Pope Francis: Life, Death, And The Next Conclave

Throughout history, Popes have been referred to as Princes of the Church, or Vicars of Christ. From the outset, Pope Francis, who has died at the age of 88,

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At 92 – Mukarubuga on Surviving the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda, Great-great-grand Children 
At 92, Domitila Mukarubuga remains sharp, spirited, and full of grace. A survivor of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, she walks with a cane, attends church regularly, and finds…
The 100 Days ofkwibuka30 icon #KWIBUKA31

  1. 7 April 1994

    The Genocide against the Tutsi began.

  2. 8 April 1994

    Tutsis who had taken refuge at Nyundo Catholic Parish in western Rwanda were killed. The killings intensified in Kigali and Bicumbi Commune (areas of present-day Rwamagana District bordering Kigali). RPF forces continued to capture parts of Umutara (Eastern Province), Byumba, and Ruhengeri (Northern Province), rescuing Tutsis in Buyoga Commune and other locations.

  3. 9 April 1994

    French troops began evacuating French nationals and other foreigners from Rwanda, abandoning the Tutsis who were left at the mercy of the killers. A genocidal government was established, led by Jean Kambanda as Prime Minister and Dr Théodore Sindikubwabo as President of the Republic. Major General Paul Kagame announced that he had launched a war against the genocidal regime.

  4. 10 April 1994

    Killings and looting continued in Kigali. Around 10,000 bodies were removed from the streets. The United States Embassy in Kigali closed its doors. Presidential guards killed 29 patients and wounded a further 70 at King Faisal Hospital. Pope John Paul II, who had visited Rwanda during the years of genocide preparation (1990), called for an end to the "fratricidal killings" in the country.

  5. 11 April 1994

    UN Belgian troops abandoned over 4,000 Tutsis who had taken refuge at ETO-Kicukiro School. The Interahamwe militia took them to Nyanza in Kicukiro (Kigali) and massacred them. Around 10,000 Tutsis were killed in Ruhuha, Ngenda Commune, with a similar number massacred in Gashora Commune and surrounding areas (present-day Bugesera District).

  6. 12 April 1994

    Large numbers of refugees continued to flee to Nyamata Roman Catholic Church (Bugesera District), which became a gathering point for displaced Tutsis before they too were killed. The so-called Interim Government relocated to Gitarama (now Muhanga District).

  7. 13 April 1994

    The killings continued in Kigali and other prefectures. Militant wings of the CDR and MRND parties began killing Tutsi civilian Tutsis who who had fled and gathered in certain places especially in Gisenyi (Rubavu District), Cyangugu (Nyamasheke District), and Butare (Huye District).

  8. 14 April 1994

    Massacres continued at Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Parish (Kirehe District) in Kibungo Prefecture. Five thousand Tutsis who had sought refuge at Musha Roman Catholic Parish were killed. Refugees gathered at Nyamata Roman Catholic Parish (Bugesera District) were massacred after the parish priest abandoned them. Killers launched an attack on 20,000 Tutsis in Kibeho (Nyaruguru District), killing around 200. Those who had sought refuge there attempted to defend themselves.

  9. 15 April 1994

    Interahamwe militia and soldiers killed 10,000 Tutsis who had taken refuge at Nyamata Roman Catholic Parish (Bugesera District). Four hundred and fifty Belgian soldiers, who had been deployed on a peacekeeping mission, boarded planes to return home, abandoning the Tutsis who were being slaughtered.

  10. 16 April 1994

    Soldiers from Gako (Bugesera District) and Kigali massacred thousands of Tutsis in Ntarama (Bugesera District). Corpses were lined along the road from Kigali to Gitarama (now Muhanga District). In Rukara Commune (Kayonza District), 800 Tutsis were found imprisoned in a house without food, having been held there since 6 April—the day President Habyarimana was killed—and were injured by a grenade thrown into the building.

  11. 17 April 1994

    Killers led by the Prefect of Kibuye (now Karongi District), Dr Clément Kayishema, murdered approximately 21,000 Tutsis over two days. The Prefect of Butare (now Huye District), Jean-Baptiste Habyarimana, who had opposed the Genocide, was arrested and later killed along with his family. A Cabinet meeting praised prefects who had “performed well” and criticised those in Butare and Kibungo for “failing in their responsibilities.”

