Unhappy Anniversary

GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

RESTING PLACE: Genocide memorial site guardian, Danielle Nyirabazungu, rests close to the skulls of those killed in the 1994 genocide in the church of Nyamata, Rwanda

Ten years ago, on April 6, 1994 , a plane carrying Juvenal Habyarimana, the ethnic Hutu President of Rwanda, was shot down over Kigali , the capital. Habyarimana and nine others perished; no one claimed responsibility. But the killings started the next day and continued for 100 more, as government-backed death squads from the majority Hutu tribe slaughtered minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. In all, more than 800,000 were murdered, many of them hacked to death with machetes. A decade later, four Rwandans remember the genocide and ponder what it will take to heal...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!