Hutu family. Rwanda-Rundi is subdivided into the Kinyarwanda and Kirundi dialects, which have been standardized as official languages of Rwanda and Burundi respectively. It is also spoken as a mother tongue by the Tutsi and Twa. Additionally, many Hutu speak French, the other official language of Rwanda and Burundi, as a lingua franca. The Belgian-sponsored Tutsi monarchy survived until 1959, when Kigeli V was exiled from the colony (then called Ruanda-Urundi). In Burundi, Tutsis, who are the minority, maintained control of the government and military. In Rwanda, the political power was transferred from the minority Tutsi to the majority Hutu. In
1996 Burundian coup d'état first democratic presidential election on 27 June 1993, which was won by Hutu Melchior Ndadaye. On 21 October, Ndadaye was assassinated, sparking the Burundi Civil War between Hutu and Tutsi groups. Moderate Hutu Cyprien Ntaryamira became president in February 1994, but both he and Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana were assassinated in April that year, an event that sparked the Rwandan Genocide. Ntaryamira was succeeded by another Hutu leader, Sylvestre Ntibantunganya. On 21 July 1996, Hutu rebels attacked a refugee camp in the country and killed more than 300 people. On 23 July, President Ntibantunganya went into hiding at the home