Gikondo massacre
Encyclopedia
The Gikondo massacre was the mass murder of about 110 people of Tutsi
identity, including children, who sheltered in a Polish Pallottine mission
church in Gikondo, Kigali
. The massacre took place on April 9, 1994 and was executed by Interahamwe
militia under supervision of the Hutu
presidential guard. The massacre was the first absolute proof of a genocide
discovered by UNAMIR during the Rwandan Genocide
in 1994.
began on April 6 1994, after the plane carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana
and Cyprien Ntaryamira
, the president of Burundi
on board was shot down while approaching the runway of Kigali International Airport, which is widely considered to have been the direct signal to start the actions planned beforehand. Both men were Hutus. Interahamwe
and Impuzamugambi
militia began systematic, house-by-house searches for persons bearing Tutsi
identity, who were then subsequently murdered using clubs and machetes. People living in the Gikondo neighborhood had fled to the Pallottine church in the hopes of finding shelter and to sit out the turmoil.
identity to leave the church. One of the priests protested claiming that all of the people inside were Christian worshippers and the members of the Pallottine congregation, but was told by the gendarmes that "the church was harbouring inkotanyi [cockroaches]" and the gendarmes continued to examine identity cards. A presidential guard officer entered the church, telling soldiers not to waste their bullets since the Interahamwe would soon come with machetes.
Shortly, about 100 Interahamwe
militia came into the church and began to kill people, striking with their clubs and slashing with their machetes, hacking arms, legs, genitals and the faces of the terrified people who tried to protect the children under the pews. Some people were dragged outside the church and attacked in the courtyard. The identity cards of the murdered ones were burned. The killing continued for two hours after which the whole compound was searched. The militia
then left the church compound.
There were unarmed Polish UN observers in the church: Major Jerzy Mączka and Major Ryszard Chudy, who were supervising the implementation of the Arusha accords
signed on August 4, 1993 on behalf of the UNAMIR. When the attack on the church began, Major Jerzy Mączka was in a garden near the church and tried to contact the UNAMIR headquarter in Kigali in order to direct some Belgian or Bangladesh
i operational units to the church. Initially, all Motorola
system channels were jammed with other calls for help. Eventually he managed to pass the report about the ongoing murders to UNAMIR duty officer, captain Godson Zowonogo. However the captain's response was negative - he argued that he has been informed about many similar events in the capital and that direct intervention of UNAMIR soldiers in all of these places was impossible. Major Mączka also tried to contact a duty officer of the predominantly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front
who was stationed in Kigali.
In the afternoon of April 9th, two International Red Cross ambulances with French medical teams and the chief ICRC delegate in Rwanda, Swiss Philippe Gaillard arrived. At the request of the two Polish army officers, two gravely wounded Rwandans were taken to hospital. They are believed to be the only persons who survived the massacre.
That same afternoon an UNAMIR armoured carrier arrived with Canadian Major Brent Beardsley and two other Polish army officers Major Marek Pazik and Major Stefan Stec
, who filmed the aftermath of the massacre.
Another tragedy took place a few days later in a private Pallotine chapel neighboring the church. About eleven Tutsi Rwandans including children who managed to survive the first attack on the church took refuge in the chapel, where Polish Pallotine Father Zdzisław gave them supplies necessary to survive. When Interahamwe members discovered that there were still refugees in the chapel, they burned it after dousing it in gasoline. No one survived.
The Gikondo massacre is currently proceeded by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
identity, including children, who sheltered in a Polish Pallottine mission
Pallottines
The Society of the Catholic Apostolate , better known as the Pallottines, are a Society of Apostolic Life within the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman priest Saint Vincent Pallotti. Pallottines are part of the Union of Catholic Apostolate and are present in 45 countries on six...
church in Gikondo, Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...
. The massacre took place on April 9, 1994 and was executed by Interahamwe
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe is a Hutu paramilitary organization. The militia enjoyed the backing of the Hutu-led government leading up to, during, and after the Rwandan Genocide. Since the genocide, they have been forced out of Rwanda, and have sought asylum in Congo...
militia under supervision of the Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
presidential guard. The massacre was the first absolute proof of a genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
discovered by UNAMIR during the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
in 1994.
Prelude
The Rwandan GenocideRwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
began on April 6 1994, after the plane carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...
and Cyprien Ntaryamira
Cyprien Ntaryamira
Cyprien Ntaryamira , was President of Burundi from 5 February 1994 until his death when his plane was shot down on 6 April 1994.-Biography:...