  12. 18 April 1994

    5000 Tutsis were massacred in the hills of Bisesero, while another 12,000 were killed at Gatwaro Stadium in Kibuye (Karongi District), where they had been forcibly taken under the orders of Prefect Dr Clément Kayishema. Others were killed at the Mugonero Adventist Church and hospital. President Théodore Sindikubwabo visited Gikongoro, where he congratulated the Prefect for the "successful work" of exterminating Tutsis.

  13. 19 April 1994

    President Théodore Sindikubwabo inflammatory speech in Butare aired over national broadcast Radio Rwanda, urging the people of Butare (Huye District) to "get to work", with a new Prefect appointed to implement the Genocide. The genocidal regime officially removed Prefect Jean-Baptiste Habyarimana, who had attempted to prevent the killings in Butare, and replaced him with extremist Sylvain Nsabimana.

  14. 20 April 1994

    The Genocide began in Butare. Captain Ildephonse Nizeyimana, at the ESO military school, ordered the killing of Rwanda’s last Queen, Rosalie Gicanda. Prefect Sylvain Nsabimana, newly appointed the previous night, convened a meeting to organise how the Genocide would be executed in Butare. Many Tutsi refugees were killed.

  15. 21 April 1994

    The Interahamwe and other armed groups killed 22,000 Tutsis in Gikongoro (Nyamagabe District). Between 20,000 and 30,000 Tutsis were massacred in Nyaruhengeri (at Kansi and Kibilizi), Muganza (at Mugombwa Catholic Church and on the surrounding hills), and in Kibayi Commune (Kabuga and Magi) in Butare Prefecture.

  16. 22 April 1994

    The Red Cross declared that it had never witnessed the scale at which the massacres were on. Over 7,000 Tutsis killed at Gatwaro Stadium in Kibuye. Interahamwe and soldiers killed the former Sub-Prefect of Butare, Zéphanie Nyilinkwaya, along with 14 members of his family. At the Sovu convent in Huye, 6,500 Tutsis were massacred; a further 500 were burned alive in a garage using petrol provided by the nuns.

  17. 23 April 1994

    RPF Inkotanyi forces announced a ceasefire in an attempt to halt the killings, but the genocidal government ignored the initiative. Officials falsely claimed that peace had been restored, prompting some survivors in Musambira Commune to return to their ruined homes. That evening, they were rounded up, taken to Bitsibo schools, and murdered.

  18. 24 April 1994

    30,000 Tutsis on Kabuye Hill near the commune of Ndora in Butare were killed. Doctors from Médecins Sans Frontières witnessed Interahamwe and soldiers of the Presidential Guard killing Tutsi patients and 170 hospital staff at Butare Hospital. RPF forces began relocating refugees to Byumba and Gahini, where safety could be guaranteed.

  19. 25 April 1994

    At dawn, a military commander named GATWAZA, along with residents from all sectors of the Mbazi commune (now in Huye), surrounded the Byiza stadium (where Tutsis had been gathered under the pretence of being protected) and began throwing grenades and firing bullets, also using traditional weapons. Over 7,800 Tutsis were killed at Byiza stadium.

  20. 26 April 1994

    The then Minister of Finance, Emmanuel Ndindabahizi, distributed weapons and urged on the Interahamwe who had surrounded Tutsi refugees on Gitwa Hill in Kibuye Prefecture. After attempting to defend themselves and repel attacks for two days, thousands of women, children, and elderly people on that area were massacred.

  21. 27 April 1994

    Many Tutsis were killed on Nyamure Hill, now in Muyira Sector, Nyanza District. Around 4,000 Tutsis were burned alive by the Interahamwe and soldiers in Muyaga Commune of Butare Prefecture, now Mamba Sector in Gisagara. Pope John Paul II declared for the first time that what was occurring in Rwanda was genocide.

  22. 28 April 1994

    The international anti-poverty organisation OXFAM issued a statement condemning the killings in Rwanda, calling them genocide. Christine Shelley, a spokesperson for the United States government, refused to use the term ‘genocide’ when speaking to journalists, stating that its use carried significant implications.

