Friday, June 17, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Une résistante au Rwanda
La principale opposante à l’autocrate Paul Kagame est en prison. Un responsable de l’opposition parle.
Frédéric Pons le jeudi, 16/06/2011
dans
Version imprimable
Envoyer à un ami Présidente depuis 2006 des Forces démocratiques unifiées (FDU-Inkingi), le principal mouvement d’opposition au régime auto cratique rwandais, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza travaillait dans une multinationale aux Pays-Bas où cette économiste polyglotte (elle parle kinya rwanda, français, néerlandais, anglais) coordonnait les services comptables de vingt-cinq filiales.
En janvier 2010, elle décidait de revenir à Kigali pour « libérer le pays de l’emprise autoritaire et militaro-sectaire du FPR », le parti de Paul Kagame, président au pouvoir depuis 1994. Jetée en prison de façon arbitraire le 14 octobre 2010, d’abord mise au cachot dans des conditions déplorables, elle n’a pas pu recevoir la visite de son mari ni de ses trois enfants. Dans ce pays où les autorités continuent d’accuser des responsables français de “complicité avec le génocide de 1994”, Victoire est une opposante politique que Kigali voudrait faire taire définitivement. Le Dr Emmanuel Mwiseneza, un des responsables des FDU, nous explique son sort cruel, qui ne semble guère émouvoir les défenseurs autoproclamés des droits de l’hommeQuel est l’état de santé de Victoire Umuhoza ? L’ambassadeur des Pays-Bas au Rwanda, Frans Makken, lui a rendu visite le 1er avril. Son état physique et moral est plutôt bon. Elle reste déterminée, malgré une évidente détérioration de sa santé.
Que lui reproche le régime ? Victoire est une prisonnière politique et le pouvoir essaie de justifier son incarcération par des motifs criminels : terrorisme, atteinte à la sûreté de l’État, révisionnisme et idéologie génocidaire, divisionnisme et complicité dans des actes visant à renverser un gouvernement… Le gouvernement dit vouloir en finir avec cette « hooligan que les Occidentaux veulent placer à la tête du pays », et le parquet général requiert la perpétuité. Les journaux du pouvoir ne lésinent sur rien pour l’accabler. Tous ses discours ont été déformés, à commencer par celui au mémorial de Gisozi, où elle avait déclaré vouloir s’incliner devant les victimes du génocide tutsi de 1994, demandant aussi que les victimes hu tues puissent être commémorées.
Y a-t-il d’autres prisonniers politiques ? Beaucoup, mais certains ont disparu et personne ne sait où ils sont emprisonnés. Tous les présidents des partis d’opposition sont incarcérés et d’autres ont été assassinés, dont des journalistes.
La communauté internationale est-elle indifférente ? Nous avons l’impression que, malgré quelques réserves çà et là, elle soutient toujours ce régime dictatorial, sans trop exiger en retour. L’opposition n’est pas suffisamment soutenue dans son combat pour l’État de droit et la démocratie. Réguliè rement accusée par le régime d’avoir soutenu l’ancien gouvernement, la France n’ose plus se montrer critique. Elle semble être aux abonnés absents. La Belgique, l’ancienne puissance de tutelle, semble elle aussi hantée par le retrait de ses militaires au début du génocide. Pour des intérêts de très court terme, d’autres puissances ne semblent pas avoir pris la mesure de la gravité de la situation.
Peut-on parler d’abandon ? Au moment où la communauté internationale se mobilise contre certains dictateurs, l’opposition rwandaise aurait aimé plus de soutien. Les condamnations des assassinats de journalistes ou d’hommes politiques restent très timides. Les crimes avérés contre l’humanité, révélés par le rapport d’enquête et d’évaluation du Haut Commissariat des droits de l’homme de l’Onu sur les violations graves perpétrées au Zaïre puis en RDC, entre mars 1993 et juin 2003, ne sont condamnés que du bout des lèvres. Ce régime conserve des soutiens inconditionnels qui, même devant l’évidence, refusent d’ouvrir les yeux.
