The idea of giving military training and arms to civilians started with a March 18, 1991 letter signed by Eugène Munyangoga, who was the head of intelligence services in Ruhengeri Prefecture.

In the letter, Munyangoga told his boss in Kigali that he had the perfect idea to solve the problem of "Inyenzi” (referring to the Rwanda Patriotic Army —RPA), who had launched their first attack five months earlier.

He said that with the help of local leaders, the youth aged between 18 and 25, who were strong and well-built had to be trained by the army and later returned to their respective birthplaces where they would be armed but not in uniform.

He also said that it would benefit the country more since the militia wouldn’t require salaries and that if approved, they would start a pilot phase in Ruhengeri and then extend the move to the whole country later.

When the word reached the country’s head of intelligence, Donat Hakizimana, it was discussed among high ranking intelligence officers and from then, civilians were massively trained and armed.

Interahamwe

Unlike other militias who were known in specific parts of the country, Interahamwe were recognized at national level, and they had a well-structured organization plan from local leadership to national level.

Formed in 1991, Interahamwe’s top leadership had Robert Kajuga as the president, George Rutaganda as his vice, Phéneas Ruhumuriza as the secretary, and Dieudonné Niyitegeka as the treasurer.

Interahamwe were the armed militia faction of the then ruling party MRND (Mouvement révolutionaire national pour le développement).

Impuzamugambi

This was also an armed militia belonging to a different but almost similar political party CDR (Coalition pour la Défense de la République).

Formed in 1992, this militia was known to sing about how they would terminate Tutsi people during their gatherings which they referred to as "mitingi”.

While these two extremist paramilitary groups were the main (and the most known) perpetrators of the Genocide against Tutsi in 1994, they were not the only ones. In Gisenyi and Ruhengeri alone, there were several, according to Faustin Mafeza, Research Analyst at the Ministry of National Unity and Civic Engagement (MINUBUMWE).

Here are some that he found out in his research about the areas so far:

Amahindure

This militia was formed in Mukingo commune in 1993 by the mayor- Juvénal Kajelijeli, Joseph Nzirorera who was the minister for public works, Col. Ntibitura, and Chief Warrant Officer Charles Karorero who was a retired FAR soldier.

Amahindure was formed after Interahamwe to engage more young people in anti-Tutsi extremism. Its formation was a success, because more than 300 youth joined and took part in the Genocide, killing thousands of Tutsi refugees who had come to seek refuge at Busogo Parish, Busogo convent, and in different parts of Nkuli commune.

They also killed hundreds others at the Ruhengeri Court of Appeal.

Turihose

Arguably the strongest among others, and equal to Interahamwe in terms of job description, this militia was made up of the ‘quality Hutu’ (Abahutu b’umwimerere) who strictly hailed from Gisenyi.

Turihose was formed in 1992 but was openly in action in 1993, and their leader was Hassan Ngeze, with Cap. Hasangineza following their training.

Part of their training was to kill many people but in a short period of time. Their major weapons were Cordelettes (ropes) they would use to strangle people and daggers.

Mafeza’s research also found that besides training the fittest civilians in military barracks, some were sent to Israel and Libya for further fighting skills that they later taught their colleagues.

Several witnesses who were trained at Mukamira barracks also recounted how they were trained by FAR soldiers, but with the inspection of French soldiers.

Virunga Force

Also formed in 1993, Virunga force was made up of military trained young people who were in charge of "protecting citizens”, but who instead killed hundreds of them.

A prosecution witness under the pseudonym GAO at the ICTR in the case of Juvénal Kajelijeli testified that the members of Virunga force had been trained at Mukamira military barracks, and that they were armed.

Members of this militia participated during the Genocide, especially in killings in Mukingo and Nkuli communes.

Abazulu

There was another militia known as "Abazulu”- also formed in 1993, which would kidnap people during the night to kill them in the wilderness.

Its members were trained at military barracks in Bigogwe and Mukamira, and during the Genocide, besides killing mercilessly, they were known for raping Tutsi women in the eyes of their husbands.

They killed Tutsi people in Nkuli and Mukingo communes.

Intarumikwa, Abadebande, and Gashagari were also militias formed at different times until 1994, during the Genocide. They were all trained in military barracks, armed and deployed in different areas.

Part of their training was also lessons on how Tutsi people were their enemies.

Interamwete and Imiyugiri of Murambi

Anti-Tutsi militias were not limited to Gisenyi and Ruhengeri, because other parts of the country were also on the same page.

Jean-Nepo Sibomana- a Genocide survivor from Murambi commune, while sharing his testimony during the national commemoration event on April 7 this year, gave details of how in his home area, Tutsis suffered a terrible death at the hands of everyone, including children.

In an exclusive interview he had with The New Times later, he explained that while all killers in Murambi were in a coalition called ‘imboma’ (insecticide tablets placed in the house to especially kill cockroaches), killer-women were called Interamwete while children were called Imiyugiri, in addition to Interahamwe.

Tutsi people were being killed since 1990, and as extremism grew in 1991, genocide convict Odette Nyirazamani who was passionate about seeing Tutsi suffer came up with what was welcomed as a brilliant idea that would ease the extermination of Tutsi.

She formed a group of Hutu women who were named by Gatete (the mayor) ‘Interamwete’ (the ones that encourage). Initially, their role was to encourage their husbands through meetings, or keeping an eye on them so they don’t get sexually involved with Tutsi women and their families.

During the Genocide, she called upon Hutu women to support their ‘brothers’- Interahamwe to kill Tutsi. She would say that if they couldn’t kill, they should at least point fingers where Tutsis were hiding, and if they couldn’t do that, they should sing along songs of ‘morale’.

"It was like work, and that is why killing was referred to as working. Most afternoons after killing, they would gather up in a place called Rwankuba, or local administration offices and sometimes football pitches. They would mostly practice songs of hate and morbidity,” Sibomana said.

Most of the time, women sat infront in such gatherings. They would wear kitenge clothes or banana leaves and their enthusiasm was very much evident when speeches of extremism were made and when songs of killing Tutsi people were sung.

They would also go to the houses of whoever didn’t show up to call them, except old women who didn’t have the energy.

"They would say that if you couldn’t kill, you could at least scream or point fingers and it is something they said in broad daylight,” Sibomana said.

Whereas Interahamwe’s job was to kill, Interamwete’s was to determine how Tutsi women were supposed to be killed.

"They would undress them, give them to Interahamwe to rape them, pour chilli on their wounds or in their genitals, and many other inhumane actions,” Sibomana narrated to the New Times.

Imiyugiri (stingless bees) were children who also participated in the Genocide. Sibomana said that some of them were not tried in court because they were minors.

Although they didn’t have a known leader, these children who would walk in groups managed to block refugees’ way to hiding by shouting and insulting them.

"When houses were burnt, people would come out running. They would be beaten by Imiyugiri as they ran out of the houses,” Sibomana explained.

He added that these children were usually born to Interahamwe and Interamwete.

Mafeza believes that the Genocide wouldn’t have happened, at least the way it did, without the involvement of civilians. He says that security organs wouldn’t have killed as much people in a short period of time alone.

"A genocide is not accidental; it is well planned. That is why civilians were encouraged to hate Tutsi people, militias were formed as early as 1991, and the same militias were used in the Genocide trials in the early 90s.

He added that the same militias participated in the Genocide because they were even facilitated with arms.