Surviving the Slaughter: The Ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire

Chronology of Political Events in Rwanda

Chronology of Political Events in Rwanda 1959 Social revolution. The Hutu majority rebels against the Tutsi monarchy. Thousands of Tutsi flee the killings and take refuge in neighboring countries, particularly Uganda, Burundi, and the Belgian Congo. 1962 Rwanda becomes an independent republic with Grégoire Kayibanda as president. 1962–67 Tutsi rebels carry out armed attacks against Rwanda, attempting to assume power by force. 12.1963 Tutsi refugees launch a raid from Burundi. 1972 Widespread massacres of Hutu in Burundi, carried out by the Burundian army, the majority of whom are Tutsi. Rwandan Hutu take this attack personally and avenge themselves on the Rwandan Tutsi, in particular the intelligentsia. In 1973 hundreds of Tutsi flee to neighboring countries. 1973 Coup d’état installs Juvénal Habyarimana as head of state. 10.1.1990 Under the name of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), Tutsi rebels based in Uganda invade Rwanda. 3.1991 Beginning of multiparty system. 2.1993 Large-scale offensive by the RPF. More than nine hundred thousand people displaced. 8.4.1993 Signing of Arusha Accords between the Rwandan government and the RPF. 10.21.1993 Assassination of the democratically elected Burundian President Melchior Ndadaye. Many Rwandans begin to have doubts about the democratic process. 11.1.1993 Deployment of troops from UNAMIR. 12.28.1993 A battalion of RPF troops arrives in Kigali to protect RPF politicians. 4.6.1994 The presidential airplane is shot down. President Habyarimana is killed along with the head of the Rwandan army. Beginning 255 of the Tutsi genocide and massacres of those Hutu accused of being allies of the RPF. 4.7.1994 Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiymana is assassinated along with ten soldiers from the UN. The battalion of RPF troops based in Kigali attacks FAR. 4.8.1994 Formation of an interim government. Jean Kambanda named Prime Minister. 4.21.1994 UN Security Council decides to reduce the number of UNAMIR troops from 2,500 to 278. 6.22.1994 UN Resolution 929 authorizes humanitarian aid under French auspices. The following day, Operation Turquoise begins. French soldiers enter Rwanda through Goma and Bukavu. 7.4.1997 Kigali falls to the RPF. Two days later a transitional government is announced. 7.15.1994 Massive exodus of Rwandan refugees to Zaire. In a few days more than 1.5 million people enter Kivu through Goma and Bukavu. 7.21–28.94 During this week between fifty thousand and eighty thousand refugees die of cholera in Goma. 8.1994 Deployment of UNAMIR II. Complete retreat of Operation Turquoise. New exodus of refugees. Installation of the refugees in camps in the regions of North and South Kivu. 11.8.1994 The UN Security Council decides to create the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to prosecute those Hutu responsible for acts of genocide and other serious human rights violations. 4.11.1995 Attack on Birava camp in the area of Bukavu. This attack, which left thirty dead and around one hundred wounded, was attributed to the RPF. 8.16.1995 The UN lifts the embargo on arms deliveries to Rwanda. The Zairian government protests this decision and braces for an escalation of violence in the region. 8.19.1995 Operation aimed at forced repatriation of Rwandan and Burundian refugees. Thirteen thousand Rwandan refugees and two thousand Burundians are forced to return to their countries. 10.1995 Zairian government delivers ultimatum to the refugees. They must leave the country by December 31, 1995. 1.1996 Zairian authorities forbid any economic activity or youth organizations in the Rwandan refugee camps. 256 Chronology of Political Events in Rwanda p 2.1996 Administrative closure of Nyangezi II camp near Bukavu and Kibumba camp near Goma. For two weeks the camps are surrounded by Zairian troops. 2.15.1996 The Zairian army arrests ten Rwandans suspected of being “intimidators ” and transfers them to Kinshasa to be imprisoned. 3.8.1996 End of UNAMIR II mandate. 6.29.1996 Madame Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees , appeals to the Rwandan government to send “signals” to convince the refugees that is safe to return home. 9.1996 Kinshasa accuses the armed bands of Banyamulenge of attacking Zaire from Burundian territory and accuses the UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration, and the Rwandan , Burundian, and Ugandan armies of giving them logistical support. Armed people cross the border between Rwanda and Zaire heading toward the Mulenge Plateau in the province of South...