  23. 29 April 1994

    The Presidential Guard protecting Habyarimana’s residence killed Tutsis at the Butotori military camp located in Rubavu. At this camp, meetings were held to plan the genocide, led by high-ranking military officials such as Colonel Théoneste Bagosora and Colonel Anatole Nsengiyumva. The French were also reportedly involved in providing military training there to the Interahamwe.

  24. 30 April 1994

    RPF Inkotanyi forces captured the Rusumo Town, driving out the genocidal government troops. Many Tutsis were killed in the swamp known as "CND" in Bugesera. A vehicle passed through Gisenyi Town announcing that peace had been restored and that no more Tutsis would be killed. However, all those who emerged from hiding were rounded up and executed at Commune Rouge.

  25. 1 May 1994

    The Interahamwe launched an attack on an orphanage in the town of Butare, killing 21 children and 13 Red Cross volunteers. Many Rwandans, mostly those involved in the genocide, fled to Burundi and Tanzania. Tutsis were massacred at Nyundo church and its surroundings using grenades thrown into the church, as well as traditional weapons.

  26. 2 May 1994

    In an interview with Radio France, Jean Marie Vianney Ndagijimana, then Rwanda’s Ambassador to France, denounced his own government, accusing it of being the main instigator of the massacres taking place in the country. The international anti-poverty organisation OXFAM wrote a letter to the British Prime Minister, John Major, requesting urgent military assistance for Rwanda.

  27. 3 May 1994

    Radio Uganda national broadcast reported that Lake Victoria was filled with the bodies of victims of the genocide in Rwanda. The United Nations stated that countries could send equipment and troops to Rwanda. The RPF rejected this idea, arguing that the time for UN troops had been three weeks earlier, when they were already in Kigali but failed to protect civilians, who were then killed or forced to flee.

  28. 4 May 1994

    France continued to support the Rwandan government responsible for the genocide. President Théodore Sindikubwabo held talks with General Christian Quesnot, seeking assistance for the regime and its military. This support from France strengthened the perpetrators, who continued the killings. Yet had France chosen to act differently, many Tutsis—such as those in Bisesero—could have defended themselves and possibly survived.

  29. 5 May 1994

    RTLM radio called for the accelerated killing of the remaining Tutsis. Sister Gertrude Mukangango was responsible for handing over the last surviving Tutsis, who had escaped the massacres of 22 and 25 April 1994, to be killed at the convent in Sovu, Huye, which she headed. The RPF wrote to the United Nations requesting the establishment of a court to try those responsible for the genocide and related crimes committed since 1990.

  30. 6 May 1994

    France continued to provide military support to the government of Sindikubwabo and Kambanda, which was used to exterminate Tutsis. The UN Security Council continued to evade its responsibility to intervene in Rwanda. French army senior officials received Rwandan military delegates to discuss the supply of arms.

  31. 7 May 1994

    Students from Groupe Scolaire Marie Merci in Kibeho (Nyaruguru), who were initially protected by police, were killed. Between 11 a.m. and noon, Interahamwe militias from areas including Rwamiko, Mubuga, and Ndago launched attacks. Those who managed to escape were hunted down by dogs, while others were exposed by fellow students hiding in elevated positions.

  32. 8 May 1994

    Interahamwe militias, brought in by Nyombayire Venuste, the director of the SOS Gikongoro centre, killed Tutsi orphans aged between 15 and 20 who lived at the centre. After murdering the children, the killers also executed Tutsi staff members of SOS Gikongoro, starting with those who had been on night duty.

  33. 9 May 1994

    The genocidal government received military assistance from France, including ammunition and communication equipment such as an encrypted telephone intended to facilitate coordination between General Augustin Bizimungu, head of the Rwandan army, and General Huchon, one of the leaders of the French forces. They discussed the potential involvement of French troops in the conflict in Rwanda.

  34. 10 May 1994

    Kenya announced it would not send troops to assist those suffering in Rwanda. The United States provided humanitarian supplies for refugees in camps but stated that no American soldiers would be deployed to Rwanda. Radio Rwanda reported that President Sindikubwabo would attend the inauguration of South African President Nelson Mandela.

