frontline: ghosts of rwanda: timeline

Significant events, statements and decisions that reveal how the United States and the West chose not to act to save hundreds of thousands of lives in the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

The Beginning: April 6, 1994

Rwandan President Habyarimana is killed after a still-mysterious missile shoots down his plane. Hutu extremists quickly seize control of the government.

Over the next 100 days, on average, 8,000 Rwandans a day will be butchered. It is the fastest rate of mass killings in the twentieth century. Some 800,000 people - roughly 10% of the population - are murdered. Ninety percent of the victims are Tutsis.

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posted april 1, 2004