On April 21, 1994, more than 150,000 people were killed during the Genocide against the Tutsi across the country in Nyamagabe, Ruhango, Huye, Kamonyi, Muhanga, and Gisagara, in mass killings.

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In Murambi, more than 50,000 Tutsi were killed in a single day, more than 35,000 killed in Cyanika Catholic Parish in Nyamagabe, and more than 47,000 were killed in Kaduha Catholic Parish in Nyamagabe, among other places.

Murambi

Murambi is a small town in Nyamagabe District, formerly known as Gikongoro. When the Genocide started, local Tutsi and those from Mudasomwa, Kinyamakara, Musebeya, Muko and other communes went to seek refuge at Murambi.

Upon reaching there, the Tutsi refugees were told by the local authorities that they would be safer together, but this was a trick to have them all in one place to facilitate their killing. The interim president Theodore Sindikubwabo and Prime Minister Jean Kambanda had visited Gikongoro and instructed people to start the genocide.

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It was after the meeting that the authorities encouraged the Tutsi to flee to Murambi. Those who had fled to various communal and church offices and those who had been hidden by the Hutu were taken to Murambi in cars or brought by others.

When they arrived in Murambi, Interahamwe immediately cut off all water pipes supplying Murambi so that they get weakened by thirst before they got killed. Tutsi refugees decided to slaughter their cows in realization that they were going to starve to death.

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The refugees managed to protect themselves from swarms of killers for a couple of days, until April 21, at 3:00 am, where the gendarmes started firing grenades and shooting on them. Interahamwe and other militia together with their supporters carrying clubs, machetes, spears and axes started to finish off those who were not killed with gunshots and the wounded.

Cyanika, Kaduha Catholic Parishes

Cyanika Catholic Parish, also located in Nyamagabe District, had already experienced the massacre of Tutsi people in 1963. However, the one during the 1994 Genocide was even more fatal, with more than 35,000 refugees killed in one day.

Refugees from Karama, Kinyamakara, Nyamagabe, Rukondo, Karambo and other communes were gathered at the Parish and were welcomed by Father Joseph Niyomugabo. Many arrived on April 8.

Bourgmestre Desire Ngezahayo and other local leaders toured the entire commune with a loud speaker, telling those in hiding to go to the Parish so they would be kept safe, when instead, it was a trap to get as many Tutsi people as possible in one place.

After killing Tutsi refugees in Murambi, at around 10:00 AM, the killers went to Cyanika Parish and did the same. They killed more than 35,000 Tutsi.

For Kaduha, the priests had enough food for refugees, but they starved them until April 20th, where they sold rice at 5 francs per kilogram.

A day later, the killers surrounded them and then killed around 45,000 Tutsi refugees, a death toll that rose to over 47,000 in the next couple of days.

The attack was coordinated by, among others, Father Robert Nyandwi.

Different massacres that happened on April 21 include the one of the valley of Nyamukumba and Rutabo ‘CND’ in Ruhango, Karama Catholic Church in Runyinya, Gashinge Hill in Kamonyi, and in Cyakabiri and Rutobwe in Muhanga.

There were massacres in Tumba, Rugango Catholic Church, and other places in Butare, in Huye.

Mass massacres were also carried out in Gishubi, Musha, and Kibirizi in Gisagara.

April 21, 1994 is also when the UN Security Council adopted the Resolution 912 amending the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) mandate and leaving it with only 250 troops.

General Dallaire who led UNAMIR sent daily reports to the United Nations on the killings of Tutsi in Rwanda, and said that Habyarimana guards and the Interahamwe militia had become like a "virus" which was spreading quickly. The UN decided to withdraw some of their troops, leaving countless Tutsi in the hands of the killers.