Bisesero, a mountainous region in western Rwanda, became one of the major sites of Tutsi resistance during the genocide. Thousands of Tutsi from surrounding areas fled into the hills, using the steep terrain to fight off attacks with stones, sticks, and incredible determination.

From April through June 1994, Interahamwe militias and government soldiers launched repeated assaults. Despite being outnumbered and out-armed, the Tutsi held out for weeks—longer than almost anywhere else in the country.

In late June, French soldiers encountered desperate survivors who begged for help. The troops initially withdrew and did not return for three days, during which even more slaughter occurred. When they finally intervened, only around 1,300–2,000 people remained alive out of an estimated 40,000–50,000 who had sought refuge there.

Today Bisesero is remembered as a place of both catastrophic loss and extraordinary resistance.