“Kill the cockroaches”, amongst other hateful messages, were broadcast from the Radio Mille Collines owned by Félicen Kabuga. The Hutu financier was arrested on May 17 in Paris following his role in importing and distributing thousands of machetes to be used in the Rwandan genocide, with a $5 million bounty for his arrest after 26 years on the run.

His arrest of course refers to the massacres in 1994 that raged across Rwanda between the predominant Hutu ethnic group and the Tutsi’s, with an estimated 800, 000 killed. The brutal killing campaign was ordered by the Hutu nationalists after years of tension and violence between the two groups, having Rwanda declared independent of Belgium by the United Nations in 1962.

Members of the Rwandese Patriotic Front (PRF) consisting mainly of Tutsi refugees in Uganda saw hostility towards them by the Hutu people, leading to negotiations and the establishment of a transitional government consisting of the PRF by Major Habyarimana (a Hutu), which angered many of the Hutu’s in Rwanda.

The bloody campaign ensued.

Events that Followed

On April 6 1994, a plane carrying Major Habyarimana was shot down, killing all onboard and later many Belgian peacekeepers, leading to the withdrawal of troops by the United Nations. The door was then ajar for the bloody battle to begin, with government controlled radio encouraging Rwandan citizens to murder the Tutsi’s, after they resisted much of the genocide occurring in central and southern Rwanda.

The incentive: rewards with food, drugs, drink and money. 800, 000 were dead in three months. Husbands killed their Tutsi wives in fear of their murder by militants, and neighbours killed neighbours, with machetes kept in homes. Many Tutsi women were taken away as sex slaves.

Surprisingly, the RPF continued to resist and had gained control over most of Rwanda by July, with almost 2 million Hutu’s fleeing to refugee camps in what is now known as Congo. A coalition government was established as a result, electing Hutu Pasteur Bizimungu as president and Tutsi Paul Kagame as vice.

The withdrawal of U.N troops in April may have certainly escalated the violence allowing a somewhat “free reign” to kill, with the intervention of five thousand French U.N troops in late June perhaps a little late on the calendar. Former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali admitted that “in Rwanda nobody was interested”.

The Trials

It was particularly difficult to persecute those involved during the trials in 1994, given the unknown whereabouts of the suspects. The trials took place in the International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda held in Tanzania, with the first conviction in 1998 of genocide for Jean-Paul Akayesu and his actions.

Rwanda utilised its domestic court system and its community courts known as gacaca, however their approaches saw many convicted without evidence or arrested on unreasonable grounds. This undoubtedly put incredible stress on the justice system, with many self representing themselves in court due to the high volume of caseloads for defence lawyers.

Prisons were unable to cope during the 1990’s, with thousands dying due to overcrowding and life-threatening deadly conditions, with just 1, 292 of the 13, 000 prisoners having been tried in 1998. Whilst the gucaca had a large focus on reconciliation and punitive justice, it was not fully functioning until 2002, again with allegations of corruption and unfair trials.

In 1998, 22 people were publicly executed without access to legal assistance and for summary offences. Of the many others convicted to die, their sentences were commuted in 2007 after Rwanda abolished the death penalty.

Today

The country continues to heal from the slaughter, with many “children of killers” stigmatised after their mothers were victims of violent gang rapes. Given the wide killings of men and women, children now make up more than half of the 11.9 million population, with AIDS remaining a prevalent issue due to its rapid spread during the genocide.

Rwanda now has six “reconciliation villages”, where perpetrators and victims live alongside each other established by Christian organisation Prison Fellowship Rwanda to initiate healing between the two groups. Tasian Nkundiye was imprisoned for eight years after hacking his neighbour, a Tutsi, to death with a machete; he now lives near his widow, and are since friends. “Ever since I apologized to her after prison life, confessing to my crimes and asking her for forgiveness, she has accepted me. I even leave my children with her when I am away.”

Rwanda continues to push forward, with President Paul Kagame bringing further economic growth and stability to the nation, with 64% of parliament consisting of women, which is the highest rate worldwide.

Of course, Rwanda will not forget what happened overnight. For now, many of its people look to peace, with Ndundiye explaining “I found I could not live with anger forever”.