TV presenter: In Rwanda, increasingly horrified witnesses observe the massive exodus of civilians fleeing the civil war to seek refuge in neighbouring Burundi. We know about the ethnic war between Hutus and Tutsis, but there's a political war raging too. Patricia Coste:

Commentary: "There's an exodus from Rwanda. An exodus on such a scale that it's been qualified as a major humanitarian disaster by the Red Cross. Half a million people are fleeing the country, crossing the rivers. They haven't all managed to reach Burundi, so they're flooding back into Tanzania, where the HCR is reporting lines of people eight kilometres long.
In the camps, it’s always the same wounded, the bandaged neck, hiding a machete cut that missed its mark. In Rwanda, the massacres continue. According to one of the rare European witnesses still on the ground, an ICRC delegate we've just reached in Kigali, a new massacre has just taken place in Gitarama, south of the capital, where the provisional government is currently headquartered:

The ICRC delegate: "I think there's not a corner of Rwanda that will escape these massacres. It's an ethnically-driven, politically-driven manhunt. »
Commentary: For political reasons, the refugees dare to start talking. Including this man, one of the rare opponents of the ruling party that managed to escape:

Alphonse Nkubito: "It's not ethnic massacres, it's a political operation. It's a political game that's being played out between those who don't want democratic change, in other words the President's circle, and the opposition. The truth is that the President's circle wanted to liquidate, extinguish, all these democratic leanings, and it's got its way. I'm telling you, if they catch me they'll kill me, even now. And I'm Hutu. »

Commentary: Hutu, like this woman, the former prime minister, massacred right at the start by extremist elements of her own ethnic group. Extremists who didn't want to share power with the Tutsis. So the democratic Hutus have joined the persecuted Tutsis in the wave of death and exodus. »

TV presenter: The United Nation's General Secretary, Mr. Boutros Ghali, is calling for the use of force to re-establish calm in Rwanda, torn apart by civil war. Hundreds of thousands of Rwandans continue to pour out of the country. Philippe Gaillard reports, one of the rare Western journalists we can still reach in Kigali, the capital:

Philippe Gaillard (ICRC delegate): We've made contact with the authorities in Kigali, who are currently doing what’s required by passing messages via Rwanda's two main radio stations, the national station and the ‘radio-télévision libre des Milles Collines’, asking people to calm down, respect civilians, arrest suspects - if there are any, handing them over to the appropriate authorities, and lastly to respect the wounded, whoever they might be, and help the Rwandan Red Cross and International Committee of the Red Cross do their work. It's clear that the message is getting through, it shows. Yesterday, we evacuated thirteen wounded people, today eleven - some of whom reached our hospital by themselves. It's a good sign, compared to what we've seen in the previous days. »

TV presenter: The fighting continues in Rwanda, particularly in the capital, Kigali, where the rebels are trying to dislodge the last governmental forces in an attempt to save human lives. This morning in Paris, a first for the humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières as it issues an unequivocal call for an armed intervention. Meanwhile France, as you know, is due to transport a humanitarian convoy from tomorrow on. Report by Valérie Fourniou:

Commentary: "Under duress, MSF has had to leave the refugee camp of Benako in Tanzania. The Rwandans have seized power, the same ones who organised the massacres in their own country. And for the first time, the French doctors have put their humanitarian reserve to one side:

Philippe Biberson (MSF): "It's logical to call for an armed intervention to stop the massacre because humanitarian workers can't do it themselves. We're not looking for an armada to interpose between two fronts. What's needed, in our opinion, is something along the lines of the United Nations forces known as UNAMIR, the contingent currently stationed in Kigali. We think that if UNAMIR was strengthened, if it was given a minimum of resources to work with, it could be effective. »

A dawning realisation or a display of powerlessness from an NGO who only recently denounced military involvement in humanitarian affairs? »