Quelle peut être la suite ? Nous savons qu’il nous revient, à nous Rwandais, d’imposer le changement. Notre combat se poursuivra jusqu’à la libération de Victoire Ingabire. Nous continuerons aussi de demander l’enregistrement de notre formation, la reconnaissance de l’opposition, la révision de la Constitution, la définition claire de certaines accusations utilisées à tort et à travers pour museler l’opposition. Nous demandons le droit de mémoire pour tous, une justice équitable et la réconciliation nationale, qui doit commencer par un vrai dialogue inter-rwandais. Propos recueillis par Frédéric Pons
Photo © SIPA
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Kayumba Nyamwasa yiteguye kwiregura
Ibiherutse kuvugururwa: 15 ukwa gatandatu, 2011 - 16:39 GMT
Kayumba Nyamwasa
Kayumba Nyamwasa aravuga ko yiteguye kwiregura ku kirego kimaze kugezwa mu rukiko rukuru rw'Afurika y'epfo n'ikigo cyo muri Afurika y'epfo kirega leta y'icyo gihugu ko yahaye Nyamwasa ubuhungiro mu buryo bunyuranye n'amategeko.
Southern Africa Litigation Centre iravuga ko kubera ibyaha bikomeye Nyamwasa aregwa Nyamwasa atari akawiye guhabwa ubuhungiro muri Afurika y'epfo.
Mu kiganiro na BBC Gahuzamiryango, Nyamwasa yavuze ko ari byiza ko ukuri kujya ahagaragara ku byaha aregwa muri Espaigne n'Ubufaransa.
Yavuze ko afite icyizere cy'uko leta itazamwambura ubuhungiro kuko yabumuhanye ibanze gusuzuma neza impamvu yahunze u Rwanda.
Kayumba Nyamwasa
Kayumba Nyamwasa aravuga ko yiteguye kwiregura ku kirego kimaze kugezwa mu rukiko rukuru rw'Afurika y'epfo n'ikigo cyo muri Afurika y'epfo kirega leta y'icyo gihugu ko yahaye Nyamwasa ubuhungiro mu buryo bunyuranye n'amategeko.
Southern Africa Litigation Centre iravuga ko kubera ibyaha bikomeye Nyamwasa aregwa Nyamwasa atari akawiye guhabwa ubuhungiro muri Afurika y'epfo.
Mu kiganiro na BBC Gahuzamiryango, Nyamwasa yavuze ko ari byiza ko ukuri kujya ahagaragara ku byaha aregwa muri Espaigne n'Ubufaransa.
Yavuze ko afite icyizere cy'uko leta itazamwambura ubuhungiro kuko yabumuhanye ibanze gusuzuma neza impamvu yahunze u Rwanda.
Major Events in Rwandan History
Chronology of Events in Rwanda
1880s: The first European explorers arrive in Rwanda.
1899: Germany establishes rule in Rwanda-Urundi and the territory becomes part of German East Africa. The first missionaries arrive.
1910: The frontiers of the Belgian Congo, British Uganda and German East Africa – including the territory of Rwanda-Urundi – are fixed at a conference in Brussels.
1911: A popular uprising in northern Rwanda is crushed by the German Schutztruppe and Tutsi chiefs, leaving continuing bitterness among northern Hutu.
1916: Belgium takes over the territory, which after the First World War is administered under a League of National mandate.
1930s: A process of “Tutsification” results in a monopoly of political and administrative power in the hands of Tutsi. Ethnic classification through the introduction of identity cards.
1957: The Bahutu Manifesto, a document criticizing the Tutsi Monopoly, is issued by nine Hutu intellectuals.
1959: The jacquerie takes place – a social revolution by the Hutu population supported by Belgium. Tens of thousands of Tutsi flee into exile.
1960: Rwanda’s first local elections result in an overwhelming victory for the Parinmehutu party.
1961: The monarchy is formally abolished by referendum. On 25 September, the first parliamentary elections in Rwanda are held; Parmehutu receives 78% of the vote.
1962: On 1 July, Rwanda and Burundi gain independence from Belgium. The first President of independent Rwanda is Gregoire Kayibanda from the Parmehutu party.
1963: Armed attacks by Tutsi exiles from Burundi, the so-called invenzi deepen ethnic tension in Rwanda. In the violence, which escalates in November-December, some 10000 Tutsi are killed and there is a new wave of Tutsi refugees to Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Zaire.
1973: Coup d’etat; Major-General Juvenal Habyarimana assumes power. He founds a new party, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (Mouvement Revolutionaire National pour le Developpement, MRND). Beginning of the Second Republic.
