Peacebuilding and Reconciliation: An Introduction

1994

The Rwandan Genocide

The Rwandan genocide is regarded as one of the most violent of modern day genocides. The conflict stemmed over the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana, the President of Rwanda at the time, and also a member of the Hutu ethnic group. His assassination led to an increase in tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis. The Tutsi refugees formed a rebel faction and attacked the Hutus by entering through Northern Rwanda from Uganda. Many Tutsis and pro-peace Hutus were killed as a result of this devastating conflict, and in just 100 days after the conflict erupted, between 500,000 and 1million Rwandans were killed.