During testimony at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda ( ICTR ) investigating the 1994 Rwandan genocide , expert André Guichaoua referred to Butare as the " rebel province . " Butare was the only prefecture to be run by a Tutsi , Jean-Baptiste Habyalimana , who actively opposed the genocide . Because it had a large Tutsi minority , prefectural politics were dominated by the Parti Social Démocrate ( PSD ) , rather than the Mouvement Républicain National pour la Démocratie et le développement ( MRND ) , from which the genocidal Interahamwe drew recruits . The Interahamwe in Butare were thus less numerous and less organized than their counterparts in the rest of country . When the country erupted into bloodshed following the death of President Juvenal Habyarimana ( no relation to the prefect ) on 6 April 1994 , Butare was untouched , with the notable exception of the Nyakizu commune . Many Tutsis who fled the violence in other parts of country found haven in Butare
Rwandan genocide
Rwandan genocide
Butare Province