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Rwanda is a very small country located around the center of Africa. It's size is about 10,000 Miles², just a bit smaller than the size of Maryland.

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The 1991 Rwandan census gives a good idea of the population during the Massacre. During this time, Rwanda had a population of 7,099,844 people. 91.1% of those people where Hutus, 8.4% of people were Tutsis, and the other .5% were made up of people of other ethnicities.

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The Hutus embarked on a death campaign using spears, hatchets, or any weapon they could find. Hutus people would turn in their neighbors, or even family members. An estimated 800,000 were killed in the first six weeks. In the end, about one fifth of the country’s population would be dead.

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Before Rwanda gained independence from Belgium, the Belgians favored the Tutsis because they had educational privileges and jobs in the government. This created tensions between the two groups: the Tutsis and the Hutus.

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Identity cards were used to identify the ethnicity of all Rwandan people. This would give the government information to know who was a Tutsi and who was a Hutu.

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The Radio (RTLM) was heavily used during the Rwandan Genocide. The radio was run by the government, and they instructed the Hutus on how to murder the Tutsis and where they could be found. In addition, it spread false rumors, claiming that the Tutsis needed to be killed because they were going to start a genocide of their own. The United States, the only country in the world with technical abilities to jam this hate radio refused. They claimed that it was too expensive and it would go against people's freedom of speech.

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When the Hutus President, Juvenal Habyarimana died in a suspicious place crash in April 6th, 1994, the Hutus immediately blamed the Tutsis.

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About 800,000 people were killed in the first six weeks, and in the end one fifth of the country’s population would be dead. Hutu militias, backed, trained, and equipped by Rwandan government forces were responsible for the majority of the killing. Thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus (Hutus people who refused to kill or who attempted to hide Tutsis) were murdered. The largest massacres occurs in areas where Tutsis had gathered together for protection, such as churches, schools, and abandoned UN posts. In addition, rape was used as a weapon, and those with HIV/AIDS were used to sexually assault woman. As a result, many women were intentionally infected with HIV/AIDS.

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The U.S. and other countries did little to address the conflicts in Rwanda. Once the killing began, the world leaders condemned, but they didn't do anything about it. In addition, the U.S. officials in the Clinton administration refused to call the killings a "genocide". The UN peacekeepers were removed from Rwanda. After the Genocide, Clinton and others apologized to Rwanda for not helping Tutsis people, as well as giving the Hutus people refuge after the Genocide.

"We come here today partly in recognition of the fact that we in the United States and the world community did not do as much as we could have and should have done to try to limit what occurred.” - Bill Clinton

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The radio station RTLM   provoked the Hutu's to murder after referring to the Tutsi's as "cockroaches" and "devils".

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The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has tried more than fifty of the top organizers of the genocide including Theoneste Bagosora. However, the Rwandan government has struggled with the task of trying thousands of lower-ranking individuals accused of participating in the genocide. In order to speed up the genocide trials, the Ganaca Court system was created, and about 85% of the population has been involved in the ganaca in some capacity.

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Hutu extremists organized the Interahamwe and the Impuzamugambi, which were civilian death squads to carry out the majority of the killing during the Genocide.

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The Interahamme ("Those Who Attack Together") and the Impuzamugambi ("Those Who Have the Same Goal") were trained before the genocide to fight and kill others. After the plane crash of Juvenal Habyarimana, the Impuzamugambi and the Interahamme set up road blocks and  barricades and began slaughtering Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In addition, when General Dallaire was instructed to inform the Hutu leaders that a genocide was about to begin, the Hutu leaders were already well aware because they were the organizers themselves.

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This is a picture of a church filled with the remains of Tutsis people who were seeking protection.

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General Dallaire was the head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda. General Dallaire wrote a message to the UN saying that the Hutus were planning to murder the Tutsis and requested for more troops and a stronger mandate. Also, Dallaire made an urgent request to be granted permission to seize all Hutu weapon catches. Unfortunately, his requests were denied by the UN. However, he chose to stay in Rwanda and attempted to stop the genocide.

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While there have been some positive changes since the genocide including the fact that both Hutus and Tutsis hold government positions, many Tutsis and Hutu still have grudges against each other. Countless Hutus and Tutsi live as displaced persons or refugees. Intermarriage and close friendships between Tutsis and Hutus aren't as common as they used to be.

"Rwanda has a problem. On the surface, things are becoming normal. But some of the flowers which are flowering have bodies beneath them."  - Ester Mujaway, Rwandan counselor

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Silas was a Hutu soldier during the genocide. He was unable to bear the brutality of the genocide, and soon began smuggling Tutsis across the border into Burundia and safety. He was able to smuggle more than 50 people to safety before he and his family had to flee to avoid violence.

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The Rwandan government has established memorials dedicated to the victims of the genocide and museums to educate citizens of the massacres.

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The Hutus and Tutsis were the two ethnicities who would eventually kill each other during the genocide. Tutsis below.