May 23, 1994 marked the 47th day of the 100-day Genocide against the Tutsi and the 143rd day of the year, as the genocidal government continued carrying out massacres against Tutsi across the country.
On this day in 1994, a 36-hour ceasefire officially began following a decision taken by the RPF-Inkotanyi during a visit by Iqbal Riza, then Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General, to Mulindi.
Riza’s mission was aimed at holding discussions with the RPF on facilitating the deployment of 500 Ghanaian troops serving under the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), who were stranded in Nairobi awaiting transfer to Kigali.
However, the ceasefire was quickly violated after forces of the genocidal government opened fire on RPF positions.
The same day also saw the return of about 2,000 Rwandan refugees who had fled to camps in Burundi. Most of the returnees were from Bugesera, Gitarama, Butare and Gikongoro.
During the final week of May 1994, authorities in Uganda recovered and buried 3,500 bodies of victims of the Genocide against the Tutsi that had been dumped into Lake Victoria.