, the president of Burundi
Burundi
Burundi , officially the Republic of Burundi , is a landlocked country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda to the north, Tanzania to the east and south, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Its capital is Bujumbura...
on board was shot down while approaching the runway of Kigali International Airport, which is widely considered to have been the direct signal to start the actions planned beforehand. Both men were Hutus. Interahamwe
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe is a Hutu paramilitary organization. The militia enjoyed the backing of the Hutu-led government leading up to, during, and after the Rwandan Genocide. Since the genocide, they have been forced out of Rwanda, and have sought asylum in Congo...
and Impuzamugambi
Impuzamugambi
The Impuzamugambi , which means "Those who have the same goal" or "Those who have a single goal" in the Kinyarwanda language, was a Hutu militia in Rwanda formed in 1992...
militia began systematic, house-by-house searches for persons bearing Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....
identity, who were then subsequently murdered using clubs and machetes. People living in the Gikondo neighborhood had fled to the Pallottine church in the hopes of finding shelter and to sit out the turmoil.
The massacre
On the morning of April 9 1994, two presidential guards soldiers and two gendarmes entered the church and began checking identity cards of the people gathered in the church. They ordered the few persons of HutuHutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...
identity to leave the church. One of the priests protested claiming that all of the people inside were Christian worshippers and the members of the Pallottine congregation, but was told by the gendarmes that "the church was harbouring inkotanyi [cockroaches]" and the gendarmes continued to examine identity cards. A presidential guard officer entered the church, telling soldiers not to waste their bullets since the Interahamwe would soon come with machetes.
Shortly, about 100 Interahamwe
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe is a Hutu paramilitary organization. The militia enjoyed the backing of the Hutu-led government leading up to, during, and after the Rwandan Genocide. Since the genocide, they have been forced out of Rwanda, and have sought asylum in Congo...
militia came into the church and began to kill people, striking with their clubs and slashing with their machetes, hacking arms, legs, genitals and the faces of the terrified people who tried to protect the children under the pews. Some people were dragged outside the church and attacked in the courtyard. The identity cards of the murdered ones were burned. The killing continued for two hours after which the whole compound was searched. The militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
then left the church compound.
There were unarmed Polish UN observers in the church: Major Jerzy Mączka and Major Ryszard Chudy, who were supervising the implementation of the Arusha accords
Arusha Accords
The Arusha Accords were a set of five accords signed in Arusha, Tanzania on August 4, 1993, by the government of Rwanda and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front , under mediation, to end a three-year Rwandan Civil War...
signed on August 4, 1993 on behalf of the UNAMIR. When the attack on the church began, Major Jerzy Mączka was in a garden near the church and tried to contact the UNAMIR headquarter in Kigali in order to direct some Belgian or Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i operational units to the church. Initially, all Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
system channels were jammed with other calls for help. Eventually he managed to pass the report about the ongoing murders to UNAMIR duty officer, captain Godson Zowonogo. However the captain's response was negative - he argued that he has been informed about many similar events in the capital and that direct intervention of UNAMIR soldiers in all of these places was impossible. Major Mączka also tried to contact a duty officer of the predominantly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front abbreviated as RPF is the current ruling political party of Rwanda, led by President Paul Kagame. It governs in a coalition with other parties...
who was stationed in Kigali.
Aftermath
The two Polish army officers along with the Pallottine priests and nuns began immediate first-aid dressing of the heavily wounded, separating them from the dead, who were dragged into two mass graves dug by trusted Pallottine workers. The job was very urgent due to the heat which would have accelerated the process of decomposition of the corpses. The wounded were carried back to the church, where Pallottine nuns provided them, in as far as possible, with water. On Major Mączka's directive, priests collected part of the half-burned identity cards of the dead so that they may be used to identify the buried corpses. Major Mączka also took pictures documenting the massacre.In the afternoon of April 9th, two International Red Cross ambulances with French medical teams and the chief ICRC delegate in Rwanda, Swiss Philippe Gaillard arrived. At the request of the two Polish army officers, two gravely wounded Rwandans were taken to hospital. They are believed to be the only persons who survived the massacre.
That same afternoon an UNAMIR armoured carrier arrived with Canadian Major Brent Beardsley and two other Polish army officers Major Marek Pazik and Major Stefan Stec
Stefan Stec (UN peacekeeper)
Stefan Stec was a major of the Polish Armed Forces. In 1994 he served as a peacekeeper in the UNAMIR forces in Rwanda under general Roméo Dallaire. For his dedication in saving lives during Rwandan genocide at the risk to his own he was awarded the Cross of Merit for Bravery by Polish President...
, who filmed the aftermath of the massacre.
Another tragedy took place a few days later in a private Pallotine chapel neighboring the church. About eleven Tutsi Rwandans including children who managed to survive the first attack on the church took refuge in the chapel, where Polish Pallotine Father Zdzisław gave them supplies necessary to survive. When Interahamwe members discovered that there were still refugees in the chapel, they burned it after dousing it in gasoline. No one survived.
The Gikondo massacre is currently proceeded by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...