1978: MRND becomes Rwanda’s only party under a new constitution. Habyarimana is confirmed as President in 1978, 1983, and 1988, with more than 99% of the vote.
1987: A military coup takes place in Burundi, President Bagaza is overthrown and Major Pierre Buyoya takes power.
1988: In April, ethnic tensions in Burundi cause a wave of refugees into Rwanda. In connection with a conference on Rwandan refugees, held in Washington D.C., the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) is founded.
1990
July: A first breakthrough in negotiations between Rwanda, Uganda and UNHCR on the repatriation of Rwandan refugees in Uganda is achieved.
1 October: Uganda-based RPF invades the northern parts of Rwanda, demanding the right to settle
thousands of (mainly Tutsi) refugees and political reforms, introduction of a multi-party system.
Mid-October: Local Hutu take revenge on Tutsi in the commune of Kibilira (in Gisenvi). More than 300
people are killed.
End of October: There is a stalemate in the war RPF abandons conventional fighting and reverts to guerilla warfare.
13 November: President Habyrimana announces the introduction of multi-partyism and the abolition of
ethnic identity cards. The ID cards were; however, never abolished.
1991
29 March: A ceasefire between RPF and the Rwandese government is reached. An agreement on the
integration of RPF in a transitional government is signed.
June: A new constitution is introduced, and a law on multi-partyism is promulgated.
31 July: the domestic opposition denounces plans to hold elections, insisting that ample time must be allowed for preparations.
Early November: Widespread ethnic violence.
17 November: A Committee of Consultation organizes political demonstrations in Kigali against the government and the one-party system. Some 10,000 people participate.
Early December: The Rwandan Catholic Church takes a political stance, calling for serious talks with RPF and the formation of an independent transitional; government.
1992
8 January: Demonstrations in Kigali against government and the one party system with some 30,000 participants.
March: Ethnic violence in Bugesera. At least 300 killed.
13 March: New negotiations between the government and main opposition parties.
March: CDR (Coalition pour la defence de la Republique) and MRND militias are built up by extremist Hutu
supporters.
16 April: Inclusion of all major opposition parties in the government (MDR, PSD, PL, PDC) Prime Minister
Nsengiyaremyo.
May: A major RPF attack on Byumba results in a wave of Hutu peasants from the north moving southward
(some 350,000 people).
10 August: Formal opening of the peace conference in Arusha, Tanzania.
7-18 September
& 5-30 October: The second Arusha protocol on transitional institutions is discussed.
November: Political violence by extremist Hutu militia escalates
1993
9 January: Presdient Habyarimana refuses to sign latest Arusha protocol power sharing
21-26 January: Ethnic violence in the northwest. Some 300 people are killed.
8 February: RPF occupation of an important zone in the Prefectures Ruhengeri and Byumba. As a consequence,
almost 1 million people are displaced. The French reinforce their men in Rwanda by 300 men.
25 February-
1 March: Peace negotiations between RPF and the opposition parties within the government
on the withdrawal of all French troops and their replacement by UN or OAU troops.
7 March: A new cease-fire agreement is signed in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania.
Mid-March: The 300 extra French troops are withdrawn.
15 March: Peace talks are taken up again in Arusha (and continue until 24 June).
April: The international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns that the 900,000 displaced people in
Rwanda face a major humanitarian catastrophe; ICRC says that famine is imminent.
1 June: Presidential elections in Burundi New President Melchior Ndadye (Hutu).
9 June: Agreement concerning refugees and internally displaced people. An estimated 500,000 displaced
people are reported to return home.
8 July: The Hutu extremist Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) starts broadcasting.
4 August: Rwanda’s government and RPF sign an accord in Arusha to end the civil war, allowing for power
sharing and the return of refugees.
5 October: The UN Security Council approves a 2,500-strong peacekeeping force to Rwanda, the UN Assistance
Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).
17-18 October: 37 MRND supporters are killed in the Ruhengeri area.
21 October: A military coup[ takes place in Burundi, in which Hutu President Ndadye is killed. The ethnic
violence that follows results in tens of thousands of dead and some 600,000 Burundis fleeing into
neighboring countries. Escalated political and ethnic violence in Rwanda.
1 November: At least 20 people are killed when RPF forces break the ceasefire and attack government troops in
northwestern Rwanda.
