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Agenda: May 10, 2010
Genocide in Rwanda
1. Quiz
2. Summarizing the Rwanda case
Q and A: background, IO’s reactions
3. Timeline of Case: prelude
4. film: “Ghosts of Rwanda”
5. Timeline of Case: The Genocide
6. Tuesday: Timeline of Case: After the
Genocide: Justice for Rwandans?
7. Generalizing from the Case
3a. Summarizing the Case
Setting the stage:
What are the major Rwandan ethnicities? What are
the major political factions?
What problems caused the world to view Rwanda as
a crisis requiring attention in 1993-94?
Initially, who did what to address the problems?
What events proved catalytic to a major escalation in
the problems there?
3b. Summarizing the Case: Analyzing the Evolution of
problem and of the I.O. intervention:
The U.N.’s first mandate was that of the UNOMUR. Who did
what here? Did it resemble classical “peacekeeping”?
Was it successful?
What was the Arusha Agreement of August 1993?
When the UN mandate changed from UNOMUR to UNIMIR how
was the problem redefined and how did this affect
achieving the role of the UN Peacekeepers?
What happened in April 1994 that altered the problems further?
How did it affect the operation of UNIMIR?
What were UNIMIR II and “Operation Turquoise”? Did either
have potential to stop the genocide?
Assess the contribution of the US Operation Support Hope.
How did its mandate differ from that of UNIMIR II and
“Operation Turquoise”?
6. Generalizing from the Case
Think of the precedent set by the UN intervention in Somalia. How
did lessons from that case infect the responses of IOs in this
case?
The U.N.’s inability to coordinate actions by member states hampered
goal achievement in Somalia. How did that affect U.N. actions in
Rwanda?
Think of the U.S. role in Rwanda as a humanitarian intervention. Was
it successful in the same sense that UNOSOM I and the Task
Force there were limited successes? Why or why not?
What are the advantages to the US of acting multilaterally in cases of
humanitarian intervention? What are the disadvantages of
acting multilaterally?
4a. Prelude to Genocide in Rwanda
August 1992: Three year Hutu-Tutsi war in Burundi and Rwanda
comes to negotiated end in Arusha Agreements: power
sharing among Tutsi rebels of RPF (14% of Rwandans) and
Hutu Government (85%) is called for. Fighting continues, off
and on.
Feb. 1993: First 300 foreign armed forces to assist with ceasefire
are French and arrive in February.
March 4, 1993: Rwandan Govt. asks U.N. Sec. Council to
investigate; Secy. General sends fact finding mission.
March 12: U.N. Sec. Council adopts Resolution 812, calling for
cooperation with ceasefire.
June 1993: U.N. Sec. Council adopts Resolution 846, establishing
observer mission UNOMUR.
Oct. 1993: U.N. Sec. Council adopts Resolution 872, establishing
assistance mission UNAMIR. Goals in several phases
include:
Establishing a transitional administration as
planned in Arusha Agreement; demilitarization; de-mining;
investigate violations.
De-mobilization of rebel armed forces.
Monitor election security.
Oct. 22: Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire arrives to implement
agreements, and to command UNAMIR.
(more)
4. Prelude to Genocide in Rwanda –2-
Jan. 1994: New Pres. Habyarimana sworn in, but Hutu extremist
parties obstruct power sharing plan. Chief among
them:
MRND Interahamwe (“we who work together”)
CDR Impuzamugambi (“the ones who have only one
goal”)
Dallaire requests permission to seize arms from these
groups, but U.N. headquarters declares that that is beyond
the UNAMIR mandate.
Jan.-Feb. 1994: Assassinations of key politicians continue.
UNAMIR forces increase to 2500.
April 5: U.N. Sec. Council debates, extends UNAMIR mandate 4
months.
April 6: Tanzanian Pres. Ali Hassan Mwinyi calls Burundi and
Rwanda Presidents back for one day meeting to
discuss restarting progress on implementing the
Arusha Agreement.
5. A Case of Genocide: Rwanda, 1994
April 7, 1994: Pres. Juvenal Habyarimana dies when
airplane is shot down in which he and Burundi
President are returning from talks in Tanzania.
Both were Hutus.
April 7: Hutu hard-line opponents of compromise murder
(Hutu) Prime Minister, 10 Belgian U.N.
peacekeepers. Kigali descends into anarchy. Jean
Kambanga made PM. Interahamwe roadblocks,
house searches for enemies begin 45 min. after
plane crashes.
April 9: France, Belgium begin emergency airlift of foreigners
out of Rwanda.
