by the disciple of expert Muchiell, by which the radical Hutu claimed that the Tutsi were preparing to do what they themselves intended to do. This lie spread by RTLM increased fear among the populations and led them to wrongfully accept that the Tutsi had the plan to kill the Hutu, this led to massive participation of the population in extermination of the Tutsi. At the time, there had already been a tense environment following the lies spread by CDR and MRND parties. People who felt in danger sent their children away from Kigali, while others took refuge in safe places. When the genocide began, no place was spared, the whole country was ravaged.

On the same day, the German ambassador, speaking on behalf of the European Union, corresponds to part of his concerns regarding the increase in insecurity, the proliferation of weapons and the “unacceptable role of certain media”. He suggests that the support of the European Union would depend on the application of the Accords. It was a way to put pressure onto the Government so it could stop preparing massacres, but it did not pay off.

{{7. COLONEL BAGOSORA SAID THAT THE ONLY PLAUSIBLE SOLUTION TO RWANDA WAS GENOCIDE}}

On April 4, 1994, at a reception organized to celebrate the national holiday of Senegal, Colonel Bagosora who director of cabinet in the ministry of defense who firmly opposed the Arusha Peace Accord, announced to people that “the only plausible solution for Rwanda would be the extermination of the Tutsi”.

Among those present who confirmed Bagosora’s words in testimonies they gave to the ICTR or in different publications, were Dallaire, the commander of UNAMIR, Jacques Roger Booh-Booh who was the special envoy of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Colonel Luc Marchal, a Belgian who was commander of the Belgian contingent within the UNAMIR, he was also a deputy to Dallaire.

{{CONCLUSION}}

The above mentioned activities show that Habyarimana’s regime willingly refused to put in an application the Arusha Peace Accords because it was opposed to it. It was rather busy streamlining the implementation its genocidal plan.

They also show that some powerful countries had enough information on this evil plan to exterminate the Tutsi, but uphold support to the regime that was planning to exterminate part of its population instead of cracking it down.

Done in Kigali on March 29, 2020

{{Dr. Bizimana Jean-Damascene
Executive Secretary
National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide, CNLG.}}

{{1. PRIME MINISTER NSENGIYAREMYE DISMAS DENOUNCED THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEAPONS}}

On March 25, 1993, Prime Minister Nsengiyaremye Dismas wrote to the Minister of Defense, Dr. James Gasana, complaining about the distribution of weapons to the population then underway in the country, in the context of planning massacres under the guise of what it was called “civil self-defense”.

As he had done in writing to Defense Minister James Gasana on March 2, 1993, asking him to stop making the list of those whom Habyarimana called the accomplices of the Inkotanyi, in the same way, he denounced the distribution weapons to the population and military training for them. The population was trained to later kill the Tutsi.

The same day, Prudence Bushnell, then United States Under-Secretary of State for Africa, met with President Habyarimana in Kigali. He urged him to quickly establish a transitional government and expressed his country’s concerns over the upsurge in violence in Rwanda. On the same day, Habyarimana opposed the formation of a transitional government.

On March 26, 1994, Romeo Dallaire asked the United Nations to provide an emergency plan to provide assistance when needed.

{{2. THE MINISTER OF DEFENSE AND HIGH MILITARY OFFICERS WARN UNAMIR THAT THERE WILL BE A GENOCIDE TO BE FINISHED IN 15 DAYS}}

Minister and senior military officials warn UNAMIR that genocide could be completed in two weeks.

On 5th May 1994, in a statement before the Belgian military prosecution, investigating the murders of ten Belgian peacekeepers, Lieutenant-Colonel Jacques-Albert Beaudouin who had been in Rwanda as adviser to Rwandan Chief of Defence Staff G3 General Gratien Kabiligi, said he had heard Rwanda’s Defence Minister Gen Augustin Bizimana publicly state that there would be genocide if the RPF did not halt the war:

“a month or two before the attack, I attended an evening at General Nsabimana’s house, with the Belgian ambassador, Colonel Vincent, Colonel Marshal (UNAMIR), Colonel Le Roy, President Habyarimana, BIZIMANA (MINADEF) and a few Rwandan officers. In fact, on this occasion, it appeared or rather it was reaffirmed that ARUSHA could not be accepted by Rwandans. BIZIMANA told me, after a few glasses of champagne, that he was ready to engage the Rwandan army if the RPF did not play the game.

