The organized mass killing of Rwanda's Tutsi minority and moderate Hutu by the Hutu-dominated government and its militia networks between April and July 1994 — an estimated 800,000 to 1 million people killed in 100 days, the fastest genocide in recorded history, carried out with machetes and local administrative structures while the United Nations force present in Rwanda watched and the world's governments deliberately avoided the word 'genocide' to evade the obligation to act.
The Rwandan genocide was not a spontaneous eruption of ethnic hatred. It was organized. The lists of Tutsi to be killed had been prepared in advance. The machetes had been imported in bulk. The radio station RTLM had been broadcasting kill instructions for months. Local officials knew their roles. When the plane carrying President Habyarimana was shot down on April 6, 1994, the killing began within hours — not because of spontaneous rage but because the machinery was ready. The question that has haunted the international community ever since is not why the Rwandans killed each other but why the world watched.