April 6, 1994 · Kigali Theater

At 8:20 PM on April 6, 1994, the plane carrying President Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda and President Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi was shot down by surface-to-air missiles as it approached Kigali airport. All aboard were killed. Within hours, Presidential Guard and Interahamwe roadblocks appeared throughout Kigali. The pre-planned genocide began that night.

April 7, 1994 · Kigali Theater

On the morning of April 7, Presidential Guard soldiers stormed the residence of moderate Hutu Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. She was attempting to broadcast a radio message calling for calm. Ten Belgian UN peacekeepers assigned to protect her were captured, tortured, and killed. Uwilingiyimana was murdered, eliminating the constitutional moderate successor to the presidency.

April 1994 · Nationwide Theater

Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), founded in 1993 with direct support from Hutu extremist leaders, became the primary weapon of mass incitement during the genocide. Broadcasters read out names and addresses of Tutsi targets, described Tutsi as 'inyenzi' (cockroaches) and 'inzoka' (snakes), directed killers to specific locations, and celebrated massacres as they happened. The station broadcast 24 hours a day throughout the 100 days.

April 8 – July 4, 1994 · Northern and Central Rwanda Theater

The day after the presidential assassination, the RPF — encamped in northern Rwanda under a cease-fire agreement — resumed its military campaign. Under Paul Kagame's command, RPF forces advanced south from the Ugandan border, fighting the Rwandan government army (FAR) while the genocide proceeded around them. The RPF simultaneously fought a conventional war and attempted to rescue Tutsi survivors, often arriving too late. The offensive was the only force that ultimately stopped the killing.

April 14–15, 1994 · Bugesera District Theater

Approximately 10,000 Tutsi who had fled to the Nyamata Catholic Church seeking sanctuary — believing the church's traditional protection would hold — were massacred by Interahamwe militias and Rwandan Army soldiers who broke down the doors and threw grenades into the congregation before entering with machetes. The church was one of dozens across Rwanda where Tutsi gathered for protection only to be slaughtered en masse.

April 17, 1994 · Kibuye Prefecture Theater

Governor Clément Kayishema of Kibuye Prefecture orchestrated a series of massacres targeting Tutsi who had sought refuge in the Gatwaro stadium, Saint-Jean Complex church, and Home Saint-Jean. Tutsi were promised safety and encouraged to gather, then surrounded and slaughtered. In Kibuye Prefecture, an estimated 59,050 Tutsi were killed — over 95% of the Tutsi population of the prefecture.

April 21, 1994 · Kigali / New York Theater

On April 21, 1994 — with the genocide at its peak intensity — the UN Security Council voted unanimously to reduce UNAMIR from 2,500 troops to just 270, effectively abandoning Rwanda. General Dallaire had begged for reinforcements and a mandate to use force to stop the killing. The United States, still reeling from Somalia, led the push for withdrawal and instructed its diplomats to avoid using the word 'genocide.'

May–June 1994 · Bisesero Hills, Kibuye Prefecture Theater

In the hills of Bisesero, an estimated 50,000 Tutsi — many armed with spears, bows, and rocks — mounted organized resistance against Interahamwe militia attacks for weeks, an extraordinary act of collective defiance. When French soldiers arrived in late June as part of Opération Turquoise, survivors begged for protection. French troops left and returned three days later to find thousands more dead. The French delay became one of the most damning symbols of Western complicity.

July 4, 1994 · Kigali Theater

On July 4, 1994, RPF forces captured Kigali, ending the genocide in the capital and effectively ending organized state-sponsored killing across Rwanda. The genocidal government and military fled westward toward Zaire, taking with them — and in many cases forcing along — vast numbers of Hutu civilians who feared RPF reprisals. The genocide had lasted 100 days and killed an estimated 800,000 people.

July 1994 · Goma, Zaire (DRC) Theater

Following the RPF's capture of Kigali, approximately 1–2 million Hutu — including ordinary civilians, Interahamwe militiamen, and government soldiers — fled to Goma in eastern Zaire in one of the largest and fastest refugee movements in history. Génocidaires controlled the camps, diverting humanitarian aid and continuing to terrorize Tutsi. A cholera epidemic swept through the overcrowded camps, killing an estimated 50,000 people in weeks. International cameras focused on this humanitarian crisis, paradoxically generating more coverage than the genocide itself had.