Ten days before the attack, on the last Friday of March, Colonel Vincent [Head of the Belgian Military Cooperation in Rwanda] invited General Nsabimana and G3 Colonel Kabiligi to his house and at that meeting, they still clearly asserted that Arusha was not possible, that eventually, they would accept early elections and that if they wanted to impose ARUSHA, they could eliminate the RPF and the Tutsi and it would take a maximum of two weeks. They seemed safe from them”.

{{3. Ferdinand NAHIMANA ASKED THE HIGH AUTHORITIES TO COLLABORATE WITH LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO MOBILIZE THE POPULATION TO COMMIT GENOCIDE}}

On March 28, 1994, Ferdinand Nahimana circulated to members of the elite his “self-defense” proposal, previously circulated in February 1993, and requested that suggestions be made to provide a “final solution” to the problems at hand. In it, he called for national unity, condemned the “Tutsi league” in his intention to create a “Hima empire” and urged the elite not to remain “unaffected”, but to work with local administrators to alert the population to the dangers of war.

{{4. THE DIPLOMATIC CORP CALLED ON PRESIDENT HABYARIMANA TO APPLY THE PEACE AGREEMENTS.}}

On March 28, 1994, Habyarimana again opposed the establishment of the transitional government.

Solemn appeal of the diplomatic community, gathered at the French Embassy, in favor of the application of the peace agreements, signed by J.-R. Booh-Booh, the Apostolic Nuncio and the ambassadors of France, Belgium, the USA, Germany, Tanzania, Zaire, Uganda, and Burundi. ]

The undersigned request the Governement of Rwanda to settle their differences and to apply the agreements. They demand that all the political parties approved in Rwanda on the date of signing of the power-sharing protocol and the RPF be represented in the transitional institutions.

They recommend the establishment of a commission on National Unity and Reconciliation which will ensure that each party respects the principles of the code of political ethics.

{{CONCLUSION}}

A few weeks before the outbreak of the Genocide against the Tutsi, Habyarimana and senior military officials publicly stated that they were going to exterminate the Tutsi and that they were opposed to the implementation of the Arusha peace accords.

The diplomatic community tried to convince Habyarimana to apply the peace agreements, but he showed them that these agreements had no value and warned them that he was ready to commit the Genocide.

Kigali, 22nd March 2020

{{Dr Bizimana Jean Damascène
Executive Secretary, CNLG}}

{{1. FRANCE SENT A SPECIAL UNIT CALLED “DAMI PANDA” TO SUPPORT THE GOVERNMENT OF HABYARIMANA IN FIGHTS}}

On March 15, 1991, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs transmitted a telegram to the Ambassador of France to Rwanda, Georges Matres, informing him that France has set up a special unit DAMI PANDA to support the army of Rwandan government fighting against RPF Inkotanyi; he was also asked to inform President Habyarimana of this decision.

The telegram explained that “This unit of about thirty men will be devoted to the training of the Rwandan army units with which it will be placed”. And concluded: “We do not intend to officially announce the establishment of DAMI. You will tell President Habyarimana that we would like him to do the same. ”

Members of this French special unit were sent to the military camps of Bigogwe, Gabiro and the town of Ruhengeri to train recruits there, while in Ruhengeri training was carried out in the buildings of the University of Nyakinama.

Soldiers from DAMI PANDA also trained military intelligence in the para-commandos of the CRAP (Search and Action Deep Commandos) unit of the Rwandan army. This unit carried out infiltrations in the localities in the hands of the RPF to collect the information which would allow the Rwandan army to carry out military operations there with a view to retaking these localities. The members of this unit were chosen from the Kanombe para commando battalion.

