Joseph Kavaruganda
Encyclopedia
Joseph Kavaruganda was a Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

n judge, and president of Rwanda's Constitutional Court. He was killed at the beginning of 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...

.

A prominent moderate 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...

, Kavaruganda was known to be ill-regarded by some members of the MRND regime. On February 17, 1994, UNAMIR commander Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...

 received information of a plot to assassinate Kavaruganda and Lando Ndasingwa
Lando Ndasingwa
Landoald 'Lando' Ndasingwa was a Rwandan politician, leader of the moderate Parti libéral du Rwanda. He was killed in the beginning of the Rwandan Genocide.Ndasingwa was a former professor at the University of Rwanda and ethnic Tutsi...

. In his book Shake Hands with the Devil
Shake Hands with the Devil (book)
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda is a book by Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire of the Canadian Forces, with help from Major Brent Beardsley...

, Dallaire claims that he informed them of this plot, and neither were surprised. UNAMIR dispatched five Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

ian soldiers to protect Kavaruganda's house.

On April 7, members of the government's Presidential Guard arrived at his door, claiming they were taking him to safety. Kavaruganda's wife Annonciata Kavaruganda claims he knew this was a ruse, but went with them anyway, seeing no other option. He was killed later that day.

According to Annonciata Kavaruganda, the Ghanaian soldiers were friendly with the Rwandan militiamen who had come for Kavaruganda, laughing and drinking together while the government soldiers beat her and her children.

Footnote

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