1994
30 December 1993-
5 April 1994: Transitional government fails to take off, with each side blaming the other for blocking its formation.
6 April: President Habyarimana of Rwanda, President Ntaryamira of Burundi and a number of government
officials are killed in a plane crash in Kigali. President Habyarimana’s death sparks violence and
widespread massacres in Kigali, which spread throughout the country. The violence soon escalates,
mainly targeting Hutu moderates and the Tutsi population.
7 April: Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingivimana is killed by government forces. Ten Belgian UN peacekeeping
soldiers, who were guarding her, are disarmed by the Presidential Guard and killed. As a result,
Belgium’s withdraws its forces. The 600 RPF soldiers in Kigali leave their headquarters.
8 April: RPF forces in northern Rwanda launch an offensive.
11 April: Relief officials estimate that as many as 20,000 people have been killed in Kigali alone in five days of
violence. With foreign journalists out of Rwanda, news from the country is restricted.
12 April: The interim government moves from Kigali to Gitarama as RPF threatens the capital.
21 April: The UN Security Council resolution No. 912 reduces the UNAMIR peacekeeping force in Rwanda
from 2,500 to 270 men with an unchanged mandate.
End of April: An estimated 250,000 people stream across the Rwandese border to seek refuge in Tanzania,
reportedly the largest mass exodus of people ever witnessed by UNHCR.
30 April: UN Security Council affirms the need to protect refugees and help restore order, but does not mention peacekeepers. At least 100,000 people have been killed and more than 1.3 million have fled their homes.
17 May: The UN Security Council passes a new resolution (No 918), approving the deployment of 5,500 UNAMIR troops to Rwanda.
22 May: RPF forces gain control of the airport in Kigali and the Kanombe barracks and extend their control over the northern and eastern parts of Rwanda.
17 June: France announces its plan to the UN Security Council to deploy 2,500 troops to Rwanda as an interim peacekeeping force until UNAMIR troops arrive.
22 June: UN Security Council approves resolution (No 929) to dispatch 2,500 French troops (Operation Turquoise) under a UN peacekeeping mandate.
28 June: UN Human Right’s Commission’s special envoy reports that massacres were preplanned and formed part of systematic campaign of Genocide.
4 July: RPF wins control of Kigali, announces intention to form government.
5 July: The French-led operation has established a “safe zone.” As RPF advances towards the west, the influx of displaced persons into the zone increases from an initial 500,000 to an estimated 1 million within a few days.
13-14 July: As a result of RPF’s advance in the northwest, an estimated 1 million people begin to flee towards Zaire. Approximately 10,000-12,000 refugees cross the border into the town of Goma per hour, causing a severe humanitarian crisis.
15 July: Members of the Hutu government escape to the French “safe zone.” UN Security Council orders cease-fire.
18 July: RPF announces that the war is over, declares a ceasefire and names Pastor Bizimungu as President with Faustin Twagiramungu as Prime Minister.
End of July: The UN Security Council reaches a final agreement on sending an international force to Rwanda.
24 August: End of Operation Turquoise. UNAMIR forces take over from the French.
October: The UN estimates that there are now about 5 million people in Rwanda, compared to 7.9 million before the war.
8 November: UN Security Council adopts a resolution ( No. 955) on the establishment of an international court for war criminals of Rwanda.
1994-1996 Refugee camps in Zaire fall under the control of the Hutu militias responsible for the genocide in Rwanda.
1995
22 April: Soldiers of the RPF army carry out a massacre at the Kibeho camp for internally displaced persons in Rwanda.
April: Refugees are forced to return to their home districts from the IDP camps.
August: Zaire expels refugees from the Goma camps and threatens to expel all refugees. UNHCR takes up a discussion with Zaire. Hutu militias and Zairian government forces local Zairian Tutsis; Zaire attempts to force refugees back into Rwanda.
13 September: Zaire closes its border with Rwanda following bomb explosions in Goma.
17 October: A Supreme Court is established by an act of parliament.
November: The prosecutor of the International Court for War Criminals of Rwanda, Judge Goldstone, signs his first indictment. UN appointed international tribunal (ICTR) begins charging and sentencing a number of people responsible for the Hutu-Tutsi atrocities.
28-29 November: A summit meeting of leaders of the Great Lakes Region takes place in Cairo, Egypt.
