Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan genocide (April-July 1994) killed between 500,000 and 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in 100 days — the fastest mass killing in recorded history, executed primarily with machetes and small arms by Interahamwe militia and ordinary citizens mobilised by RTLM radio ('cut down the tall trees'). The genocide was not improvised: identity cards had recorded ethnicity since Belgian colonial rule; lists of Tutsi households existed; the machetes were imported in bulk months in advance. The international response was one of the 20th century's most complete institutional failures. The UN force commander, General Romeo Dallaire, sent a fax to UN headquarters in January 1994 warning of genocide preparations; it was ignored. When the genocide began, the US and Belgium withdrew their forces; the Security Council reduced UNAMIR's mandate. The Clinton administration deliberately avoided using the word 'genocide' — which would have triggered legal obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention — until the killing was nearly complete. The genocide's legacy produced the Responsibility to Protect doctrine (2005), the expansion of international criminal law, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which convicted senior perpetrators including former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda.
- Year: 1994 CE
- Category: Political