  35. 11 May 1994

    The UN Security Council requested that UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali deploy 5,500 UNAMIR troops to Rwanda, following his acknowledgement that genocide was occurring. In Cyangugu, a bus transporting Tutsis from the stadium to the Nyarushishi camp was stopped, and all those aged 40 and above were killed.

  36. 12 May 1994

    The Interahamwe attacked Tutsis sheltering at the ADEPR church in Nyabisindu, Muhanga, killing them and using prisoners to dispose of the bodies in mass graves. Corpses were dragged along the ground, and many victims were still alive, begging for mercy, praying, or screaming. A total of 123 bodies were recovered from the site at ADEPR.

  37. 13 May 1994

    Many Tutsis who had sought refuge on the hills of Bisesero in Kibuye were massacred. RPF forces continued rescuing those hiding in swamps. Refugees who had fled to Tanzania began returning to Rwanda, disproving the false claims made by the genocidal government that the RPF had closed the Rwandan-Tanzanian border.

  38. 14 May 1994

    Prime Minister Jean Kambanda visited the National University of Rwanda, praising staff for the “excellent work” they had done in killing Tutsis. Bernard Kouchner, former French Health Minister, visited Rwanda and affirmed that the killings were indeed genocide. He declared that France would no longer provide military assistance to the Rwandan government.

  39. 15 May 1994

    Killers organised the killing of Tutsi children in Musambira commune, Kamonyi. On 14 May 1994, only young men and adult males had been killed, with women and children spared. The child attackers arrived armed with machetes and spears, supervised by adults. On that day, all the children were killed by other children.

  40. 16 May 1994

    RPF Inkotanyi forces continued their offensive, capturing key areas of the country and rescuing civilians. The Inkotanyi blocked the Kigali–Gitarama road and took control of the Bugesera region, saving around 2,000 people. Meanwhile, in Gitarama Prefecture, Interahamwe and soldiers massacred hundreds who had sought refuge at the Kabgayi Roman Catholic Church.

  41. 17 May 1994

    The United Nations continued to hesitate in intervening to stop the genocide against the Tutsis. While the UN approved the deployment of 5,500 additional UNAMIR troops, it refused to alter the mission’s mandate to allow the use of force to halt the genocide.

  42. 18 May 1994

    Tutsis who had sought refuge at Saint Kizito Parish in Musambira were killed. Among them were residents of Musambira Commune (Kamonyi District) and neighbouring communes, as well as others who had come from Runda and Kigali on their way to Kabgayi. After the Genocide, the mass grave in which they had been buried was relocated to the Kibuza Genocide Memorial.

  43. 19 May 1994

    The Interahamwe and soldiers continued killing civilians. 29 people were killed in a church located in a government-controlled area in Kigali. The Interahamwe and soldiers took 400 orphans hostage, threatening to kill them if the RPF troops continued advancing towards government-held positions. The French newspaper Libération accused the French government of continuing to support the genocidal regime.

  44. 20 May 1994

    Elderly pastors who had taken refuge in Gitwe, formerly the headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, were loaded into vehicles and taken to Gitovu (in Nkomero, Mukingo, Nyanza), where they were brutally murdered. They were fully aware that they were going to be killed—some had already witnessed others being shot in front of them. On the way, they sang hymns such as “We are Marching to Zion.”

  45. 21 May 1994

    RTLM radio stated that General Dallaire, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR), should be killed. Government soldiers opened fire on the UNAMIR headquarters, prompting international condemnation. The New Zealand representative at the UN Security Council refused to meet Rwanda’s then Foreign Minister, Jérôme Bicamumpaka, who had travelled to New York to request support.

  46. 22 May 1994

    Kanombe Airport was captured by the RPF, wrested from the hands of the killers. This marked one of the RPF’s significant victories in the struggle against the genocidal regime. President Théodore Sindikubwabo wrote to French President François Mitterrand, stating that his troops had fled due to a shortage of ammunition and urging France to intervene swiftly.

  47. 23 May 1994

    A 36-hour ceasefire began. This decision was made by the RPF during a visit from Iqbal Riza, a UN official, to Mulindi for discussions on the safe arrival of 500 Ghanaian peacekeepers in Kigali. However, the ceasefire was violated when government troops opened fire on RPF positions.

