Shake Hands with the Devil

Amahoro Stadium is a football stadium and athletics training facility in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. It served as the headquarters of UNAMIR. It became one of the sites where those fleeing the Rwandan Genocide were given shelter.

Also called the Arusha Accords, the Arusha Peace Agreement was the original peace agreement made between the Rwandan Government Forces (RGF) and the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). It stipulated the creation of a Broad-Based Transitional Government (BBTG) that would be democratic and give rights to both Tutsis and Hutus. Following the Rwandan Genocide, the RPF-led government that came to power still followed the Arusha Peace Agreement, but with the added provision that anyone who participated in the genocide would not be allowed to hold political office and would be brought to trial.

Mandated by the Arusha Peace Agreement, the BBTG would be a temporary government formed by appointees of Rwanda’s political parties that would replace the government of President Habyarimana and pave the way for a new, democratically-elected government. The installment of the BBTG was first delayed by the refusal of various political factions to participate, and then derailed by the Rwandan Genocide.