The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), largely composed of Tutsi exiles based in Uganda, launched an incursion into northern Rwanda—marking the start of the Rwandan Civil War and intensifying internal political and ethnic polarization.
Fred Rwigyema, a founding RPF leader and initial commander of the 1990 offensive, was killed early in the war. His death contributed to a rapid leadership transition within the RPF as the conflict continued.
President Juvénal Habyarimana signed a new constitution legalizing multiparty politics, ending the formal one-party system. The change reshaped internal politics amid ongoing war pressure and donor-driven democratization demands.
Rwanda’s government and the RPF signed the Arusha Peace Agreement in Arusha, Tanzania, outlining power-sharing, refugee return, and integration of forces—creating a framework for a transitional government that remained fragile in practice.
The UN Security Council created the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) to help implement the Arusha Accords, including support for transitional institutions and security arrangements.
The plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down near Kigali. The assassination became the immediate trigger for mass violence and the start of the 1994 genocide.
Amid escalating killings, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 912, reducing UNAMIR’s personnel and narrowing its mandate. The decision is widely cited as emblematic of international failure to protect civilians during the genocide.
The Security Council adopted Resolution 918, imposing an arms embargo on Rwanda and authorizing an expanded UNAMIR mandate and force levels amid ongoing mass atrocities and civil war fighting.
The Security Council authorized a temporary multinational operation “for humanitarian purposes” under Resolution 929, which became the legal basis for the French-led intervention associated with Operation Turquoise.
French troops entered Rwanda to establish a “safe humanitarian zone” under a UN mandate. The operation remains controversial due to debates about its effects on violence dynamics and the movement of perpetrators and refugees.
Through Resolution 935, the Security Council requested the UN Secretary-General establish a Commission of Experts to investigate serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda during 1994.
RPF forces took Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, a decisive turning point that hastened the collapse of the interim genocidal authorities and is commemorated in Rwanda as Liberation Day.
The RPF took Gisenyi and the remainder of the northwest, prompting the interim government to flee into Zaire. This marked the end of the civil war and is commonly treated as the endpoint of the genocide’s main phase.
A transitional Government of National Unity was formed with Pasteur Bizimungu as president and Paul Kagame as vice president and defense minister, consolidating RPF control while presenting a broad-based post-genocide administration.
The UN Security Council created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to prosecute persons responsible for genocide and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in Rwanda in 1994.
The Security Council adopted Resolution 978 calling on states to arrest and detain persons suspected of ICTR crimes, reinforcing an international enforcement framework for post-genocide accountability.
Pasteur Bizimungu stepped down from the presidency, and Vice President Paul Kagame assumed the presidency, formalizing leadership that had already been central to the RPF-led government since 1994.
Rwanda: RPF Invasion, 1994 Genocide and Aftermath (1990–2000)