14 December: The UN Security Council extends UNAMIR’s mandate in Rwanda for an additional three months to 8 March 1996 (No 1019). The Force will be reduced from 2,100 men to 1,400 and concentrate its activities on the return of refugees.
1996 Rwandan troops invade and attack Hutu militia dominated camps in Zaire in order to
drive home the refugees.
1998 The UN Tribunal for Rwanda ands down its first conviction finding a Rwandan Hutu leader guilty of genocide.
2001 In order to speed up judicial process, and relieve overcrowded jails, Rwandan government began organizing village courts or “gacaca” (meaning on the grass, which is where they took place). Judges
would hear testimony from witnesses to the genocide in the village, and hand out convictions accordingly.
October: Rwanda says it has pulled the last of its troops out of the DR Congo, four years after they went in to support Congolese rebels against the Kabila government.
2003 -Aug Paul Kagame claims a landslide victory in the first presidential elections since the 1994 genocide.
2004
26 March UN Secretary General Kofi Annan opened a memorial conference on the 1994 Rwanda genocide by accepting institutional and personal blame for the deaths initially ignored by world leaders.
4 April The 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide that claimed about 1 million lives in three months. The Rwandan government launched a commemoration week to pay homage to the dead.
*adapted from Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, Website materials
1880s: The first European explorers arrive in Rwanda.
1899: Germany establishes rule in Rwanda-Urundi and the territory becomes part of German East Africa. The first missionaries arrive.
1910: The frontiers of the Belgian Congo, British Uganda and German East Africa – including the territory of Rwanda-Urundi – are fixed at a conference in Brussels.
1911: A popular uprising in northern Rwanda is crushed by the German Schutztruppe and Tutsi chiefs, leaving continuing bitterness among northern Hutu.
1916: Belgium takes over the territory, which after the First World War is administered under a League of National mandate.
1930s: A process of “Tutsification” results in a monopoly of political and administrative power in the hands of Tutsi. Ethnic classification through the introduction of identity cards.
1957: The Bahutu Manifesto, a document criticizing the Tutsi Monopoly, is issued by nine Hutu intellectuals.
1959: The jacquerie takes place – a social revolution by the Hutu population supported by Belgium. Tens of thousands of Tutsi flee into exile.
1960: Rwanda’s first local elections result in an overwhelming victory for the Parinmehutu party.
1961: The monarchy is formally abolished by referendum. On 25 September, the first parliamentary elections in Rwanda are held; Parmehutu receives 78% of the vote.
1962: On 1 July, Rwanda and Burundi gain independence from Belgium. The first President of independent Rwanda is Gregoire Kayibanda from the Parmehutu party.
1963: Armed attacks by Tutsi exiles from Burundi, the so-called invenzi deepen ethnic tension in Rwanda. In the violence, which escalates in November-December, some 10000 Tutsi are killed and there is a new wave of Tutsi refugees to Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Zaire.
1973: Coup d’etat; Major-General Juvenal Habyarimana assumes power. He founds a new party, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (Mouvement Revolutionaire National pour le Developpement, MRND). Beginning of the Second Republic.
1978: MRND becomes Rwanda’s only party under a new constitution. Habyarimana is confirmed as President in 1978, 1983, and 1988, with more than 99% of the vote.
1987: A military coup takes place in Burundi, President Bagaza is overthrown and Major Pierre Buyoya takes power.
1988: In April, ethnic tensions in Burundi cause a wave of refugees into Rwanda. In connection with a conference on Rwandan refugees, held in Washington D.C., the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) is founded.
1990
July: A first breakthrough in negotiations between Rwanda, Uganda and UNHCR on the repatriation of Rwandan refugees in Uganda is achieved.
1 October: Uganda-based RPF invades the northern parts of Rwanda, demanding the right to settle
thousands of (mainly Tutsi) refugees and political reforms, introduction of a multi-party system.
Mid-October: Local Hutu take revenge on Tutsi in the commune of Kibilira (in Gisenvi). More than 300
people are killed.
End of October: There is a stalemate in the war RPF abandons conventional fighting and reverts to guerilla warfare.
13 November: President Habyrimana announces the introduction of multi-partyism and the abolition of
ethnic identity cards. The ID cards were; however, never abolished.
1991
29 March: A ceasefire between RPF and the Rwandese government is reached. An agreement on the
integration of RPF in a transitional government is signed.
