As the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda entered its 39th day, killings of Tutsi were intensifying across the country under the extremist regime and Interahamwe militias.
On May 15, 1994, Pope John Paul II publicly called on the international community to intervene and stop the massacres taking place in Rwanda.
In a statement released that day, the Pope acknowledged that genocide was unfolding in Rwanda and admitted that some members of the Catholic Church were implicated in the atrocities.
The appeal came as mass killings continued in several parts of the country, including the former Musambira Commune, where reports indicated that Tutsi children were among those targeted.
Historical accounts show that extremist militias mobilised children and armed them with machetes and clubs to participate in attacks against fellow Tutsi children under the supervision of adults.
The killings followed earlier attacks in the area that had mainly targeted men and young boys, while women and children had initially been spared before subsequent massacres were carried out.
On the same day, Radio France Internationale (RFI) aired an interview with former Interahamwe leader Robert Kajuga, who denied the mass killings being committed by the government of Jean Kambanda, the military and militia groups.
Kajuga instead falsely claimed that those being killed were members and sympathisers of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
