Timeline
Timeline
June 15, 1994
France declares its intention to send troops to Rwanda ostensibly to save the lives of Tutsi who are being massacred by Hutu militias and troops of the Rwandan Government that France supported financially and militarily.
June 13, 1994
RPF forces take over Gitarama. The 30th Organization of African Unity summit opens in Tunisia with Interim Government President Sindikubwabo representing Rwanda while the RPF delegation was not invited to attend. The OAU summit organizers face criticism for inviting a representative of the regime that has perpetrated genocide in Rwanda, to represent the country.
June 11, 1994
Delegates at the Organization of African Unity ministerial meeting in Tunisia agree to send troops to Rwanda as a UN protection force of African nations. Zimbabwe, Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Congo and Malawi agree to contribute troops for the mission despite the financial and logistical problems they identify.
10 June 1994
Government forces and militias continue to massacre civilians. They kill Tutsi Catholic Brothers and 70 other displaced people who took refuge in the Saint Famille Catholic Church in Kigali. The killers drag 190 people from another church compound in the Kigali suburb of Nyamirambo and kill 170 of them. The majority are Tutsi who have been seeking refuge in the church since the outbreak of violence in early April. The New York Times publishes an article with the headline “Officials Told to Avoid Calling Rwanda Killings ‘Genocide’.” The newspaper reports that “to avoid the rise of moral pressure to stop the mass killing in Rwanda, the Clinton Administration has instructed its spokesmen not to describe the deaths there as genocide, even though some senior officials believe that is exactly what they represent.”
4 June 1994
For the second time, UNAMIR suspends the evacuation of civilians caught in the war zones in Kigali because its convoy came under fire the previous day. A UNAMIR spokesman says the convoy was carrying civilians to a Government-controlled area.
3 June 1994
Over 300 people are evacuated from Saint Famille Catholic Church and from the Amahoro Stadium.
2 June 1994
Killings take place in Tumba Commune. The Interim Government in Kigali makes arrangements to purchase 40,000 hand grenades and 300,000 rounds of ammunition from Egypt worth 765,000 US dollars. RPF forces liberate the town of Kabgayi in Gitarama Prefecture allowing for the rescue of hundreds of survivors. Most survivors are evacuated to Bugesera in the east because the genocide continues in southern parts of the country. Representatives of the RPF and Government forces meet for the second time this week at UNAMIR headquarters in Kigali for talks aimed at reaching a ceasefire. The RPF representative, Colonel Frank Mugambage, reports that the conditions for ceasefire talks are being violated because people are still being killed in Government-controlled areas and Radio Rwanda and RTLM continue to broadcast anti-Tutsi propaganda.
1 June 1994
Bodies of genocide victims are found between Butamwa, Mount Kigali and the mosque in Nyamirambo. The American Senator Edward Kennedy sends a letter to the US Secretary of State requesting the jamming of Rwandan radio broadcasts “that are continuing to incite genocide of the Tutsi people” and urging US assistance to end incitement to genocide by RTLM.
31 May 1994
Journalists from France, Canada, Australia, and South Africa visit the areas that RPF troops recently captured in Kigali. They witness the bodies of civilians killed by retreating militias and Government troops. The UN Secretary-General reports to the Security Council that an estimated 250,000 – 500,000 have been killed in Rwanda, and that the killing was systematic and carried out by the armed forces of the Interim Government, the Interahamwe, and the Presidential Guard. He also recognises the on-going inflammatory role of RTLM radio and the 1.5 million displaced persons and approximately 400,000 refugees in neighboring countries. He recommends extension of the UNAMIR mandate for six months.
30 May 1994
RFP forces continue to rescue civilians from hideouts as they advance towards Gitarama town, the headquarters of the Interim Government. The first meeting is held between military staff officers of the Interim Government and RPF force commanders at UNAMIR headquarters in an attempt to broker a ceasefire as proposed by UN Resolution 918. The parties fail to reach agreement on the truce but agree to continue the exchange of civilians trapped behind the front lines of the opposing forces.