On Monday, Rwanda held a ceremony to honor the victims of the 1994 genocide, which resulted in the deaths of at least 800,000 individuals, predominantly from the Tutsi community. These individuals were brutally murdered by the Hutu militia. This particular commemoration, known as ‘Kwibuka’ or ‘Remembrance Day’ in Kinyarwanda, marks its 100th anniversary since Rwanda initiated the tradition of commemorating the day in 1994.

However, this year’s event has been overshadowed by the ongoing political unrest in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo). The Rwanda-backed M23 militia has launched a violent campaign against the authorities, successfully capturing two major towns – Bukavu and Goma. The resulting chaos and conflict have cast a shadow over the remembrance event.

On April 7, 1994, the day after the Rwandan and Burundian presidents were killed in a missile attack on their plane, the moderate Hutu prime minister of Rwanda, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, and her husband also lost their lives at the hands of Rwandan soldiers. In the following 100 days, extremist Hutus carried out a systematic assassination campaign, slaughtering hundreds of thousands of Tutsi minority and moderate Hutu individuals.

Source: http://www.africanews.com/2025/04/07/rwanda-commemorates-the-1994-genocide-that-claimed-at-least-800000-lives/