This battalion was commanded by Major Aloys Ntabakuze, who came from the Karago Commune, in Gisenyi Prefecture, and was trained by French military experts under the orders of Commander Grégoire De Saint Quentin. Members of the para commando battalion participated in the Genocide, especially in the city of Kigali.

They used the techniques learned by the French to kill the Tutsi. On May 8, 2012, Major Aloys Ntabakuze was sentenced to 35 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for the massacres committed by members of the para commando battalion he commanded. At first instance, Ntabakuze was sentenced on December 18, 2008, to life imprisonment.

{{2. THE RWANDAN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES HAVE ORDERED TO TRAIN YOUTH MILITARILY}}

On March 18, 1991, the head of the intelligence service in Ruhengeri Prefecture, Munyangoga Eugene, sent his director general in Kigali a report in which he suggested distributing weapons to the people of Ruhengeri.

In this report, Munyangoga affirmed that the young people between 18 and 25 years old are robust and that they should receive military training, an operation which had to be coordinated by the local authorities: mayors, advisers and cell heads. According to the report, after their training, young people should return to their areas of origin, receive weapons but continue to put on civilian clothes.

Munyangoga also planned this operation in the communes close to the border between Rwanda and Uganda, that are Kinigi, Nkumba, Kidaho, and Butaro, by specifying the sectors mainly concerned in the following way:

– Kinigi Commune: Nyarugina, Bisate, Kanyamiheto, Nyabisinde, Kabwende, Kagano, and Gasiza;
– Nkumba Commune: Gatete, Musanzu, Rutambo;
– Kidaho Commune: Gitaraga, Burambi, Cyanika, Butenga, and Kagogo;
– Commune Butaro: Rugendabase, Rutovu, Kandoyi, Butandi, and Buhita.

For the first time, Munyangoga used the term “militia” to designate this youth, saying that it will be useful for the government and the army, which will not cost the state much at the moment. that these young people will not receive wages. He asked that this youth be entrusted to the command of the Rwandan army which will use it in due course.

He added that “the operation would fight against the Inkotanyi who used to infiltrate at night to rob and kill, which they will be reluctant to do if they learn of the presence of armed and militarily trained young people in the population”.

This report also affirms that this operation was to begin in Ruhengeri, and, after evaluation, continue in all the other prefectures of Rwanda, starting from those which are close to the borders of north and the East, i.e. Gisenyi, Byumba and Kibungo. The document ends by suggesting that the bourgmestres should be mobilized for this operation, and collaborate with army commanders to quickly implement it.

This operation was indeed carried out because the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi militias, full of hatred for the Tutsi, were created across the country, and were trained militarily to assist the soldiers and the gendarmes in the extermination of Tutsi everywhere country.

{{3. THE GOVERNMENT OF HABYARIMANA HARASSED THE BELGIAN UNAMIR CONTINGENT, WITH THE PURPOSE TO FORCE THEM TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY IN ORDER TO PERPETRATE THE GENOCIDE EASIER}}

On March 22, 1994, Georges Ruggiu, A Belgian broadcaster on RTLM, warned that “the Belgians wanted to impose an RPF government of bandits and killers on Rwanda, and that the Belgian ambassador had prepared a coup”.

This kind of lies was broadcasted on RTLM and Radio Rwanda, as part of the planning of the Genocide, to provoke the departure of the Belgian contingent, and thus deprive UNAMIR of the Belgian soldiers who were among the best armed.

Habyarimana’s government used these kinds of tricks to be able to carry out the Genocide against the Tutsi without any witnesses. The Belgian government had started to denounce the massacres carried out by the Habyarimana regime and the role of president Habyarimana who never wanted the implementation of the Arusha peace agreements.

Ruggiu called on the Belgians to wake up and return to their country, otherwise, they would be faced with a “merciless” war and “limitless hatred”.

{{4. HABYARIMANA EMPTIED OF ITS SUBSTANCE THE ARUSHA PEACE AGREEMENTS}}

UNAMIR noted that in March 1994, large quantities of ammunition had been smuggled from the armories of the Kanombe military camp and distributed without the knowledge of UNAMIR to the various military camps in the interior of the country, especially that of Gitarama. These arms distributions were aimed at preparing for war, fight against the Arusha peace agreements and distributing the weapons that will be used during the Genocide.

