Rwanda and the UN

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Rwanda and the UN
By Carniece Greene Latriece Pettie
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GENOCIDE

• This is the form of one-sided mass killing in
  which the state or other authorities intended to
  destroy a group, as that group and membership in
  it are identified by the perpetrator-
  Mirkovic,1996 Palmer,1998
• An explanation of the 1994 genocide as a state
  organized incitement to violence, imposed through
  terror and ideology and directed against the
  minority but Batutsi and their perceived allies
  among the Bahutu

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Massacre in Rwanda

• The Rwandan genocide was the extermination of
  hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and
  moderate Hutu sympathizers
• The massacre was carried out from April 6, 1994
  until mid-July of 1994 it lasted 100 days
• 5-10 of the population was killed between the
  second week of April and third week of May
  highest casualty rate in history
• The number of deaths ranged from 800,000 to
  1,000,000 overall

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The Final Blow

• Plans for genocide were already long in planning,
  however were sparked on April 6,1994 of a plan
  carrying Rwandas Hutu president Juvenal and his
  Burundian counterpart
• This was basically the catalyst for the
  unleashing of a well planned campaign of genocide
  by Rwandan extremist
• With a concerted propaganda campaign, the Hutu
  Power movement was able to play on hunger, lack
  of education and historical resentment to instill
  hatred for all Tutsi

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The Hutus Justification of their Genocide
Actions

• Tension between the two date back to the 1950s
  when the Belgiums controlled Rwanda and placed
  the Tutsis in charge of the Hutus This act
  alone reinforced the Tutsis position of power in
  the Rwandan society
• The Hutus blamed all of economic crisis on the
  Tutsi cockroaches professions in which the
  Tutsis tended to specialize he
• It was claimed in the 1970s that Rwandan Tutsis
  had elaborated a plan called Miconbero Plot to
  basically kill off enough Hutus to ensure a Tutsi
  electoral majority

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Major Events

• April 6, 1994 President Juvenals plan crashed,
  sparking the preparation for the outlet of the
  genocide planning
• On April 21, 1994, the UNs Security Council
  voted to withdraw all but a remnant of UNAMIR
• On May 16 the UN met, debated and finally arrived
  at a compromise the UNAMIR contingent of 5,500
  troops was agreed to go over in Rwanda but for
  some reason were never sent
• France announced on June 15 that it would
  intervene to stop the killing
• On June 22 the UN Security Council finally voted
  to intervene in the crisis after 100 days the
  massacre was finally coming to an end
• In November 1994, the UN Security Council set up
  the International Tribunal for Crimes Against
  Humanity and the fact of genocide was at last
  officially recognized

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The Main Organizers

• The genocide strategy was implemented by a small
  group of Rwandan government officials, led by
  Theoneste Bagosora, a retired army colonel and
  Hutu extremist.
• Northern Bahutu elite
• Their initial goal was regime survival. The
  means to achieve this was to be as complete as
  possible elimination of the perceived racial
  enemy

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• Another key player was Agathe Habyarimana, the
  wife of the counterpart murdered president one
  of the very few women to play a central role in
  the genocide
• The radio (RTLM) was a key factor for informing
  the Hutus of when to attack, it urged killings,
  broadcasted names of Tutsi and opposition
  targets, and reported the whereabouts of the
  hiding Tutsis to the militia.
• The MRND the militias together organized much
  of the killing

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The United Nations Foreign Powers Involvement

• Despite national coverage of the terrible acts,
  the UN and international community declined to
  speak out or intervene. The UN did not authorize
  the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
  to use force to halt or prevent the killings
• We are not here to be peacemakers, were here to
  be peacekeepers - Hotel Rwanda
• The United States was preoccupied with its own
  domestic affairs more abroad to get involved or
  interfere with Rwanda crisis

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• France maintained it tides with Rwandan armed
  forces and militias even after the killings
  started
• It was unable to persuade other European
  countries to stay relatively in the approach to
  genocide.
• A main factor for no international involvement
  was because of international indifference and
  ignorance about the reality of Rwandas situation
  

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The Outcomes

• The deaths of a range between 800,000 to
  1,000,000
• The UN establishes the International Criminal
  Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)
• "The genocide happened not because the state was
  weak, but on the contrary because it was so
  totalitarian and strong that it had the capacity
  to make its subjects obey absolutely any order,
  including one of mass slaughter." (Prunier, The
  Rwanda Crisis, pp. 353-54.)

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Sources

• The Movie Hotel Rwanda
• Explaining the 1994 Genocide in Rwanda
• By Helen M. Hintjens
• Reading the Rwandian Genocide
• Peter Uvin
• http//www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/newrels/
  rwanda.htm
• http//www.gwu.edu/nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB53/index
  .html
• http//www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/rwanin
  dx.htm
• http//news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1288230.st
  m
• http//www.oxfam.org/en/news/pressreleases2004/pr0
  40330_rwanda_QA.htmgenocide