June: A new constitution is introduced, and a law on multi-partyism is promulgated.
31 July: the domestic opposition denounces plans to hold elections, insisting that ample time must be allowed for preparations.
Early November: Widespread ethnic violence.
17 November: A Committee of Consultation organizes political demonstrations in Kigali against the government and the one-party system. Some 10,000 people participate.
Early December: The Rwandan Catholic Church takes a political stance, calling for serious talks with RPF and the formation of an independent transitional; government.
1992
8 January: Demonstrations in Kigali against government and the one party system with some 30,000 participants.
March: Ethnic violence in Bugesera. At least 300 killed.
13 March: New negotiations between the government and main opposition parties.
March: CDR (Coalition pour la defence de la Republique) and MRND militias are built up by extremist Hutu
supporters.
16 April: Inclusion of all major opposition parties in the government (MDR, PSD, PL, PDC) Prime Minister
Nsengiyaremyo.
May: A major RPF attack on Byumba results in a wave of Hutu peasants from the north moving southward
(some 350,000 people).
10 August: Formal opening of the peace conference in Arusha, Tanzania.
7-18 September
& 5-30 October: The second Arusha protocol on transitional institutions is discussed.
November: Political violence by extremist Hutu militia escalates
1993
9 January: Presdient Habyarimana refuses to sign latest Arusha protocol power sharing
21-26 January: Ethnic violence in the northwest. Some 300 people are killed.
8 February: RPF occupation of an important zone in the Prefectures Ruhengeri and Byumba. As a consequence,
almost 1 million people are displaced. The French reinforce their men in Rwanda by 300 men.
25 February-
1 March: Peace negotiations between RPF and the opposition parties within the government
on the withdrawal of all French troops and their replacement by UN or OAU troops.
7 March: A new cease-fire agreement is signed in Dar-es-Salam, Tanzania.
Mid-March: The 300 extra French troops are withdrawn.
15 March: Peace talks are taken up again in Arusha (and continue until 24 June).
April: The international Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warns that the 900,000 displaced people in
Rwanda face a major humanitarian catastrophe; ICRC says that famine is imminent.
1 June: Presidential elections in Burundi New President Melchior Ndadye (Hutu).
9 June: Agreement concerning refugees and internally displaced people. An estimated 500,000 displaced
people are reported to return home.
8 July: The Hutu extremist Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) starts broadcasting.
4 August: Rwanda’s government and RPF sign an accord in Arusha to end the civil war, allowing for power
sharing and the return of refugees.
5 October: The UN Security Council approves a 2,500-strong peacekeeping force to Rwanda, the UN Assistance
Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).
17-18 October: 37 MRND supporters are killed in the Ruhengeri area.
21 October: A military coup[ takes place in Burundi, in which Hutu President Ndadye is killed. The ethnic
violence that follows results in tens of thousands of dead and some 600,000 Burundis fleeing into
neighboring countries. Escalated political and ethnic violence in Rwanda.
1 November: At least 20 people are killed when RPF forces break the ceasefire and attack government troops in
northwestern Rwanda.
1994
30 December 1993-
5 April 1994: Transitional government fails to take off, with each side blaming the other for blocking its formation.
6 April: President Habyarimana of Rwanda, President Ntaryamira of Burundi and a number of government
officials are killed in a plane crash in Kigali. President Habyarimana’s death sparks violence and
widespread massacres in Kigali, which spread throughout the country. The violence soon escalates,
mainly targeting Hutu moderates and the Tutsi population.
7 April: Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingivimana is killed by government forces. Ten Belgian UN peacekeeping
soldiers, who were guarding her, are disarmed by the Presidential Guard and killed. As a result,
Belgium’s withdraws its forces. The 600 RPF soldiers in Kigali leave their headquarters.
8 April: RPF forces in northern Rwanda launch an offensive.
11 April: Relief officials estimate that as many as 20,000 people have been killed in Kigali alone in five days of
violence. With foreign journalists out of Rwanda, news from the country is restricted.
12 April: The interim government moves from Kigali to Gitarama as RPF threatens the capital.
21 April: The UN Security Council resolution No. 912 reduces the UNAMIR peacekeeping force in Rwanda
from 2,500 to 270 men with an unchanged mandate.
End of April: An estimated 250,000 people stream across the Rwandese border to seek refuge in Tanzania,
reportedly the largest mass exodus of people ever witnessed by UNHCR.