Belgian adjudant Benoit DAUBIE, who was responsible for the maintenance of weapons at the Kanombe military camp, testified before the Belgian military auditor: “I had access to all the ammunition stores in Kanombe before the attack. (…) A large part of the deposit had been emptied of its content. The quantities of ammunition extracted were very large. I take as an example the distribution of 1000 mortar shells of 120 mm on Gitarama. About 20% of the ammunition remained in the depot. It was about a month before the Habyarimana plane bombing and it took a whole week for transportation. AFAR lieutenant told me that it was in preparation for an RPF attack, but I personally believe that this action was done to escape the control of UN observers. I know that the figures provided by the FAR headquarters to the United Nations were false because they did not take into account what had been distributed in mass. The only thing that mattered was the almost empty store. Many movements of ammunition were made during the night revealed to me German military cooperation. ”

The purpose of hiding weapons from UNAMIR was to prevent them from controlling their use so that the Rwandan army could use them for massacres that could not be prevented by UNAMIR, whose mandate required it to focus mainly on the city of Kigali.

{{CONCLUSION}}

Habyarimana planned the Genocide in collaboration with the army, leaders of the MRND and CDR, the media and other high institutions in the country, especially the intelligence services.

To plan the Genocide, Habyarimana used the institutions to incite the population to hate UNAMIR, especially the Belgian contingent, in order to carry out the Genocide in the greatest silence.

Habyarimana used all the tricks to propagate hatred of the Tutsi, to train the population militarily, to distribute weapons and to oppose the implementation of the Arusha peace agreements.

{{Kigali, 15th march 2020
Dr. Bizimana Jean-Damascène,
Executive Secretary}}

ASSASSINATION OF 277 TUTSI IN THE PREFECTURES OF GISENYI AND RUHENGERI

In January 1991, an international commission of enquiry under the Federation of Human Rights Leagues was conducted in the Gisenyi and Ruhengeri. In all, there were ten experts on the committee: Jean Carbonare (France), chairman of the group; Philippe Dahinden (Switzerland); René Degni-Ségui (Côte d’Ivoire); Alison Des Forges (United States of America); Eric Gillet (Belgium); William Schabas (Canada); Halidou Ouedraogo (Burkina Faso); André Paradis (Canada); Rein Odink (Netherlands) and Paul Dodinval (Belgium).

The committee found several unmarked graves in these prefectures. Examination of the bodies found that they were mostly young men, and most of them had multiple fractures to the face and skulls, caused by blunt instruments. In month of March 1991 alone, 277 bodies were found. The victims were Tutsi Bagogwe.

These massacres had taken place in different communes of Ruhengeri, and Gisenyi, including, Nkuli, Kinigi, and Mukingo in Ruhengeri, Gaseke, Giciye, Karago, Mutura, Kanama, Rwerere in Gisenyi.

The Commission concluded that the local civilian and military authorities, including Charles Nzabagerageza, the prefect of Ruhengeri and Côme Bizimungu of Gisenyi, were involved in the killings, as were the mayors of the respective communes. Prefect Nzabagerageza was particularly close to President Habyarimana. Both he and the President were cousins, and he was married to the cousin of the wife of the president, Agathe Kanziga. According to the commission, other highly placed officials had been directly involved in the Bagogwe massacres. They included Joseph Nzirorera, a Government minister, Colonel Elie Sagatwa, adviser to President Habyarimana, and Protais Zigiranyirazo, son in law to the President, and an influential figure.

According to a secret report by the Rwandan intelligence services of the time, the killings had begun as early as 1990, following the launch of the liberation struggle by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF). In Ngororero district alone, 362 people had been massacred.

MASSACRES OF TUTSI IN BUGESERA

On 3rd 1992, journalist Jean Baptiste Bamwanga, broadcast a report, claiming that a document purportedly drawn up by the RPF, detailing high level figures in the Habyarimana government targeted for assassination.

