• [Dailystar Icon]
• News
• World News
• Murder

Harrowing 100 days of Rwanda genocide machetes, husbands killing wives and 'rape list'

April will mark the 30th year anniversary of the start of the 100 day genocide in Rwanda where hundreds of thousands of people were brutally murdered with machetes and guns

[Rwanda genocide ]

The skull of a murdered Tutsi lying on the floor in Rwanda in May 1994(Image: Getty Images)

It's been 30 years since Rwanda turned into a much more chilling version of The Purge after roughly 800,000 people were slaughtered and 250,000 women were raped.

The country became a playground for murder where husbands were forced to execute wives, nuns and priests became killers and bloodthirsty militants used machetes to chop up civilians.

Some of our readers will be too young to remember the tragic 100 days of chaos in 1994 and below we recap the harrowing genocide.

READ MORE: Inside Slaughterhouse death row prison where humanity steps back and inmates 'boil alive'

READ MORE: Inside world's 'hell on Earth' jails with cannibalism, torture and the infamous 'tyre'

[Rwanda genocide]

Wounded civilians in the Red Cross Emergency Hospital in May 25, 1994, in Kigali, Rwanda(Image: Getty Images)

To understand what sparked the bloodshed, you need a brief rundown of the majority ethnic Hutus and the Tutsi minority who only make up about 15% of the countrys population.

But despite being smaller in numbers, the Tutsis had long ruled the land before the monarchy was overthrown in 1959 causing Tutsis to flee.

However, Tutsi exiles set up a rebel force called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) before invading the African country in 1990 from their neighbouring Ugandan base.

Peace was eventually agreed three years later but the shooting down of a plane carrying Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana caused all out barbarism. Hutu extremists blamed the RPF who in turn pointed the finger at their counterparts saying they used it as an excuse to commit genocide.

But regardless of who was ultimately responsible for the fatal plane crash, what happened between April 7 and July 15 was beyond comprehension.

[Rwanda Genocide]

Refugees in the Ruhango refugee camp in April 1994 (Image: Getty Images)

[Rwanda Genocide]

Weapons used to slaughter Tutsi people at a church in Ntarama (Image: Andy Commins / Daily Mirror)

Just one day after the plane went down, Hutu forces embarked on a 100 day reign of terror where they ruthlessly targeted Tutsis with disturbing precision.

Militants were given a list of opponents they could slaughter and they were instructed to take out family members too, mostly with machetes and guns. Roadblocks were also put in place and unfortunately for Tutsis, their ID cards had their ethnicity printed on them, so they were easily identified.

Tutsi women were raped and used as sex slaves and some men were forced to murder their wives while neighbours took out their own neighbours.

Some terrified Tutsis knew their homes and villages were not safe and as such sought refuge in churches only to be assassinated by nuns and priests.

[Rwanda Genocide ]

Skeletons of genocide victims on display at the Murambi Technical School (Image: AFP)

In 2016, the Catholic Church in Rwanda apologised for its role in the genocide with a statement reading: We apologise for the wrongs the Church committed.

We apologise on behalf of all Christians for all forms of wrongs we committed. We regret that church members violated [their] oath of allegiance to Gods commandments.

Pope Francis also asked for forgiveness after it was acknowledged that some Catholic priests and nuns succumbed to hatred and violence.

During the 100 days of murder, citizens were encouraged to take part in the killings that were mostly carried out by the Interahamwe a youth wing militia of the governing party.

Names of Tutsis on kill lists were broadcast on the radio and an estimated 5,000 people were butchered at the Ntarama Catholic church in August of that year.

[Rwanda Genocide]

Skulls at the Ntarama Genocide Memorial in Kigali(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

[Rwanda Genocide ]

Hutu regugees waiting to be evacuated from Rwanda in May 1994(Image: Getty Images)

One priest, Wenceslas Munyeshyaka, helped draw up a kill list that included the names of women who were to be raped. Another priest, Athanase Seromba, was later found guilty of ordering a church to be bulldozed, killing 2,000 hiding inside.

Countries overseas failed to take action to stop the genocide with the US eager not to get involved after some of their troops were killed in Somalia 12 months earlier.

The genocide claimed the lives of mostly Tutsis but it the death toll also included some moderate Hutus. It eventually came to a close when the RPF stormed the capital Kigali on July 4, 1994, before an estimated two million Hutus fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The RPF remains in power in Rwanda to this day and 93 people were indicted after genocide trials years later.

It is now illegal to talk about ethnicity in Rwanda and the remains of people executed are on display at the Murambi Genocide Memorial Centre. King Charles and Camila visited in 2022 and they were pictured looking at the preserved skulls at the Nyamata Church Genocide Memorial.

In recent years the country has been in the news for the UK Rwandan policy which would send asylum seekers who arrive in Britain on small boats to the African country for processing but a number of legal challenges has (so far) prevented it.

[Dailystar Icon]

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Choose Daily Star as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.