30 April: UN Security Council affirms the need to protect refugees and help restore order, but does not mention peacekeepers. At least 100,000 people have been killed and more than 1.3 million have fled their homes.
17 May: The UN Security Council passes a new resolution (No 918), approving the deployment of 5,500 UNAMIR troops to Rwanda.
22 May: RPF forces gain control of the airport in Kigali and the Kanombe barracks and extend their control over the northern and eastern parts of Rwanda.
17 June: France announces its plan to the UN Security Council to deploy 2,500 troops to Rwanda as an interim peacekeeping force until UNAMIR troops arrive.
22 June: UN Security Council approves resolution (No 929) to dispatch 2,500 French troops (Operation Turquoise) under a UN peacekeeping mandate.
28 June: UN Human Right’s Commission’s special envoy reports that massacres were preplanned and formed part of systematic campaign of Genocide.
4 July: RPF wins control of Kigali, announces intention to form government.
5 July: The French-led operation has established a “safe zone.” As RPF advances towards the west, the influx of displaced persons into the zone increases from an initial 500,000 to an estimated 1 million within a few days.
13-14 July: As a result of RPF’s advance in the northwest, an estimated 1 million people begin to flee towards Zaire. Approximately 10,000-12,000 refugees cross the border into the town of Goma per hour, causing a severe humanitarian crisis.
15 July: Members of the Hutu government escape to the French “safe zone.” UN Security Council orders cease-fire.
18 July: RPF announces that the war is over, declares a ceasefire and names Pastor Bizimungu as President with Faustin Twagiramungu as Prime Minister.
End of July: The UN Security Council reaches a final agreement on sending an international force to Rwanda.
24 August: End of Operation Turquoise. UNAMIR forces take over from the French.
October: The UN estimates that there are now about 5 million people in Rwanda, compared to 7.9 million before the war.
8 November: UN Security Council adopts a resolution ( No. 955) on the establishment of an international court for war criminals of Rwanda.
1994-1996 Refugee camps in Zaire fall under the control of the Hutu militias responsible for the genocide in Rwanda.
1995
22 April: Soldiers of the RPF army carry out a massacre at the Kibeho camp for internally displaced persons in Rwanda.
April: Refugees are forced to return to their home districts from the IDP camps.
August: Zaire expels refugees from the Goma camps and threatens to expel all refugees. UNHCR takes up a discussion with Zaire. Hutu militias and Zairian government forces local Zairian Tutsis; Zaire attempts to force refugees back into Rwanda.
13 September: Zaire closes its border with Rwanda following bomb explosions in Goma.
17 October: A Supreme Court is established by an act of parliament.
November: The prosecutor of the International Court for War Criminals of Rwanda, Judge Goldstone, signs his first indictment. UN appointed international tribunal (ICTR) begins charging and sentencing a number of people responsible for the Hutu-Tutsi atrocities.
28-29 November: A summit meeting of leaders of the Great Lakes Region takes place in Cairo, Egypt.
14 December: The UN Security Council extends UNAMIR’s mandate in Rwanda for an additional three months to 8 March 1996 (No 1019). The Force will be reduced from 2,100 men to 1,400 and concentrate its activities on the return of refugees.
1996 Rwandan troops invade and attack Hutu militia dominated camps in Zaire in order to
drive home the refugees.
1998 The UN Tribunal for Rwanda ands down its first conviction finding a Rwandan Hutu leader guilty of genocide.
2001 In order to speed up judicial process, and relieve overcrowded jails, Rwandan government began organizing village courts or “gacaca” (meaning on the grass, which is where they took place). Judges
would hear testimony from witnesses to the genocide in the village, and hand out convictions accordingly.
October: Rwanda says it has pulled the last of its troops out of the DR Congo, four years after they went in to support Congolese rebels against the Kabila government.
2003 -Aug Paul Kagame claims a landslide victory in the first presidential elections since the 1994 genocide.
2004
26 March UN Secretary General Kofi Annan opened a memorial conference on the 1994 Rwanda genocide by accepting institutional and personal blame for the deaths initially ignored by world leaders.
4 April The 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide that claimed about 1 million lives in three months. The Rwandan government launched a commemoration week to pay homage to the dead.
*adapted from Journal of Humanitarian Assistance, Website materials
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