By Historical Correspondent
Kigali, Rwanda — April 6, 1994 became one of the darkest turning points in African history. On that day, a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down near Kigali International Airport, killing everyone on board. The assassination marked the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide, one of the most horrific mass killings of the 20th century.
Juvénal Habyarimana, a Hutu military officer born in 1937 in Gisenyi, came to power through a bloodless military coup in 1973, overthrowing Rwanda’s first president, Grégoire Kayibanda. Promising stability and unity, Habyarimana ruled Rwanda for 21 years under the Mouvement Révolutionnaire National pour le Développement (MRND), a one-party system dominated by elites from his home region.
Although his regime maintained an image of national peace, it systematically excluded the Tutsi minority from key sectors such as government, education, and the military. These ethnic divisions were a legacy of colonial rule, but under Habyarimana, they became deeply institutionalized.
Thousands of Tutsis had fled Rwanda following earlier waves of ethnic violence, forming an exiled community in neighboring countries, particularly Uganda. In the late 1980s, these refugees organized themselves into the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)—a rebel group aimed at returning home and gaining equal rights.
On October 1, 1990, the RPF launched a military invasion from Uganda, initiating a civil war. Although Habyarimana’s government received support from France and Zaire, the conflict strained his regime. After years of fighting and under international pressure, Habyarimana signed the Arusha Accords in 1993, agreeing to a power-sharing deal with the RPF.
As hopes for peace were slowly emerging, tragedy struck on the evening of April 6, 1994. A surface-to-air missile hit the presidential jet as it prepared to land in Kigali. Both Habyarimana and Ntaryamira, along with top military officials, died in the crash.
To this day, the identity of those responsible remains disputed. Hutu extremists blamed the RPF, while other sources suggest that hardliners within Habyarimana’s own government may have orchestrated the attack to derail the peace process.
Within hours of the crash, government-aligned militias, especially the Interahamwe, began a coordinated campaign of mass killing targeting Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Armed with machetes and encouraged by inflammatory radio broadcasts, these groups carried out one of the fastest and most brutal genocides in modern history.
In just 100 days, between 800,000 and 1 million people were killed. The genocide shocked the world, yet the international community largely failed to intervene in time.
The genocide ended when the Rwandan Patriotic Front, led by Paul Kagame, seized Kigali in July 1994. Millions of Hutus fled to neighboring countries, particularly the Democratic Republic of Congo, fearing revenge. This exodus triggered years of regional conflict in Central Africa.
Juvénal Habyarimana’s legacy is inextricably linked to the events that followed his death. While some remember him as a leader who maintained stability, others hold his regime responsible for entrenching ethnic divisions that fueled the genocide.
Today, Rwanda continues to recover from its past, building a new national identity focused on reconciliation and justice. Yet, the questions surrounding Habyarimana’s assassination and the failure to prevent the genocide remain central to understanding the country’s tragic history.