April 12: Widespread massacres in countryside.
April 21: Despite Gen. Dallaire’s plea for more forces,
broadened mandate, U.N. Sec. Council refuses and
announces reduction of force from 2500 to 270.
Ghana, BenglaDesh, Belgium quit UNAMIR.
Late April-May: Widespread killings. RPF, Kambanga
accuse each other of the violence.
May 17: U.N. Sec. Council Resolution 918 authorizes
UNAMIR II: 5500 troops with expanded mandate,
but only as peacekeepers; no enforcement authority
May 24: ICRC reports from 200,000 to 400,000 have died.
5. A Case of Genocide: Rwanda, 1994 -2-
May 31, 1994: U.N. relief shipments are halted after Ghanian
peacekeeper is killed by artillery shell.
June 8: U.N. Sec. Council passes Resolution 925: mandate
is for refugee aid, not to stop the fighting.
June 14: OAU negotiates ceasefire between Provisional
Government (Hutu) and RPF (largely Tutsi).
Massacres continue.
June 22: U.N. Sec. Council authorizes U.N. force for
Rwanda of 5500. French component of “Operation
Turquoise” (2500 troops) arrive from Zaire; RPF
denounces French as pro-Hutu force.
July 4: RPF captures Kigali, but 5/6 of its people are gone.
July 8: U.N. Special Envoy Shahryar Khan announces
creation of “no fighting zone;” claims RPF, France,
and Provisional Govt. have agreed to this.
July 14: Fighting continues. Provisional Govt. leaders flee
into French occupied zone seeking protection.
July 12-17: 1.2 million Hutus flee into area around Goma,
Zaire
July 18: RPF declares victory; establishes new government.
July 21: International aid agencies state that 4 million are
refugees, of whom 2 million are now outside
Rwanda.
5. A Case of Genocide: Rwanda, 1994 –3-
July 22: Pres. Clinton orders airlift of supplies to refugee
camps, assigns 1500 troops to mission.
July 29: 200 U.S. troops launch “Operation Restore Hope,”
retake and reopen Kigali airport; French are not
informed, and begin to withdraw their troops from
Rwanda.
Aug. 2: U.S. announces RPF has agreed to establishment of
a U.N. Tribunal to investigate recent violence.
Aug. 22: France withdraws its entire contingent from
Rwanda.
Sept. 30, 1994: U.S. withdraws from Rwanda.
April 19, 1996: Last UNAMIR II troops leave Rwanda.
6. Rwanda: After the Genocide –1-
1994-95: Violence continues in refugee camps inside Zaire.
Nov. 8, 1994: U.N. Security Council Resolution 955 establishes
International Tribunal for Rwanda to try those responsible for
the genocide. It passes 13-1-1, with China abstaining and
with Rwanda voting “No.” Rwanda objected to the absence
of capital punishment from the mandate; cases were limited
to offenses committed in calendar 1994, to which Rwanda
also objected as being “too narrow.” Separately, Rwandan
courts try and convict 300+, and sentence 116 to death, in
related cases (1994-99).
Jan. 1995: U.N. closes refugee camp at Cyanika, Rwanda.
300,000 then remained refugees in that area.
March: U.N. in Nairobi, Kenya report that 20 detainees in
Rwandan genocide have died in Kigali jail.
April: Rwandan Government begins first trials of accused
perpetrators of 1994 genocide; attempts to close refugee
camp Kibeho, evicting 100,000 Hutus.
May: Rwandan Government requests U.N. end its 1994-95 arms
embargo against Rwanda, charging that Hutus in Zaire
refugee camps pose a continuing threat.
The Great Lakes region surrounding Rwanda slides into a
regional war, one that continues for a decade inside Eastern
Congo and Burundi, and additionally involves Ugandan and
Rwandan troops.
6. Rwanda: After the Genocide -2-
November 23, 1995: U.N. International War Crimes Tribunal for
Rwanda indicts 8 for genocide; first trial is scheduled to be
begun Sept. 27, 1996, but is postponed.
April 18, 1996: Final 362 U.N. Peacekeepers leave Rwanda.
Dec. 1996: U.N. spokesperson states Rwanda is holding 87,000
on charges related to the genocide. First two death
sentences are handed down in these national trials (Jan
’97). Detained persons rise to 120,000 by Oct. 1998.
Feb. 1997: 4 UN monitors of the Rwandan peace are murdered
by Hutu rebels after reports of Hutu “death squads” are filed.
Feb. 1997: U.N. Secy. General Kofi Annan fires top two chief
administrators of the ICTR (Rwandan Tribunal).
