The United Nations (UN), which already has peacekeepers in the country to carry out a monitoring mission (UNAMIR), has made unsuccessful attempts to broker a ceasefire. On April 21, as the crisis deepened, the United Nations voted to reduce UNAMIR’s presence in the country from 2,500 troops to 270.
However, on May 17, the United Nations reversed its decision and voted to establish a 5,500-strong force, composed of soldiers mainly from African countries, but those additional troops could not be deployed immediately. In June 1994, the United Nations supported the deployment of French-led military forces to establish a safe zone.
After many efforts, a transitional government of national unity was established on July 19, 1994 with Hutu Pasteur Bizimungu as president and RPF leader Paul Kagame, a Tutsi, as vice president. . The genocide ended.
In just 100 days, the bloody massacre in Rwanda left more than 800,000 civilians, mainly Tutsi, dead, including more than 300,000 children. According to data published by the United Nations, only about 300,000 to 400,000 Tutsis survived by fleeing to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire. On average every day, 10,000 people are murdered and more than 250,000 women and girls are raped.
Subsequent statistics, including those from the Rwandan government, showed even higher numbers. Up to 2,000,000 Rwandans (both Hutu and Tutsi) fled, most to eastern Zaire (later to become the Democratic Republic of Congo) and did not return home until many years later at the call of the new government.
Since the end of the genocide, about 95,000 children have been orphaned and about 2,000 women have been infected with HIV due to rape.
After the genocide ended, Rwanda faced many years of reconciliation and social recovery. The focus is on promoting national unity and rebuilding the country’s economy and prosecuting genocide.
In 1994, the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to prosecute and try those responsible for the genocide. The first trial took place in 1998 and sentenced former Rwandan Prime Minister Jean Kambanda to life in prison.
The roadblock came in 1999, when Rwanda severed ties with the ICTR after a court ordered the release of Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, a prominent genocide suspect. He was accused of orchestrating a media campaign urging Hutu to kill their Tutsi neighbors. However, his release was suspended and in February 2000 the Rwandan government resumed the trial with the ICTR. Barayagwiza stood trial later that year and was sentenced in 2003.
ICTR completed its final trial on December 20, 2012 and concluded on December 31, 2015. At that time, the agency prosecuted 93 suspects, 62 of whom were convicted. Among these are a series of high-ranking officials, ministers, army and police generals. However, the maximum sentence is only life imprisonment.
However, there were also top figures in this massacre who escaped. The most famous are Defense Minister Augustin Bizimana, media businessman Félicien Kabuga and Protais Mpiranya – head of the Presidential Guard. Bizimana was confirmed dead in 2020. Kabuga was arrested in 2020 but three years later was declared mentally unfit to stand trial. In 2022 Mpiranya was confirmed dead.