Initial events of the Rwandan genocide
The assassination of presidents Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira in the evening of April 6, 1994 was the proximate trigger for the Rwandan genocide, which resulted in the murder of approximately 800,000 Tutsi and a smaller number of moderate Hutu.
These included: the seizing of power by an interim government directed by the hard-line Akazu clique; the liquidation of opposition Hutu politicians; the implementation of plans to carry out a genocide throughout the country; and the murder of United Nations peacekeepers, contributing to the impulse of the international community to refrain from intervention.
Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana was next in the line of political succession but most officers believed that she was not capable of governing; Bagosora dismissed the option of putting themselves under the authority of Uwiligiyimana.
Bagosora suggested that the military should take over, but received the support of only one officer, Lt-Col Cyprien Kayumba, director of Defense Ministry financial services.
An attempt was made on the life of Faustin Twagiramungu, the prime minister of the Transitional Broad Based Government under the accords, but it failed thanks to the efforts of the UNAMIR.
Earlier in the year, General Dallaire had been told by an informer named "Jean-Pierre" in January 1994 that there was a plan to attack the Belgians in order to make them leave the UNAMIR, where they formed the largest contingent of soldiers.
France and Belgium formed two separate militarily assisted evacuation operations whose actions are detailed in the role of the international community article.
Soldiers agree that these troops had the power to retake control of Kigali and to decisively support UNAMIR, which had a lamentable lack of equipment.
Each side was supposed to work towards disarming after the Broad-Based Transitional Government (BBTG) was established, setting the stage for democracy and healing after the recent civil wars.
The RGF was closely affiliated with the Presidential Guard and the Gendarmes (national police force of Rwanda), and loyal to the Rwandan president Habyarimana (a Hutu).
The Presidential Guard immediately set out on well planned missions to assassinate all moderate Hutus and every last Tutsi, starting with those affiliated with the now destroyed Arusha Accords and the BBTG.
Civilians poured into the UN areas seeking protection, to find no food, running water, or electricity, the last two being severed very rapidly after the assassination of President Habyarimana.
On April 7, it was decided that Madame Agathe Uwilingiyimana, the prime minister of the interim government and someone who worked vigilantly towards establishing the BBTG, should give a speech to the populace calling for calm.
RTLM immediately blamed Belgian peacekeepers and the RPF for the President's plane crash, asking for the population to rise up and kill the peace keepers and all Tutsi 'cockroaches'.
Fear and hate, already deeply rooted within the country, was further spread at lightning speed, leaving UNAMIR powerless to stop the broadcasts despite pleas to the RGF to cease transmissions.
The RPF (Rwandese Patriotic Front) became the only force capable of stopping the Presidential Guard (along with the Gendarmes and Interahamwe - Kinyarwanda for 'those who attack together') who were setting up roadblocks throughout Kigali and starting the process of slaughtering Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
