May 31, 1994 marked a pivotal moment during the Genocide against the Tutsi, as the United Nations Security Council received the first official report confirming that genocide was taking place in Rwanda.
The date fell on the 56th day of the 100-day Genocide against the Tutsi, at a time when killings were continuing across the country and the genocidal government was intensifying efforts to exterminate Tutsi in areas that had not yet been liberated by the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi).
As massacres escalated, RPF-Inkotanyi forces were simultaneously advancing operations aimed at rescuing civilians and bringing the killings to an end.
The report submitted to the UN Security Council on May 31, 1994, provided the first formal acknowledgment by the international body that genocide was being committed in Rwanda. It was based on findings gathered by Iqbal Riza and Major General Maurice Baril, the Military Adviser to the UN Secretary-General, following their visit to Rwanda between May 22 and May 27, 1994.
Their assessment documented widespread and systematic massacres targeting Tutsi, confirming what survivors, humanitarian organizations, and observers had been reporting since the violence erupted in April 1994.
Despite growing evidence of mass killings, the UN Security Council had largely avoided officially describing the atrocities as genocide since the start of the massacres on April 7, 1994.
The submission of the report marked a turning point in international recognition of the Genocide against the Tutsi. However, it came nearly two months after the killings had begun and while hundreds of thousands of victims had already lost their lives.
The delayed acknowledgment remains one of the most criticized failures of the international community, which has since faced scrutiny for not acting decisively to prevent or stop the Genocide against the Tutsi.
