Résumé
In our view, politicians and military commanders representing extremist ethnic Hutus from northern Rwanda unleashed the fighting that erupted on 6 April. Eyewitness accounts of the downing of Habyarimana's aircraft and the systematic murder of Tutsi and independent Hutu politicians immediately afterward suggest that the President's death was the first step in a hardline Hutu coup attempt.
Citation
SECRET NOFORN
Central intelligence Agency
RELEASE IN PART .
EXEMPTIONS: (h)(1)
(b)(3)
DATE: JUN 2001
Washington, D.C. 20505
28 April 1994
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: The Massacres in Rwanda
1. In our view, politicians and military commanders representing extremist ethnic Hutus from northern Rwanda unleashed the fighting that erupted on 6 April. Northern Hutus have dominated the country since the late President Habyarimana overthrew his predecessor in 1973, and they were opposed to a peace accord and sharing power with the rebels of the Tutsi-dominated Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF).
— Eyewitness accounts of the downing of Habyarimana's aircraft and the
systematic murder of Tutsi and independent Hutu politicians immediately
afterward suggest that the President's death was the first step in a hardline
Hutu coup attempt. | |
2. The violence, however, quickly got out of control. Available evidence indicates that militias from two ethnic Hutu chauvinist parties rather than the military have done most of the killing. Mobs of youths armed with grenades, firearms, and machetes have cut down ethnic Tutsis, as well as Hutus suspected of being pro-Tutsi or pro-RPF.
— at least 2,000 militiamen were trained and
armed—probably by the security forces—as early as January. a
3. The government's 25,000-man security forces also are implicated in the killings. Members of the Presidential Guard Battalion reportedly murdered Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana and 10 Belgian peacekeepers, and the UN says government mortars targeted a stadium sheltering thousands of displaced persons.
— The Army's ability to withstand the RPF assault on Kigali suggests it
remains under centralized control, and we have seen no xxx supply
or morale problems in the capital. xxx
This memorandum was prepared by ne the Office of African and Latin American Analysis.
SE' ORN
SE FORN
4. Government troops are armed with assault rifles, mortars, and heavy machineguns, but maintenance problems appear to have prevented use of their attack helicopters and light armored vehicles. Major weapons suppliers have been France, Egypt, and South Africa.
5. The 20,000-man RPF army is better disciplined and enjoys better command than government forces. It has been cooperative with humanitarian relief efforts, and aid agencies still in Rwanda say RPF units have committed few—if any—atrocities.
— The rebel radio, however, has called for the punishment of progovernment
militias, and this could lead to revenge killings. F |
Ss. OFORN
