Habyarimana biography

Experienced beyond his years, Habyarimana had been deeply involved in the ongoing tribal warfare in Rwanda. After more than a decade of reprisals against the Tutsis, Rwanda still seethed with ethnic tensions. These were compounded by inter-tribal rivalries between Hutu officials from the north and those from central and southern Rwanda. On July 5, , Habyarimana and a cadre of associates from the north seized power in a bloodless coup.

The young and energetic president found support from Western governments, including Belgium, France , the United Kingdom , and the United States , but in his own country he was faced with numerous unsuccessful coup attempts and continued ethnic-based hostilities. A new constitution introduced in , provided for an elected legislature, but all candidates were required to be members of the MRND.

For his part, Habyarimana sought re-election in , , and , but was the only candidate for president on the ballot. His cabinet ministers, as well as many of the top military personnel, were fellow Hutus from northern Rwanda whose loyalty was beyond question. Many pressures were brought to bear on the Habyarimana regime as the s drew to a close.

A collapse of world coffee prices threatened the Rwandan economy. At the same time, influxes of Hutu refugees from Burundi brought an added burden to a country already beset by overpopulation problems. Habyarimana was forced to introduce an economic austerity program that led to widespread unrest. In hopes of curbing the anti-government sentiment, the president convened a national commission to study how best to implement a multi-party democracy in Rwanda.

The movement toward democracy meant little to the Tutsi minority. Even if democracy was introduced, they would gain very little, if any, political power. They wanted guarantees of some sort of significant participation in national affairs. Habyarimana did little to accommodate them until late in , when the large and well-equipped Rwanda Popular Front invaded from Uganda.

This military force, populated primarily by expatriate Tutsis, engaged the Rwandan army in heavy fighting that at times threatened even the security of the capital city. Actions taken at the start of the civil war foreshadowed the graphic violence to come — human rights observers documented cases where civilians were tortured and killed simply because of their ethnic heritage.

The abuses occurred on both sides, with Tutsi rebels murdering Hutu citizens and the Rwandan army murdering Tutsi citizens. In an attempt to restore peace, Habyarimana sought arbitration help from United Nations mediators and other African leaders. In August of , representatives of the Rwandan Patriotic Front met with officials of the Habyarimana administration to negotiate a settlement of the conflict.

The resulting Arusha Peace Accord guaranteed the RPF half of the officer corps and 40 percent of the enlisted men in a reorganized Rwandan army, as well as Tutsi representation in key government posts. Habyarimana reluctantly endorsed the accord and began to set it into motion in the autumn of The installation of the broad-based transitional government, a cornerstone of the Arusha Accords, never happened.

The coalition government was not to be. Habyarimana was killed in a plane crash as he returned from a summit meeting about the continuing Hutu-Tutsi hostilities in Rwanda and Burundi. The Rwandan Patriotic Front denied responsibility, and many observers feel that it is more likely that Habyarimana was marked for death by hard-line Hutus in his own government.

Quasi-military units like the Interahamwe butchered Tutsi citizens indiscriminately, as well as Hutus who were thought to support the pluralist cause. Whole villages were decimated, the corpses left to rot in their homes or thrown in the rivers. Having become the head of the National Guard and the country's police, he led a bloodless military coup in and seized the control of the country for himself.

The citizens were increasingly frustrated at his dictatorial rule which finally came to an end with his dramatic assassination in A Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin is remembered for his brutal regime and crime against humanity. Check this biography to know in details about his life, childhood, profile and timeline. Pol Pot was the Cambodian revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge.

This biography provides a glimpse of his childhood, career, profile and timeline. He studied humanities and mathematics at St. He returned home from Congo to begin training for the National Guard in Kigali and entered military school in During his military training he proved himself to be an outstanding cadet and was also trained as a parachutist.

He passed out with distinction and became one of the first officers in the National Guard as a second lieutenant in December He became Chief of Staff in the National Guard in , a position he served in for the next two years. He entered government service in as minister of defense and police chief of staff. He developed close relations with the President Gregoire Kayibanda who considered him to be a close confidant.

He led a coup in July and overthrew President Gregoire Kayibanda, accusing him of failing to take adequate steps to end tribal and regional conflicts, thus ousting the ruling party, Parmehutu. Then he assumed office as the President of Rwanda on 5 July In , he created the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development and declared it as the country's only legal party.

Until the Rwandan administration stayed under military rule. In , he was elected to a five-year term as president; he was the only presidential candidate. The initial years of his presidency were marked by considerable development and economic progress. His family shortly thereafter fled to France, making no preparations for his burial.

Mobutu promised Habyarimana's family that his body would eventually be given a proper burial in Rwanda. On 16 May, the day before Mobutu fled Zaire and the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Habyarimana's remains were burned under the supervision of an Indian Hindu leader. The death of Habyarimana ignited the genocide against the Tutsi by extremists from the majority Hutus, against Tutsis and those Hutus who had opposed the government in the past or who had supported the peace accords.

Within days, somewhere between , and , Rwandans were massacred.

Habyarimana biography

Habyarimana's wife, Agathe Habyarimana , was evacuated by French troops shortly after his death. She has been described as having been extremely influential in Rwandan politics. Habyarimana was a devout Catholic. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects.

Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. President of Rwanda from to For the surname, see Habyarimana surname. Agathe Habyarimana. Early life and education [ edit ]. Presidency [ edit ]. Rwanda Civil War [ edit ]. Further information: Rwandan Civil War. Death [ edit ]. Aftermath [ edit ]. Fate of remains [ edit ]. Political consequences [ edit ]. Main article: Rwandan genocide.

Family and personal life [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. Citations [ edit ]. University of Pennsylvania Press, ISBN , Length pages. Page Length pages. Ring, Rolf. ISSN Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, ISBN , Trmblay, Manon. WCIU Press,