  48. 24 May 1994

    The massacre of Tutsis continued across the country. The decomposing bodies of 3,500 Tutsis killed during the genocide were retrieved from Lake Victoria in Uganda and given a burial.

  49. 25 May 1994

    UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali acknowledged that what was occurring in Rwanda was genocide and admitted that the failure to deploy peacekeeping forces constituted a defeat for the UN. Many Tutsis who had been hiding in the University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), along with patients there, were killed.

  50. 26 May 1994

    RPF-Inkotanyi forces took full control of parts of Kigali, including Kicukiro and Gatenga, rescuing some Tutsis and other civilians from the killers. Gatenga was known to be heavily populated by Interahamwe, led by Twahirwa Seraphin, an employee of the Ministry of Public Works (MINITRAPE).

  51. 27 May 1994

    UNAMIR began evacuating people hiding in Hôtel des Mille Collines, relocating them to places of their choosing. Some went to government-controlled areas, but the majority chose areas liberated by the RPF-Inkotanyi. The RPF continued urging government soldiers to lay down their arms, end the killings, and join in rebuilding the country, but to no avail.

  52. 28 May 1994

    Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported that members of the interim government had fled from Gitarama to Kibuye. RFI journalist Monique Mass, who was in Rwanda, visited Nyamata and reported that more than half the population of the town had been massacred by Interahamwe militias in collaboration with government troops.

  53. 29 May 1994

    The RPF-Inkotanyi forces captured Nyanza town, rescuing people hiding in various locations as they continued to advance to Gitarama Prefecture. Tutsi students at EAV Kabutare were murdered. The school was led by Mbarushimana Theophile, son of Gitera, the man who issued the "Ten Commandments of the Hutu."

  54. 30 May 1994

    The RPF-Inkotanyi forces captured Ruhango town in the former Tambwe Commune of Gitarama Prefecture. The capture of Ruhango followed that of Nyanza the previous day. The RPF continued rescuing people hiding in different areas and pressing towards Gitarama town.

  55. 31 May 1994

    Journalists from Canada, France, Australia, and South Africa visited Kigali and witnessed numerous corpses of civilians killed by the Interahamwe and government soldiers. RPA troops continued to rescue Tutsis and seized various areas from the Interahamwe. The UN began to publicly acknowledge that genocide was taking place in Rwanda.

  56. 1 June 1994

    RTLM radio, which had been inciting Hutus to commit genocide, was called to be permanently shut down due to its hateful broadcasts. U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy urged the U.S. Secretary of State to take action to shut down RTLM, which was actively encouraging the genocide against Tutsis in Rwanda.

  57. 2 June 1994

    The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) Inkotanyi forces rescued Tutsis who had sought refuge in the Kabgayi camp. During the early days of the Genocide in April 1994, many Tutsi refugees had gathered in Kabgayi. Interahamwe militia and soldiers would arrive to select individuals and kill them. The survivors of these massacres were later rescued by the RPF Inkotanyi forces.

  58. 3 June 1994

    The Inkotanyi rescued over 300 Tutsis at the Sainte Famille Catholic Church and at Amahoro Stadium.

  59. 4 June 1994

    The fall of Kabgayi caused great distress to the Kambanda government. During a cabinet meeting, it was concluded that the army was on the verge of losing the city of Gitarama. The government resolved to increase the arming of the Interahamwe, tighten the monitoring and implementation of the civil self-defence strategy (“auto-défense civile”), and intensify efforts to procure weapons from abroad to accelerate the Genocide.

  60. 5 June 1994

    As the genocidal government forces continued to suffer defeats, they intensified strategies to hasten the killing of Tutsis. Great emphasis was placed on the so-called “civil self-defence” strategy, which involved the distribution of more weapons to the Interahamwe, the recruitment of youth into militias, and the acquisition of more killing equipment. These plans are documented in the 1994 agenda of Prime Minister Kambanda.

  61. 6 June 1994

    The government confirmed that the weapons it had ordered were about to be delivered. As the genocidal regime continued to lose its military battle against the RPF Inkotanyi, it desperately sought all possible means to avoid defeat, including illegal international arms purchases, in defiance of a UN Security Council resolution prohibiting all countries from supplying arms to Rwanda.

  62. 7 June 1994

    In areas not yet liberated by the RPF Inkotanyi, the killers did not stop after exterminating the Tutsi population. They continued to loot and hunt down any remaining Tutsis.

