Understanding the event
The forces at play
MRND membership card. 10 x 8.5 cm.
© Kigali Memorial Center, Gisozi, Rwanda. Photo: Shoah Memorial.
Under the rule of President Juvenal Habyarimana, the sole party in power, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (MRND), strengthened its position in the population by launching violent campaigns against the Tutsis and by favoring the Hutu in public administration and education through the system of ethnic quotas.