In the report, Bamwanga claimed that the piece of paper had been found on the premises of Tutsi shop keeper, Francois Gahima, one of the may alleged accomplices of the RPF with whose help the assassinations would be carried out. Coincidently, Gahima was also the local president of the opposition Liberal Party (PL).

There had been on such document. Bamwanga had acted on the orders of Ferdinand Nahimana, the then director of Rwanda Information Office (ORINFOR), the country’s broadcasting service. The supposed discovery of the RPF drawn up document was a pretext to begin wholesale murders of Tutsi.

Following the broadcast on the night of 4th to 5th March 1992, a combination of Interahamwe militias, soldiers of the Gako military camp, and soldiers from the Presidential Guard begun the systematic massacre of Tutsi in the area. By the end of the murderous rampage, 300 Tutsi had been massacred, their properties destroyed or despoiled.

Figures published by a Kigali prefecture commission on May 5, 1992 indicated that the killings had resulted in the following victims and damage:

People massacred: 62
Dwelling houses burnt: 309
Kitchens burned: 573
Livestock disappeared: 165 cows, 268 goats and 2 pigs.

In the Ngenda commune:
people massacred: 36
residential houses burnt: 74
kitchens burned: 119
Livestock disappeared: 112 cows, 111 goats and 16 pigs.

In Gashora Commune:
people massacred: 84
dwelling houses burnt: 216
kitchens burned: 288
Livestock disappeared: 188 cows, 325 goats and 28 pigs.

According to this report details that Bugesera had 26, 837 Tutsi, the majority of them, 22, 483 in Kanzenze Commune, out of a total population of 53, 279. The report found that 16, 239 Tutsi had fled their homes to seek refuge in different administrative centres and Church buildings, in Nyamata, Maranyundo, Ruhuha, Musenyi, Karama, Gitagata, Mayange, Rango, Ntarama, Murago, Kigusa, Kayenzi.

The commission was composed of:

– François Karera, Sub-prefect, president;
– Dancille Mukarushema, Sub-prefect at the prefecture of Kigali;
– Djema Gasana, sub-prefect of Kanazi Sub-prefecture (Nyamata);
– Gratien Mwongereza, vice-president of the Nyamata Court of First Instance;
– Daniel Shumbusho, deputy public prosecutor at the Nyamata prosecution;
– Dominique Muhawenimana, head of the intelligence service in the Kanazi sub-prefecture;
– Bernard Gatanazi, interim mayor of Kanzenze.

From its composition by the only members of the agents of the State, some of whom had been clearly implicated in the massacres, it is clear that it could not be neutral.

Among the senior officials responsible for the assassinations of Tutsi at Bugesera, we can cite:

– Minister of the Interior and Communal Development Faustin Munyazesa who supported the plan of the massacres because he did not punish the criminal authorities who were under his responsibility;
– The Minister of Justice, Mathieu Ngirumpatse, who did not take the necessary measures to prosecute the perpetrators of the massacres;
– Prefect Emmanuel Bagambiki who led meetings which prepared the massacres;

– The sub-prefect Faustin Sekagina of Kanazi who seconded the prefect Bagambiki;

– The mayor of Kanzenze Fidèle Rwambuka, direct supervisor of the massacres;

– Colonel Pierre-Célestin Rwagafirita, chief of staff of the gendarmerie, for failing to deploy gendarmes to put an end to the abuses and safeguard the security of property and people;
– Colonel Venant Musonera, commander-in-chief of the Gako military camp, whose soldiers were heavily involved in the massacres;

– Ferdinand Nahimana, director of ORINFOR;

– Jean-Baptiste Bamwanga and Jean-Baptiste Nubahumpatse, journalists of Radio Rwanda who respectively read on Radio Rwanda the press release as direct and public incitement to the massacres;

– Dominique Muhawenimana, head of the intelligence service in Kanazi sub-prefecture, who spread lies that the Tutsi – especially the Liberal Party (PL) leaders in Nyamata, including Gahima – intended to exterminate the Hutu;

– The first deputy of the Nyamata prosecutor, Déogratias Ndimubanzi, was also denounced by human rights associations and by the private press for having participated in the Bugesera massacres.

