On April 8, 1994, just one day after the Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi began, violence intensified nationwide. Every Tutsi became a target, hunted by soldiers, gendarmes, and Interahamwe militias determined to exterminate them.

President Paul Kagame has commended the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) for its decisive role in ending the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, emphasizing that no sanctions or external pressures can diminish the integrity, credibility, and professionalism of Rwanda’s security forces.

President Paul Kagame has issued a strong warning that Rwanda will not tolerate any threat to its people or a return to the violence of its past, reaffirming that the country’s history cannot be altered or distorted.

Rwanda has raised concerns over the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) ongoing integration of the FDLR militia, composed of remnants of the forces responsible for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi into its national army, FARDC, while MONUSCO is reportedly turning a blind eye.

António Guterres has urged the global community to draw firm lessons from the failures that allowed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi to unfold, warning that vigilance is needed to prevent similar atrocities.

April 6, 1994, marks a defining turning point in Rwanda’s history, setting in motion the execution of the Genocide against the Tutsi, a campaign of systematic extermination that had been planned for years under regimes that institutionalized ethnic division and discrimination.