Genocide in Rwanda: Nation marks 25th anniversary of Mass Massacre

Commemorations began in Rwanda to mark the 25th anniversary of the genocide that killed about one-tenth of the population.

The country will mourn for 100 days, the time it took in 1994 for 800,000 Rwandans to be slaughtered.

Most were Tutsi belonging to the minority, killed by extremists belonging to the Hutu ethnic group.

President Paul Kagame, who led the rebel force that ended the genocide, will light a commemorative flame at the capital's memorial, Kigali.

• Orphans continue to search for their families

How is Rwanda going to remember it?

A week of commemoration activities will begin with Mr. Kagame who will light the flame at the memorial, where some 250,000 victims would be buried.

The 61-year-old president, who has led the country since the end of the genocide, is due to deliver a speech at the Kigali convention center.

He will then lead a vigil at the Amahoro National Stadium, which has been used by UN officials to try to protect Tutsis during the killings.

Who is present?

A number of foreign leaders should be present at some of these events. They are mainly African, although Prime Minister Charles Michel will represent the former colonial leader, Belgium.

French President Emmanuel Macron will not be here. This week he appointed a group of experts to investigate France's role in the genocide.

France was a close ally of the Hutu-led government before the mbadacres and was accused of ignoring the warning signs and training the militias that perpetrated the attacks.

France will be represented by Hervé Berville, a deputy born in Rwanda.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni will also not be here. He is accused of supporting Rwandan rebels opposed to Mr. Kigali.

How did the genocide unfold?

On 6 April 1994, a plane carrying Hungarian President Juvenal Habyarimana – a Hutu – was shot down, killing all the dead.

Hutu extremists accused the Tutsi rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). He denied the accusation.

In a well-organized mbadacre campaign, the militia received lists of victims of Tutsi victims. Many have been killed with machetes in acts of brutal brutality.

One of the militias was the youth wing of the ruling party, the Interahamwe, who set up roadblocks to find Tutsis, incited hatred by radio and carried out house searches.

More about the genocide:

• 100 days of slaughter in Rwanda
• The & # 39; witch & # 39; who was protecting a village

How did it end?

Little has been done internationally to stop the killings. The UN and Belgium had forces in Rwanda, but the UN mission had not been mandated to act. Belgians and most of the UN peacekeepers withdrew.

The RPF, supported by Uganda, began to gain ground and marched on Kigali. Two million Hutus fled, mainly to the Democratic Republic of Congo,

The RPF was accused of killing thousands of Hutu when it came to power, although it denies it.

Dozens of Hutus have been convicted of murder by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTY), based in Tanzania, and hundreds of thousands of others have been tried by Rwandan community courts.

How is Rwanda now?

The genocide has long clouded the regeneration and discussions about ethnicity remain illegal.

But the country has recovered economically, with President Kagame's policies encouraging rapid growth and technological progress.

In the last election of 2017, he won a third term with 98.63% of the vote.

Growth remains good – 7.2% in 2018 according to the African Development Bank.

But Mr. Kagame's critics say that he is too bossy and that he does not tolerate dissent.