INTENSIFICATION OF TUTSI MASSACRES IN THE MBOGO COMMUNE, KIGALI RURAL PREFECTURE

The commune of Mbogo, current District of Rulindo, experienced bloody massacres of Tutsi in 1992, but in February-March 1993 they became widespread in order to systematically kill well-targeted Tutsi families, especially in the Ruhanya sector, Bukoro cell. During the nights of February 25, 26 and 27, 1993, the family of old Gatanazi was attacked. Eight people were burned alive in their homes. Only two children survived, Antoine Kabanda and his sister Vénantie Gasengayire. The victims were: Michel Gatanazi, an 80-year-old man, Charlotte Kabanyana, wife of Antoine Kabanda, Agnès Gatanazi Kamurenzi, 74 years old, Tharcisse Nilingiyimana, Félix Niyibizi, 6 years old, Olive Nyirahene, granddaughter of Gatanazi (one of Kabanda’s four children), Jacqueline Tuyizere and Béata Uwingabire.

Apart from Gatanazi’s family from Mbogo commune, other Tutsi were killed during the night of March 1 to 2, 1993. The victims were Jean Habimana’s wife, Catherine Mukamana; her child Muganajabo, 4 years old; her infant Ndayambaje, 9 months; Nyirabandi, 62; Uzayisenga, daughter of Habimana, born in 1958; Donata Musabyimana, sister of Habimana and Mushatsi, son of Habimana, born in 1986. The only survivor of this family was the son of Habimana, born 1990, but he was gravely burned and injured.

After the Gatanazi family massacre, the mayor of Mbogo commune, Vincent Twizeyimana, was informed, but he never went to the massacre site to bury the victims. Even the neighbors let the bodies decompose in the open air. The sector councilor and the head of the cell were not affected at all by this barbarity. Alerted by human rights associations and journalists who had gone to investigate the massacre, the bodies were buried by other Tutsis who had come from Shyorongi where they had taken refuge.

Senior authorities from Mbogo commune were at the head of the planners of these killings, including: Major and member of the national assembly Stanislas Kinyoni, member of the MRND, the bourgmestre of Mbogo Vincent Twizeyimana and the sub-prefect Alexis Kanyamibwa who headed the sub-Murambi prefecture in which Mbogo commune was located.

Intellectuals from Ruhengeri and Byumba invent a plan of genocide against the Hutu with a view to mobilizing for the extermination of the Tutsi

On March 4, 1993, intellectuals from Byumba and Ruhengeri signed a mobilization document for Hutu from the northern region, which they entitled: “Distress call for nationals of the disaster areas of Ruhengeri and Byumba”. Its authors were: Charles Ndereyehe Ntahontuye, Jean-Bosco Bicamumpaka, Faustin Musekura, Phocas Kayinamura, Christophe Ndangali and Stanislas Sinibagiwe. The document was also signed by the prefect of Ruhengeri, Baliyanga Sylvestre and that of Byumba, Bizimana Augustin. The document reproduced the content of the minutes of a meeting held in Kigali on March 4, 1993, which brought together several nationals of the prefectures of Ruhengeri and Byumba, as well as their prefects.

In this document, the RPF is completely demonized of all evils and an appeal is launched for civil self-defense, which means putting in place the instruments to kill those who were qualified by extremists as the country’s enemies, namely the Indiscriminately Tutsi and opponents of the regime.

To push the population of the northern region of the country to support this hatred that these intellectuals were disseminating, they would on the negative effects of the war, the displacement of populations, to lie that the RPF is preparing a genocide against the Hutu. This lie would play an important role in the conscience of the Hutu populations in order to participate in the extermination of the Tutsi, in particular among the displaced people from Nyacyonga who played a crucial role in the genocide against the Tutsi since April 1994.

