Pro-Government Militias

Pro-Government Militia Website

Documentation for Impuzamugambi

April 27, 1994
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Amnesty International accused government-sponsored military forces of killing some of the 5,000 refugees who had taken shelter in a sports stadium in the southwestern town of Cyangugu.

It said Habyarimana's ruling MRND party had armed its youth wing, known as Interahamwe, to kill known supporters of the rebel Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF).

It also accused an allied group, the Coalition for the Defense of the Republic (CDR), and its youth wing, Impuzamugambi.

"In recent months Amnesty International has received credible reports that military and government authorities have been supplying military weapons to Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi now being used in their killing spree," the statement said.

"The current massacres in Kigali and other parts of the country are being carried out mainly by supporters of the MRND and CDR, in conjunction with members of the security forces, particularly those of the Presidential Guard, gendarmerie and other units of the Rwandese armed forces.

"Most killings are politically motivated - to deprive the RPF and parties opposed to the MRND and CDR of any supporters or sympathizers."

May 15, 1994
The Observer

The cue for the massacres was the death of the President, whose plane was shot down in a mysterious rocket attack on 6 April. 'People were ready to move as soon as there was a pretext,' des Forges said. 'The aim was to destroy the Tutsi minority group and also the political opposition.'
(...)
A political party, the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic (CDR), which was more extreme than the President's National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development but still controlled by the ruling elite, was set up. While the movement negotiated peace, the coalition called for war.

In 1992, the two parties formed youth wings or militia, the Interahamwe ('Those Who Attack Together') and the Impuzamugambi ('Those Who Have The Same Goal'). There was a ready
supply of recruits. Rwanda is the most densely populated country in Africa, and the militias paid and gave a sense of purpose to thousands of Hutu youths with no land or prospect of employment. The militias, encouraged by the radio, took the lead in periodic massacres. 'Violence was privatised,' des Forges said.

The UN Secretary-General's special envoy to Rwanda, Jacques Roger Booh Booh, accused both the government and the Rwanda Patriotic Front of arming and training civilians in the months before the President's death. Sources say the presidential guard gave the militias three-week training courses in the northeast of the country.

The militias were under the control of the Akasu or Small House, an ancient Kinyarwanda word for royal court, which came to signify the circle of family and friends round the President.

A Rwandan government source has admitted that senior officials armed and trained the militias. But he added: 'After killing and looting, the militias have tended to become autonomous. They don't heed any orders because they have tasted the power of the gun.'

June 20, 1994
The New Republic

Nevertheless, two months later, in August 1993, President Habyarimana and rpf Commander Kagame signed an agreement to end the war. Habyarimana had already begun to share power with Hutu leaders outside his party. Until then he had run the country with a small group of men, most of whom were related to either him or his wife. Known as the Akazu or "Little House" (as in: the house that surrounded the president), these men controlled the elite Presidential Guard and Radio des Milles Collines. When Habyarimana let opposition members into his Cabinet in 1992, the Little House countered by forming militias called Interahamwe, or "Those Who Attack Together" and Impuzamugambi, or "Those Who Have the Same Goal."

Soon after, several Hutu opposition leaders were assassinated; terrorist attacks became common. Bombs exploded in public markets, land mines were placed on roads away from fighting. Though no group ever claimed responsibility, all non-French Western diplomats in Kigali suspected the Little House. "We told them it is in your interest to respect human rights," said one Belgian diplomat, "and if you don't, we will not be silent."

July 11, 1994
The Guardian (London)

It was propounded by the late president's political party, the National Republican Movement for Development and Democracy (MRND) and its more extreme offshoot, the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic (CDR).

Feb. 16, 1995
The Globe and Mail (Canada)

On top of this elaborate civic structure is another layer of control
exercised by members of the two militias, the Interahamwe (united
attackers) and the Impuzamugambi (those who have a common purpose), who
led the massacres of hundreds of thousands of Tutsis in April and May of
last year.

Jan. 20, 2007
Thompson, Allan. 2007. The Media and the Rwanda Genocide. London: Pluto Press.

p. 282
The Chamber finds that the CDR was a Hutu party and party membership was not open to Rwandans of Tutsi ethnicity. This policy was explicitly communicated to members and the public by Barayagwiza and Ngeze. During the year 1994, and in particular, the period 6 April to 17 July 1994, Barayagwiza continued to exercise effective leadership over the CDR party and its members. The killing of Tutsi was promoted by the CDR.
The CDR had a youth wing, called the Impuzamugambi, which became the CDR militia. The CDR members and Impuzamugambi were supervised by Barayagwiza and acted under his control in carrying out acts of killing and other acts of violence. Roadblocks were erected and manned by Impuzamugambi, for the purpose of identifying and killing Tutsi civilians. Barayagwiza gave orders to the Impuzamugambi at roadblocks that Tutsi should not be allowed to pass and that they should kill them unless they had CDR or MRND cards. Barayagwiza supplied weapons to the Impuzamugambi which were used for purposes of killing Tutsi. The Impuzamugambi, together with the Interahamwe, killed large numbers of Tutsi civilians in Gisenyi Prefecture.

Dec. 12, 2009
The Straits Times (Singapore)

THE 100-day genocide started after Hutu president Juvenal Habyarimana was assassinated on April 6, 1994.
[...]
July 18: Rwandan Patriotic Front announces end of war, names Pasteur Bizimungu as president.

April 6, 2014
MailOnline

The killings were planned by a cabal of senior government officials known as the akazu and carried out by two government-backed militias - the Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi - aided and abetted by Hutu civilians.

June 8, 2015
thespec.com

The conflict was perpetrated by the Hutu majority against the minority Tutsi population. A large number of Hutu moderates were also targeted. The mass killing of Tutsis was overseen by the Hutu-run Rwandan Government Forces (RGF) under the new president, Theoneste Bagosora, while civilian-based death squads called the interahamwe and impuzamugambi roamed the capital of Kigali in search of Rwandans without Hutu identity cards. The Tutsi rebel group - the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) - was still on the margins of the country, making their way slowly toward the capital to reinforce what remained of the slaughtered Tutsi community. By the time they arrived to secure Kigali in July 1994, between 800,000 and 1 million Tutsis had already been killed.