31 years ago today, on April 7, 1994 (February 27, 1994 lunar calendar), the truth about the Rwandan genocide?. After the Rwandan genocide victims' photos of the massacre, survivors walked past the side of the machete stacks collected by the government. On April 7, 2014, 20 years after the Rwandan genocide, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and leaders of many African countries attended the commemoration. Only because of "disagreement" with France, Rwanda banned the French ambassador from attending the event. Beginning on April 7, 1994, Rwanda's Hutu and Tutsi people carried out a massacre that lasted for more than three months. About 800,000 to 1 million people were killed, the vast majority of whom were Tutsi. Rwanda was a German colony from 1890 to 1918, and a Belgian colony from 1918 to 1962. The Tutsi minority (about 18%) has always ruled over the Hutu people, who make up about 80% of the population. After the Belgians left, power was returned to the Hutu majority. After Rwanda gained independence in 1962, the government also failed to properly handle the issue of ethnic rivalry. Pictured is a screenshot from the movie. For more than 20 years, the Rwandan government has implemented a policy of racial discrimination against the Tutsi people. In the three years before the massacre, the state-controlled media even regarded the Tutsi people as enemies of the state, vigorously denouncing and inciting, causing fear and hatred among the Tutsi people. Nine months before the massacre, RTLM, a radio station backed by several party, government and military dignitaries, promoted hatred of Tutsis and even publicly announced a list of people to be executed. In 1990, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, an anti-government group of Tutsi refugees, invaded northern Rwanda from Uganda in an attempt to overthrow the Hutu-led government. During Rwanda's civil war, Francophone Africa and France supported Tutsis and Uganda supported Hutus. This exacerbated ethnic tensions in Rwanda. Under the propaganda of the Rwandan government-controlled media, many Hutus became fascinated by Hutu rights ideology. The ideology of Hutu rights proclaims that the Tutsi should be enslaved and that the Hutus should do whatever it takes to quell the Tutsi unrest. Continued ethnic conflict led the opposition to occupy the north, displacing large numbers of Hutus in the north, and in the south, Hutus regularly massacred Tutsis. The Rwandan government, led by Juvenal Habyarimana, bowed to international pressure and signed a ceasefire agreement in 1993, also known as the Arusha Agreement. On April 6, 1994, the plane carrying the President of Rwanda, Juvenal Habiarimana, and the President of Burundi, Ciprien Ntaryamira, was shot down near the Rwandan capital, Kigali. Both Hutu presidents were killed. It is still unknown who shot down the passenger plane. There are rumors that it was Tutsi guerrillas, and there are rumors that it was Hutu militants who planned the assassination because they were dissatisfied that the president would sign a power-sharing agreement with the Tutsi. The incident immediately triggered bloody revenge by Hutus against Tutsis across Rwanda. On July 7, a presidential guard composed of Hutu soldiers killed Rwandan Prime Minister Uwilingi Imzana, a Tutsi, and three ministers. Instigated by local media and radio, about 800,000 to 1 million people died in the following three months under the guns, machetes and sharpened wooden sticks of Hutu soldiers, militiamen and civilians. The vast majority of the victims were Tutsi, including some Hutu sympathizers. One-eighth of Rwanda's population disappeared, and 250,000 to 500,000 Rwandan women and girls were raped. In July of the same year, the Rwandan Patriotic Front and troops from neighboring Uganda counterattacked and entered Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to defeat the Hutu government. 2 million Hutus fled to neighboring Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) for fear of Tutsi reprisals. Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 film co-produced by Britain, South Africa, Canada, and Italy. Based on the 1994 Rwandan genocide, the film is based on a true story. It tells the story of a Rwandan Hutu hotel manager, Paul Lushabagina, who tries to save 1,268 Tutsi and Hutu refugees from a racial vendetta. Pictured is a screenshot of the film. In 1994, the United Nations established the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, to try senior government officials or military personnel. The Rwandan government is responsible for trying lower-level leaders or civilians. On December 23, 2003, the United Nations General Assembly declared April 7 of each year as the "International Day of Reflection on the Rwandan Genocide". On March 26, 2004, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan addressed the "10th Anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide" at UN Headquarters in New York, calling on the international community to take action to prevent a repeat of the Rwandan genocide. On April 7 of the same year, Rwanda held a national commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide to mourn the victims of the genocide. After a decade-long trial, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda announced on June 24 that it had sentenced six suspects involved in the Rwandan genocide case to 25 years to life imprisonment. The only woman indicted, a former Rwandan minister, Nilamasuhuko, and her son were sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide and crimes against humanity.