Rwandan Civil War

The Rwandan Civil War began on 1 October 1990, when the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), composed largely of Tutsi refugees who had fled earlier waves of ethnic violence, invaded northern Rwanda from Uganda. The government of President Juvénal Habyarimana, in power since a 1973 coup and backed by France, mobilised the Forces Armées Rwandaises (FAR) to repel the incursion. Early RPF commander Fred Rwigyema was killed in the opening days; Paul Kagame subsequently assumed military leadership.

The war combined conventional fighting in the north with rising ethnic polarisation across the country. Hutu Power factions, amplified by media outlets such as Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM, founded 1993), framed Tutsi civilians as a fifth column. Internationally mediated negotiations produced the Arusha Accords, signed on 4 August 1993, which provided for power-sharing, refugee return, and a unified army. The UN authorised the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) via Security Council Resolution 872 in October 1993 to support implementation.

Implementation stalled. On 6 April 1994, the aircraft carrying Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down over Kigali, killing both. Within hours, the Rwandan genocide began: over roughly 100 days, an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed by the Interahamwe militia, FAR units, and civilian participants. The RPF resumed its offensive, capturing Kigali on 4 July 1994 and declaring a ceasefire on 18 July. Roughly two million Hutu, including many génocidaires, fled to neighbouring Zaire and Tanzania, seeding the later First and Second Congo Wars.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), established by UNSC Resolution 955 in November 1994, prosecuted senior figures until its closure in 2015. The war is widely cited in debates over humanitarian intervention, the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, and UN peacekeeping reform.