  63. 8 June 1994

    In Ngororero, children born to Hutu women and Tutsi men were brutally murdered after other Tutsis had already been killed. MRND Interahamwe, in collaboration with CDR’s Impuzamugambi militia, rounded up 13 children, some of them infants, put them in a single house, and killed them. Only one child is believed to have survived. Some of the children were thrown into a pit dug earlier, and soil was poured over them while they were still alive.

  64. 9 June 1994

    The genocidal government formalised the mass participation of civilians in the killings under the “civil self-defence” initiative. This programme involved the distribution of weapons and significant funding to accelerate the extermination of the Tutsis, so that by the time the RPF arrived in any area, no Tutsis would be left alive.

  65. 10 June 1994

    Government soldiers and Interahamwe militia killed Tutsi Brothers and another 70 people who had taken refuge at the Sainte Famille Catholic Church in Kigali. The killers discovered another group of 190 people hiding in a church in Nyamirambo and killed 170 of them. The United States government instructed its spokespersons to avoid referring to the massacres in Rwanda as “genocide”, out of shame for its failure to stop it.

  66. 11 June 1994

    Interahamwe militias, led by the wealthy businessman Obed Ruzindana who also provided them with transport in his vehicle, killed many Tutsis who had fled to the hills of Bisesero.

  67. 12 June 1994

    The RPF Inkotanyi forces captured Gitarama city and continued military operations, reclaiming major regions of the country and rescuing Tutsis from ongoing killings. Meanwhile, the 30th Summit of the Organisation of African Unity was held in Tunisia. Théodore Sindikubwabo, who was serving as Rwanda’s president during the Genocide, represented the country, while the RPF was not invited.

  68. 13 June 1994

    Colonel Théoneste Bagosora travelled to the Seychelles under the guise of a senior Zairian military officer to purchase 80 tonnes of weapons. Despite a United Nations arms embargo on the genocidal Kambanda government, some countries ignored the ban. The weapons Bagosora purchased were delivered to Goma, then smuggled into Rwanda and handed over to the Genocidaires.

  69. 14 June 1994

    The RPF Inkotanyi forces liberated Gitarama after two weeks of intense fighting, prompting the genocidal government to flee to Gisenyi. Gitarama Prefecture was home to many leaders responsible for sowing the ethnic hatred that led to the Genocide against the Tutsi. The PARMEHUTU party, known for its divisive and discriminatory ideology, originated from this region.

  70. 15 June 1994

    Journalist André Kameya, a founder of the Liberal Party (PL), was murdered. Kameya had been one of the first to publish photographs of the Inkotanyi, portraying them as returning children of Rwanda. He had long been targeted, and when he sought refuge from Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, the priest betrayed him by taking him to Odeta Nyirabagenzi, the councillor of Rugenge sector and a collaborator with the Interahamwe, who handed him over to be killed.

  71. 16 June 1994

    RPF Inkotanyi forces launched a night-time rescue mission from Gisozi to save those who had taken refuge at Saint Paul in Kigali, after fighting off Government troops and the Interahamwe. Survivors at Saint Paul expressed gratitude to Father Celestin Hakizimana (later ordained as Bishop), who risked his life by bribing the Interahamwe with money. In contrast, Father Wenceslas Munyeshyaka of Sainte Famille allowed the killers free rein.

  72. 17 June 1994

    After the RPF Inkotanyi had liberated the Tutsis at Saint Paul in Kigali, the killers took their revenge on the Tutsis who were at the Sainte Famille Roman Catholic Church. Most of the victims were men. The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) had evacuated women, girls, and children to areas under RPF control, leaving the men behind under the pretext that they could provide support to the RPF.

  73. 18 June 1994

    Fighting continued in Kigali, in areas still under the control of the genocidal government forces. RPF troops advanced towards Butare in the south and Kibuye in the west, while Government forces continued to retreat.

  74. 19 June 1994

    France requested authorisation from the United Nations Security Council to deploy troops to Rwanda under a military operation. Italy, Tanzania, and opposition parties in Burundi and Zaire opposed the French proposal. Senegal was the only African country to support the French initiative.

