Chronology

1885

German Empire given responsibility for Rwanda-Burundi region at Berlin Conference.

1899

Germans set up civil administration.

1916

Belgian troops arrive as Germans withdraw.

1919

Treaty of Versailles entrusts region to Belgium as mandated territory.

1946

League of Nations mandate replaced by United Nations Trusteeship.

1957

The Hutu Manifesto demands independence from both the Belgians and the Tutsi monarchy which since 1931 has collaborated with Belgians.

1959

After death of Mwami (King) Mutara III, some 100,000 Tutsi are killed in a revolt against Tutsi rule and more than 200,000 flee into exile.

1961

The Hutu majority seizes power, abolishes the monarchy and proclaims a republic, recognized by Belgium. Rwanda and Burundi become separate states.

1962

Gregoire Kayibanda becomes first president of the independent Hutu republic and restricts his government to Hutus.

1965

The ruling party, PARMEHUTU, obtains 97% in a general election and Rwanda is declared a one-party state.

1973

In a non-violent coup, Juvenal Habyarimana overcomes Kayibanda who soon after dies in jail.

1975

The MRND, Habyarimana’s party, replaces PARMEHUTU as single ruling party.

1986

Rwandan (Mainly Tutsi) refugees contribute significantly to the victory in Uganda of Museveni’s army.

1988

In Washington a gathering of Rwandan refugees from all over the world endorse their unconditional repatriation as the only possible solution to their problems.

1990

Fred Rwigyema, formerly a Tutsi major general in Museveni’s army, leads an invasion of Rwanda from Uganda on 30 September. French, Belgian and Zairean troops help to repulse invasion.

1991

Another invasion from Uganda is repulsed in January. On June 8 Habyarimana promises constitutional reform and a multi-party system.

1992

A transitional government is formed in April to hold power until the 1995 multi-party elections agreed to by MRND, who later reject agreement. This government never took power.

1993

Three-year war ends when Habyarimana signs Peace Accord with RPF in Anusha, Tanzania, on 4 August. In June, Melchior Ndadaye wins Burundi’s presidential election and becomes the first Hutu president. In October his assassination by Tutsi officers in a military coup provokes extreme violence.

1994

5 April – UNAMIR’s mandate extended to 29 July by the Security Council. Next day Habyarimana and President Cyprien Ntariyamira of Burundi die together in a plane crash and the genocide starts in Kigali.

9 April – Belgian and French paratroopers arrive in Kigali to rescue expatriates.

12 April – Government forces and RPA begin the battle for Kigali. Throughout the country thousands of Tutsi are being massacred every day.

21 April – UNAMIR troops reduced from 2500 to 270 by Security Council Resolution 912.

17 May – Over half a million Tutsi have been slaughtered. Security Council Resolution 918 calls for the end of the massacres and increases the Blue Helmets to 5500 (UNAMIR II)

17 June – Numbers of victims has risen to three-quarters of a million. A French initiative for ‘humanitarian’ intervention approved by Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

30 June – Massacres described as ‘genocide’ by UN Human Rights Commission Special Rapporteur, in a detailed report.

1 July – UN Security Council Resolution 935 calls for the setting up of a committee of ‘impartial experts’ to investigate the evidence for ‘possible acts of genocide’.

4 July – RPF forces capture Kigali.

14 July – RPF forces take Ruhengeri, the main town in northern Rwanda, and tens of thousands of refugees flee over the border into Zaire.

17 July – RPF forces capture Habyarimana’s last bastion, Gisenyi.

18 July – The end of the war is declared and the RPF install a new government of national unity with a Hutu President and Hutu Prime Minister.