Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The 100-day slaughter of approximately 800,000 Tutsi by Hutu-led government forces and militias satisfies every criterion of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
State media (RTLM), politicians, and local leaders openly called for Tutsi extermination—"cut down the tall trees." Planning documents and weapon distribution prove premeditation.
~75% of the Tutsi population killed nationwide—in homes, churches, schools, roadblocks. The killing followed administrative boundaries, orchestrated from the top down.
Machetes, clubs, firearms, grenades, fire, and systematic sexual violence were used to terrorize and eliminate.
Victims were selected solely by ethnicity (Tutsi), reinforced by ID cards and physical stereotypes propagated for decades.
The interim government, army (FAR), gendarmerie, and Interahamwe/Impuzamugambi militias acted in concert. Officials who resisted were assassinated.
Despite clear early warnings (e.g., the "Genocide Fax" from UNAMIR commander Roméo Dallaire), the UN Security Council withdrew peacekeepers; no Chapter VII intervention was authorized.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and Rwandan Gacaca courts later convicted dozens of planners and perpetrators, cementing the legal classification.