On April 6, 1994, Rwandan President Habyarimana, a Hutu, was
killed when his plane was shot down. The attack sparked
immediate and horrific violence across the country, nearly
decimating the minority Tutsi population.  Before the genocide,
about 85 percent of Rwanda's 7-million-person population was
Hutu, about 14 percent were Tutsi, and the final 1 percent were
Twa. The Tutsi minority had formerly ruled the country, and when
Habyarimana died, Hutu extremists began systematically killing
Tutsi, announcing calls to massacre via radio broadcasts.  A
genocide memorial made of victims' bones is on view at a church
just outside the Rwandan capital Kigali. The church acted as a
refuge for some 5,000 women and children during the massacres. |
(REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)  In the weeks following the April 6
plane crash, 800,000 Tutsi died. Thousands of Hutu were also
killed trying to protect Tutsi neighbors, or otherwise opposing
the killing sprees.  A Tutsi-dominated rebel group, the Rwanda
Patriotic Front, eventually