  75. 21 June 1994

    French soldiers reached the Rwandan border with Zaire. Paul Keating, the former President of the UN Security Council, expressed concern that the arrival of French troops in Rwanda could worsen the situation and escalate the war. RPF Inkotanyi military leaders warned that if French troops entered Rwanda, they would be treated as invaders.

  76. 22 June 1994

    The French Government was granted permission to establish a so-called "humanitarian safe zone" in Rwanda under Operation Turquoise. This zone included the regions of Gikongoro, Cyangugu, and Kibuye (Western Rwanda). It became a safe haven for some of the masterminds and perpetrators of the Genocide, giving them an opportunity to flee into what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo).

  77. 23 June 1994

    French troops deployed to western and south-western Rwanda as part of ‘Opération Turquoise’, in areas still under the control of the genocidal Interim Government. Interahamwe militias, armed with machetes and clubs, enthusiastically welcomed the French soldiers as they crossed the border from Zaire into Rwanda.

  78. 24 June 1994

    In areas under RPF control, the population protested, demanding that French troops leave Rwanda. The French were accused of abandoning Tutsis who were massacred in areas they controlled. They were informed in advance about the planned killings of Tutsis in Bisesero, but took no action to prevent them. The French were also accused of training, arming, and providing military support to the Genocide perpetrators.

  79. 25 June 1994

    UNAMIR announced that it was unable to evacuate 400 civilians trapped in heavy fighting in central Kigali. French troops, accompanied by 800 Senegalese soldiers, were reported to be heading towards Ruhengeri in north-western Rwanda.

  80. 26 June 1994

    RPF Inkotanyi continued to recapture areas as Government troops fled. Journalist Sam Kiley informed French troops in the Omar unit, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Marin Gillier, that Tutsis had been killed in Bisesero, just a few kilometres from the French military camp.

  81. 27 June 1994

    Two nuns in Kibuye informed Lieutenant-Colonel Duval, the French officer in charge of the troops in Bisesero, that Tutsis who had fled there were about to be massacred. The soldiers met some of the people in hiding, and Duval told them he lacked the capacity to protect the area. He returned to Kibuye, promising to come back as soon as possible.

  82. 28 June 1994

    The UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Mr René Degni-Ségui, who had conducted an investigative mission in Rwanda from 16 to 20 June 1994, released a report on 28 June 1994 confirming that the killings of Tutsis since 7 April 1994 constituted genocide.

  83. 29 June 1994

    François Léotard, the French Minister of Defence, visited French troops deployed under Opération Turquoise near Bisesero in Kibuye, western Rwanda.

  84. 30 June 1994

    French troops were widely criticised for abandoning thousands of Tutsis who had fled to Bisesero in late June 1994. Although the troops had reached them on 27 June and promised protection, they withdrew and did not return until 30 June. In those three days, the Interahamwe launched a massacre, killing most of the people who had been left behind.

  85. 1 July 1994

    RPF forces fully took control of the regions of Kigali, Gitarama, and Butare. Radio Muhabura reported that Alexis Kanyarengwe, then leader of the RPF, had met with Tanzanian President Ally Hassan Mwinyi. Kanyarengwe told him that Tanzania could play a mediating role, given that the country was hosting individuals known to have participated in the Genocide.

  86. 3 July 1994

    France’s Foreign Minister at the time, Alain Juppé, announced the boundaries of 'Opération Turquoise' in the regions of Gikongoro, Cyangugu, and Kibuye. As RPF Inkotanyi forces advanced toward Gikongoro, they clashed with French troops stationed in the area. As the Inkotanyi prepared to take Butare, French soldiers evacuated over 1,000 people, relocating them to Burundi and Bukavu in Zaire.

  87. 4 July 1994

    amabwiriza yo gukumira ingabo za FPR Inkotanyi, zitangaza ko Kibuye, Gikongoro na Cyangugu zizahicungira umutekanoRPF Inkotanyi forces liberated the cities of Kigali and Butare, bringing an end to the Genocide against the Tutsi which had begun in April 1994. The genocidal regime fled to Zaire, accompanied by nearly two million civilians. French troops were instructed to block the advance of the RPF, and declared that they would be responsible for maintaining security in Kibuye, Gikongoro, and Cyangugu.

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