Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Pop History Moment: Genocide Spreads In Rwanda

On this day in 1994 Agathe Uwilingiyimana, the Tutsi Prime Minister of Rwanda (and first female prime minister anywhere in Africa, shown below left), was assassinated in the opening days of the Rwandan Genocide...

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketOne day earlier a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana (as well as Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu President of Burundi) was shot down as it was landing in Rwanda's capital Kigali, killing all 10 people on board.

Over the next 100 days between 500,000 and one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu extremists...

The genocide was rendered in the 2004 film Hotel Rwanda starring Don Cheadle as real-world figure Paul Rusesabagina and in the book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Canadian Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire, who was in charge of the UN peacekeeping operation during the genocide and its aftermath.
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