May 9, 1994, marked the third day of the Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, a day when civilians were abandoned while French forces evacuated foreign nationals.
Operation Amaryllis, launched by France, focused on removing its citizens and other foreigners, leaving countless Tutsis exposed to Interahamwe militias and government soldiers who carried out systematic killings.
According to Rwanda’s Minister of Unity and National Reconciliation, Dr. Jean Damascène Bizimana, French troops witnessed the massacres but did not intervene. Families were separated, and pleas for help were ignored. Many Tutsi employees of the French embassy were killed, and children at the Ste Agathe orphanage, linked to Agathe Kanziga, wife of then-President Habyarimana, were forcibly taken. Refuge was denied to children of the late Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana, who had been assassinated two days earlier.
Meanwhile, key architects of the genocide, including financier Félicien Kabuga and RTLM propagandist Ferdinand Nahimana, were evacuated by French forces, underscoring the grim reality: perpetrators escaped while victims were left behind.
On the same day, Interahamwe militias and government soldiers carried out massacres across Rwanda. Over 500 Tutsis were killed at Saint Vincent Pallotti Catholic Parish in Gikondo, Kigali, including children.
Other killings occurred in Nyakabanda, Murama, Murundi, Mwiri, Nyamirama, Kabare, Kabuye, Nyagatare, Zaza, Kiramuruzi, and Nyamagumba. Churches, schools, and hospitals, thought to be safe, became sites of mass slaughter. By the end of the day, thousands of Tutsis had been systematically executed.
May 9, 1994, exposes the deadly consequences of international inaction. While French forces prioritized evacuating foreigners, Tutsi civilians were abandoned to massacre, leaving an indelible mark on the history of the genocide.