Here is the essence of the message that the minutes revealed:
“The RPF wants at all costs to take power by force of arms and to purely and simply annex Rwanda to Uganda in order to realize the Machiavellian dreams of Museveni and to erect a Hamite empire in the interlacustrine region. The Inkotanyi are part of the Ugandan army. It was Uganda that attacked us. (…) The Banya-Ruhengeri and the Banya-Byumba regret that, since October 1, 1990, the Rwandan government has not denounced the responsibility of Uganda in this conflict.

Political, administrative and other officials must take all necessary measures to make Rwandans aware of the gravity of the situation and to feel fully involved in the defense of the country.

There is a need to mobilize the population to provide defense and civil protection in order to guarantee national sovereignty. (…) There is a genocide taking place which prevents the children of Ruhengeri and Byumba from continuing their studies because of the war. This intellectual genocide cannot continue. ”

A GROUP OF RWANDAN ACADEMICS FROM BUTARE SUPPORT THE GENOCIDE IDEOLOGY

On 1st March 1993, a group of mainly academics and staff from various institutions working in Butare issued a press notification, condemning the ongoing peace talks between the government and the RPF at Arusha. The group had been formed earlier in 1992. It was made of University lecturers, and their students, academic researchers, and employees from various institutions based in Butare.

The group demanded that the French military be kept in Rwanda, noting French support for the Rwanda government both in Rwanda, and internationally. They claimed that RPF fighters were not Rwandans, rather that the country had been attacked by Uganda. They repudiated the RPF’s identity as Rwandans.

On 1st March 1993, the group sent a letter to President François Mitterrand of France, asking that the French military remain in Rwanda. The letter was signed by 34 University lecturers, 30 different members of the University staff, 12 researchers, and staff from the Institute for Research and Technological Sciences (IRST), 14 teachers from Groupe Scolaire Officiel de Butare, in which they sought the retention of his soldiers in Rwanda. The letter was signed by 34 University lecturers, 30 University staff, 12 researchers and agents from the Institute for Research and Technological Sciences (IRST), 14 teachers from Groupe Scolaire Butare, 25 from other public administrative departments in the town of Butare and nearly 300 students.

The vast majority of these intellectuals were actively involved in the genocide committed against the Tutsi in 1994.

PREPARATIONS FOR GENOCIDE INTENSIFIED.

The reports from foreign embassies in Rwanda in 1994 show that the month of March saw increased incitement to genocide. In a telex sent on 1st March Belgian Ambassador to Rwanda, Johann Swinnen, informed Belgian authorities of broadcasts on the extremist Radio Television Libre de Mille Collines (RTLM) which were “inflammatory statements calling for hatred, even the extermination of the other part of the population”.

A document from the Belgian intelligence services dated 2nd March 1994 cited an informant from the ruling MRND who had revealed to the Belgian authorities that the MRND had drawn up a plan for the extermination of Tutsi in Kigali should the RPF open hostilities. According to the informant, “If things go wrong, the Hutu will massacre them without mercy” adding that “regional divisions no longer exist and the morale of the army has never been so high”.

On 3rd March 1994, Major Podevijn of UNAMIR informed his commander, General Romeo Dallaire, that weapons had been distributed to the militia in the Gikondo neighbourhood, one of the most important areas of support for CDR. On 10th March, UNAMIR discovered several quantities of heavy weapons destined for the Rwandan army and, reported increased recruitment of militia and military personnel. Dallaire requested authorization from the UN to seize these weapons, and asked for reinforcements for the peacekeepers. He never got a response.

CONCLUSION

The acts of violence committed against the Tutsi during the two years preceding the genocide were perpetrated in different regions of the country, which demonstrated that the genocide could be executed throughout Rwanda without any constraint.

Those who planned the genocide had their time to mobilize the population to commit the genocide, especially through Radio Rwanda, Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) and the newspaper Kangura.

When the planning of the genocide became evident to the international community, it did nothing to prevent it, instead, some countries continued to support the government which planned the genocide by supplying it with weapons and speaking on behalf of the international community.

Kigali, 2nd march 2020

{{Dr. Bizimana Jean-Damascène
Executive Secretary}}