In the previous piece, it became clear how the concept of Genocide is not easy to define. The death of President Juvénal Habyarimana and cause of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi is further complicated as this text will show. On April 6, 1994, the plane carrying Presidents Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi was shot down near Kanombe Airport, just beyond Masaka Village. The circumstances of the attack, which claimed the lives of the two presidents and the then commander of the Rwandan armed forces, Col Déogratias Nsabimana, have been the subject of intense debate. This debate centres on three main explanations. ALSO READ: How Habyarimana regime chose political survival at the expense of citizens The first explanation implicates RPF in the organisation and execution of the attack against the presidential plane. Defenders of this version are particularly some French officials. Others are bigwigs of the fallen Rwandan genocidal regime as well as members of extremist political groups in exile and certain individuals who were close to the French military. They are convinced that RPF purposely carried out the attack for three reasons. ALSO READ: The former Rwandan Armed Forces' central role in preparation of 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi One theory is that the RPF attacked President Habyarimana to undermine the agreement it had signed with the Rwandan government in Arusha on August 4, 1993. A second theory is that the RPF sought to remove the president because he posed an obstacle to its total military victory. Finally, the RPF allegedly aimed to gain complete political power without any hindrance, rather than sharing it with other political forces active in Rwanda at the time. ALSO READ: A look back at PARMEHUTU’s oppressive policies and the birth of Inyenzi This explanation forms the basis for the argument that the genocide against the Tutsi resulted from the spontaneous anger of the Hutu. They were said to have been provoked, reacting out of anguish, a sense of powerlessness, and the perceived need to defend their injured pride. This narrative was promoted by the self-proclaimed interim government, which came into power on April 8, 1994. It was used to justify not only the genocide against the Tutsi but also the massacre of 10 Belgian soldiers serving in the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) contingent, as well as the killing of some members of the political opposition. The second explanation of the attack on Habyarimana’s plane implicates collaborators, particularly his in-laws, potentially aided by military trainers or foreign military technicians. Those close to the president are said to have acted for two reasons. First, they were dissatisfied with him because he had signed the Arusha Peace Accord on August 4, 1993, under pressure from the RPF, the heads of state of the Great Lakes sub-region, and the international community. The rationale behind his assassination, therefore, was to create disorder and confusion, which would likely prevent the implementation of protocols related to power-sharing in a broad-based transitional government and the integration of the armed forces. The second reason relates to the connection between the Hutu’s desire to retain power and the genocide against the Tutsi. The Tutsi were seen as a disruptive element that threatened the realization of this goal. The planners of the genocide saw the president’s death as a critical opportunity to carry out a widespread massacre of the Tutsi, as well as the physical and ideological elimination of Hutu members of the opposition. Witness reports from various sources were carefully compiled. Notably, the investigation conducted in Kigali in 2010 by French judges Marc Trévidic and Nathalie Poux was supported by a team of ballistics experts. ALSO READ: Trevidic Report ‘puts Genocide revisionists to shame’ Their ballistic and forensic report, released in January 2012, concluded that the missiles had been fired from a location within the Kanombe military barracks area, which at the time was under the control of the Hutu-led government army and the presidential guard. Their findings corroborated the results of an earlier independent post-genocide Rwandan government investigation conducted by the Jean Mutsinzi Commission.
