The initial events of the Rwandan Genocide set the course for the subsequent events and, ultimately, the genocide itself. A key figure was Colonel Théoneste Bagosora, who had authority over the presidential guard. Further, as the Minister of Defence, it is asserted that he orchestrated the genocide.

The week that followed the attack

Assassination of Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana and moderate Hutus

Lead by Colonel Bagosora, members of the Forces armées rwandaises along with members of the gendarme argued with General Roméo Dallaire, who was the commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), during the night of 6 to 7 April. UNAMIR was the military force representing the legal authority of the prime minister to retake control of the situation. General Dallaire decided to send an escort to protect Madame Agathe Uwiligiyimana and to permit her to launch an appeal for calm on the radio the following morning. However, the presidential guard took control of the state radio station that morning and Madame Uwilingyimana had to cancel her speech. In the middle of the day, the presidential guard assassinated her.

Other moderate people in positions of power that were in favour of the Arusha accords were quickly assassinated. The attempt to assassinate the prime minister hurried by the Arusha accords: Faustin Twagiramungu was protected by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).

Triggering of the first massacres starting at sunrise on 7 April 1994

In a few hours the Presidential Guard and the Interahamwe militiamen started fighting in Kigali and in certain other regions of Rwanda, especially in the North West. Even if the attack was not known beforehand, it appears that for all Rwandans, it signified a strong and unanimous signal. Those who were going to kill knew what they needed to do, and the Tutsis and moderate Hutus understood immediately that they were going to be attacked.

Assassination of 10 Belgian Blue Helmets

The presidential guard captured the fifteen Blue Helmets, troops from UNAMR, who had to protect the Prime Minister, Madame Uwilingiyimana. Five out of the fifteen were Ghanaian and were quickly set free. The other ten were Belgian and were executed. Bagosora and his entourage immediately advised General Dallaire that it was better for the Belgians to leave immediately because the radio accused them of being the perpetrators behind the attack on the presidential aeroplane, which explained, according to them, the uncontrollable anger of the group. General Dallaire had been told by an informer named Jean-Pierre in January 1994 that there was a plan to attack the Belgian soldiers in order to make them leave the UNAMIR, where they formed the largest contingent of soldiers.

Evacuation of foreign personnel by Belgium and France

France and Belgium formed two separate militarily assisted evacuation operations whose actions are detailed in the role of the international community section. France also evacuated dignitaries, families Habyarimana regime officials, and the children in a presidential orphanage.

These evacuations were the cause of two very large controversies: One of which was the capacity of Western troops to stop the genocide cold. At the time, there were American soldiers Burundi, two hundred kilometres south of Kigali. Larger groups of Western troops were also a few hours from Rwanda by aeroplane. Soldiers agree that these troops had the power to retake control of Kigali and to decisively support UNAMIR, which had a lamentable lack of equipment. The other controversy related to the complete refusal to evacuate the Tutsi. Only Belgium evacuated a very small number of Tutsi who had succeeded with certain aplomb to negotiate and to infiltrate themselves into the evacuated groups.

Composition of the interim government

The new government was created after the assassination of the Prime Minister, Madame Uwilingiyimana. Its prime minister was the first to be condemned by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: Jean Kambanda , who pled guilty. Read sub-chapters 14.4 to 14.8 of the United Nations report. This government was characterised by controlling the genocide. The ICTR has sentenced or is in the process of sentencing the majority of its members. It seems that there was a fight for influence between Colonel Bagosora, who controlled the presidential guard, and the chief of staff of the FAR who wished to create a civil government. This government was thus the result of a trade-off of circumstances and Bagosora, who renounced a military government "set up” according to the terms of the agreement with the UN, a civil government formed of adept members of the Hutu Power motivated by the extermination of the Tutsi.

Civil war starts again between the FAR and the RPF

The Arusha accords, concluded in August 1993, permitted 600 FPR soldiers to be moved into Kigali, however it seems that the FPR exceeded that number. The date of the resumption of the fighting between the FPR and the FAR was the source of many controversies, partly related the attribution of responsibilities in the attack of 6 April. General Quesnot, Major Chief of State of the Elysée at the time of the genocide, supported in his hearing in front of the French deputies that the FPR launched into action immediately after the attack. The French deputies, after various verifications, did not retain this version of events and started an effective resumption of fighting on behalf of the FPR on 10 April 1994. In his book, General Romeo Dallaire speaks of provocations from 7 April by the FAR with respect to the of posted FPR battalionin Kigali. Whatever the real answer is, after the first few days of the genocide the FPR deployed all its combatants against the FAR.

Responsibilities for the attack of 6 April 1994

The people behind the attack of 6 April 1994 are still poorly elucidated today. The source of the missiles that destroyed the presidential aeroplane is subject to much controversy, controversy which is even more relevant as the attack was the prelude to one of the worst horrors of the African continent.

Several hypothesises have been advanced and have been examined by the Belgian [1] and French [2] parliaments, as well as by the United Nations [3]. The two most plausible explanations accuse one of the group of Hutu extremists, distressed by the advancement of negations with the FPR, the political and military adversary of the current regime. Among the other hypothesises that have been examined, there is one that implicates the French military, however this theory was seriously questioned over what would interest the French in attacking the Rwandan government.

The FPR and president Paul Kagame have always denied any involvement in the attack, however a recent French investigation lead by Jean-Louis Bougière , known as an "anti-terrorist" judge, concluded differently (Le Monde 10 March 2004 and following days). The French newspaper ‘’Le Monde’’ annotated Brougière's report, but it was not published. The affaire has subsequently been suspended.

The UN has not done an investigation into the attack. In front of the Belgian senate, the person mandated by the UN to lead the investigation, Mr Degni-Segui , declared that he was not able to get a hold of the required components for his work from France, nor from the FAR. On the other hand, the French captain Paul Barril alleged on French television to possess the black box of the aeroplane. It seems that according to witnesses as well as General Roméo Dallaire that French troops surrendered the debris of the device after the attack, even though officially only the presidential guard had access to it. The judicial and political complexity of the affair requiring the nomination of a investigation committee, however the UN refused, faulting a "budgeting error."

The aeroplane's black box was the subject of a wild media series in 2004. Apparently found by the UN after the insistence of the French newspaper Le Monde, an expert revealed that it could not be the one from Habyarimana's aeroplane. This box, which has become mythological, should not reveal anything about those who launched the missiles.

See also

Example of the discussion of the adherents of the dissertation on the responsibly of the FPR in the attack. This document is found on the "www.inshuti.org" site considered to be close to revisionists over the genocide in Rwanda the partisans of Habyarimana's former regime.