The Nyarubuye Massacre is the name given to the killing of an estimated 20,000 civilians at the Nyarubuye Roman Catholic Church and took place on 15-April 16, 1994 in the province of Kibungo, 140 km (60 miles) east of the Rwandan capital Kigali. The victims were Tutsis and Hutu moderates who had sought refuge in the church. Men, women and children were reported to have been killed indiscriminately, with the attackers alledgedly using spears, machetes, clubs, hand grenades and automatic weapons. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... A south-eastern province of Rwanda known for its production of bananas. ... Kigali, population 330,000 (1997), is the capital city of Rwanda and its largest city, lying in the centre of the nation. ... The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa: the other two being the Twa (or Watwa), a pygmy people, and the original inhabitants; and the Hutu (Wahutu), a Bantu-derived people. ... Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. ... A spear is an ancient weapon, used for hunting and war. ... Machete The machete (International Phonetic Alphabet: ) is a cleaver-like tool that looks like a very large bread knife. ... A fragmentation hand grenade A hand grenade is a hand-held bomb, made to be thrown by a soldier. ... M2 machine gun An automatic firearm is a firearm that will continue to load and fire rounds of ammunition as long as the trigger (or equivalent) is activated or until it runs out of ammunition. ...

The massacre was part of the April-June 1994 Rwandan Genocide in which an estimated 937,000 people have died. The skulls of victims show gashes and signs of violence The Rwandan genocide was the organized murder of up to one million Rwandans in 1994. ...

On 3 December 2003 a Rwandan court in Rukira, Kibungo found 18 people guilty of genocide crimes. Gitera Rwamuhizi ^[1], a leader of the group responsible for the killings, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and after pleading guilty the sentence was dropped to 25 years. The rest were sentenced to terms ranging from 7 to 16 years. 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A south-eastern province of Rwanda known for its production of bananas. ...