On April 25, 1994, the 19th day of the Genocide against the Tutsi, mass killings intensified across Rwanda as the international community remained silent. In the former prefectures of Kibuye, Nyanza, and Butare, thousands of Tutsi were slaughtered by government soldiers, Interahamwe militias, and local authorities. The genocide, a systematic campaign to wipe out the Tutsi population, continued unchecked. Despite clear evidence of organised mass murder, the United Nations Security Council failed to recognise the atrocities as genocide. Pressured by France, which sought to protect its political interests in the region, the Security Council downplayed the scale of the violence. A resolution passed on April 21 referred to the atrocities merely as “unnecessary killings,” ignoring the deliberate and targeted nature of the massacres. ALSO READ: Women raped, victims burned alive in Kabgayi massacres French authorities were more concerned about the military gains of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF-Inkotanyi) than the lives of Tutsi civilians. During the Security Council discussions, France’s ambassador, Jean-Bernard Mérimée, worked to block recognition of the genocide. On April 25, the killings reached horrifying new levels. In Mbazi Commune, in present-day Huye District, more than 7,800 Tutsi who had sought refuge at Byiza Stadium were massacred using grenades, firearms, machetes, clubs, and spears. The attack was encouraged by Sylvain Nsabimana, the governor of Butare Prefecture. Elsewhere in Nyanza, in Muyira Commune, over 500 Tutsi were murdered at Mulinja Catholic Church, and 50 more were killed in a nearby house. The following day, approximately 25,000 Tutsi who had gathered at Muyira Commune for safety were killed in a brutal assault led by Claver Berinkindi, a local businessman later sentenced to life in prison in 2017 for his role in the genocide. In the same region, about 100 Tutsi were killed at Nkomane during the night of April 25, near the bridge linking Matyazo and Muyaga communes in today’s Ntyazo Sector. Similar atrocities occurred in Butatsinda, where victims were killed at roadblocks and dumped in nearby pits. In the former Kibuye Prefecture, now part of Karongi District, 171 Tutsi were murdered at the EPR Gituntu Pentecostal Church, where they had sought refuge. They were killed alongside church leader Alphonse Rwamuhizi, following orders from Gabriel Muragizi, the mayor of Mwendo Commune. ALSO READ: April 23, 1994: Lured to safety, slaughtered in cold blood As the genocide raged, the world stood by—paralyzed by politics and indifference—while tens of thousands were exterminated.
