On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Habyarimana and Burundi’s president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down over the capital city of Kigali, leaving no survivors. (It has never been conclusively determined who the culprits were. Some have blamed Hutu extremists, while others blamed leaders of the RPF.)
The Rwandan Genocide was a mass slaughter of Tutsi people and moderate Hutus that occurred between April and July 1994, resulting in an estimated 800,000 deaths.
The genocide was sparked by the death of Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana, a Hutu, whose plane was shot down on April 6, 1994, leading to widespread violence and killings.
The genocide was carried out by the Hutu-led government and militias, who targeted Tutsis, moderate Hutus, and anyone who opposed their agenda.
The violence was fuelled by propaganda and hate speech disseminated through government-controlled media, which portrayed Tutsis as enemies of the state.
The international community failed to intervene, despite warnings of impending genocide, and many Rwandans were left to fend for themselves.
The aftermath of the genocide saw the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda to prosecute those responsible, as well as efforts to promote reconciliation and rebuild the country.