THE MASSACRES IN RWANDA

Created: 4/28/1994

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

Central inidlgetxe Agency

RELEASE IM PHUT EXEMPTIONS: [hKI)

IbitllATE:1

4

MEMORANDUM

SUBJECT: The Massacres in Rwanda

n our view, politicians and military commanders representing extremist ethnic Hutus from northern Rwanda unleashed the fighting that eruptedpril. Northern Hutus have dominated the country since the late President Habyarunana overthrew his predecessornd they were opposedeace 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 thai the President's death was the first stepardline Hutu coup attempt.

he 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 Hums suspected of being pro-Tutsi or pro-RPF.

ilitiamen were trained and

by the securityearly as January. I

heman security forces also are implicated in the killings. Members of the Presidential Guard Battalion reportedly murdered Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana andelgian peacekeepers, and the UN says government mortarstadium sheltering thousands of displaced persons.

The Army's ability to withstand the RPF assault on Kigali suggests it

remains under centralized control, and wc have seen nosupply

or morale problems in the capital. I

overamenl troops are armed with assault rifles, mortars, and heavy machine guns, but maintenance problems appear to have prevented use of (heir attack helicopters and light armored vehicles. major weapons suppliers have been france. egypt, and south africa.

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

the rebel radio, however, has called for the punishment of prcigovernmcnt militias, and this could lead to revenge killings. i

Original document.

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