Rwanda and Congo — genocide and the Second Congo War

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President Habyarimana's plane was shot down over Kigali on 6 April 1994; Hutu extremists used his death to launch pre-planned killings.

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A Hutu militia, trained and armed before 1994, that carried out most of the genocide's killings, often at roadblocks and in churches using machetes.

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Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines — a Rwandan radio station that broadcast anti-Tutsi hate speech and even named people to be killed.

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Around 800,000 people, mostly Tutsi and moderate Hutu, were killed in approximately 100 days between April and July 1994.

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The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Paul Kagame, advanced militarily and captured Kigali in July 1994, ending the killing by force.

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Commander Roméo Dallaire's warnings were ignored, and the UN Security Council reduced UNAMIR's troop numbers just as the killing began, rather than reinforcing it.

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A 1994 French-led, UN-approved mission into Rwanda that saved some lives but also let many genocide leaders and Interahamwe fighters escape into Zaire.

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ICTR (Arusha, 1994) prosecuted senior genocide leaders under international law; gacaca courts used a traditional community-based system to try hundreds of thousands of lower-level cases.

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Laurent Kabila expelled his former Rwandan and Ugandan backers, who then supported a new rebellion against him.

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Up to nine African states became involved (Rwanda and Uganda backing rebels; Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia backing Kabila), and it caused 3-5.4 million deaths, mostly from war-related disease and hunger.

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He was assassinated by one of his own bodyguards; his son Joseph Kabila succeeded him and proved more willing to negotiate peace.

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Armed groups and foreign backers profited from coltan, diamonds, gold and cobalt; a UN Panel of Experts found Rwandan, Ugandan and foreign company involvement in this exploitation, giving them reasons to keep fighting.