April 1997: Massacres of schoolgirls and Belgian nun after group
refuses rebel Hutu order to separate into Hutu, Tutsi groups.
August 1997: UNHCR reports massacre of 120 Tutsis in western
Rwanda.
Dec. 11, 1997: 327 killed in Hutu attack on Tutsi refugee camp in
Mudende, Rwanda.
Jan. 8, 1998: 8 nuns killed by Hutu rebels.
Feb. 27, 1998: FBI makes first arrest of a Rwandan indictee, in
Laredo TX: Elizaphan Ntakirutimana.
6. Rwanda: After the Genocide –3-
March 6, 1998: 135 killed in inter-ethnic violence, according to
NYTimes.
May 1, 1998: Former Prime Minister Jean Kambanda pleads
guilty to genocide before the UN Tribunal in Arusha. This is
the first conviction before the Tribunal.
August 3, 1998: 110 killed in Hutu-Tutsi violence near Kigali.
Justice Minister Nkubito announces that 90,000 suspects in
the genocide currently are in Rwandan jails, jails built to
house only 12,250.
Sept. 2, 1998: ICTR convicts Jean-Paul Akayesu, former mayor of
Taba, Rwanda, of genocide. This is the first time that mass
rape is defined as a violation of the 1948 Geneva
Conventions. (Feb. 22, 2001: ICTY hands down first
sentences, 12 to 28 years, to 3 Serb soldiers in the Foca,
Bosnia rape camps “crime against humanity” case)
October 1998: Jean-Paul Akayesu, a Hutu, is given 3 life
sentences by ICTR in genocide case.
Feb. 1999: UN Tribunal sentences Hutu military leader Omar
Serushago to 15 years in genocide case
May 1999: UN Tribunal convicts 2 more in genocide cases.
Nov. 1999: Tutsi dominated but multi-ethnic RPF Govt. suspends
cooperation with UN War Crimes Tribunal over release of
detainees.
6. Rwanda: After the Genocide-4-
Dec. 16, 1999: U.N. Panel Report on the Genocide faults U.S.,
Annan for ineffective response. Annan apologizes, but RPF
does not accept it.
December 24, 1999: Hutus murder 29 Tutsis
March 23, 2000: ICTR Appeals court reverses ICTR decision of
Nov. 1999, and permits trial of Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza to
proceed. Barayagwiza case had been dismissed due to 2
year detention in Cameroon without a specific charge; ICTR
charge of genocide will proceed.
April 17, 2000: Paul Kagame, a Tutsi, becomes Pres. of Rwanda
after his RPF Pres., a Hutu, resigns in dispute with RPF over
ethnicity of Cabinet. Kagame is first Tutsi Pres. of Rwanda;
he won 81 of 86 votes in parliamentary balloting for the
office.
(August 2000: U.N. Establishes War Crimes Tribunal for Sierra
Leone)
Feb. 19, 2003: ICTR convicts Rev. Elizaphan Ntakirutimana
(former head of Seventh Day Adventist Church in Kabuye)
and his son, Dr. Gerard Ntakirutimana, of aiding genocide.
After the 17 month trial sentences of 10 and 25 years are
handed down. These convictions mark only the 10th and 11th
convictions obtained by the ICTR; all were Hutus. (For
comparison, by 2000 more than 2500 had been convicted in
Rwandan courts.)
2003: Pres. Kagame releases 40,000 detainees by Presidential
Directive, principally elderly, minors, and ill defendants.
Some are required to build housing for survivors of the 1994
massacres after their release.
6. Rwanda: After the Genocide -5-
April 2003: 93 percent of Rwandans approve of new Constitution
which provides for a seven year Presidential term (with one
re-election possible) and a five year term for both houses of
a bicameral legislature (80; 26). Approx. 40% of the
legislature is female.
August 2003: By this time, 6500 have been convicted of crimes
committed in the 1994 genocide. Paul Kagame is re-elected
president this month, with 95 percent of the vote. Amnesty
International denounces the “climate of fear” created by the
Government prior to the election.
July 2005: Rwandan Government releases 36,000 detainees:
suspects who have confessed to involvement in the 1994
genocide, but who neither planned the events, nor were
convicted of such planning. At year’s end, 53,000 detainees
held on charges related to the genocide remained in
custody.
(August 2005: 12 year Hutu-Tutsi conflict in neighboring Burundi
brought to end with election of a Hutu rebel leader, Pierre
Nkurunziza as President).
March 2006: U.S. Dept. of State reports continued presence of
Hutu rebel groups opposed to the Kagame Government,
based in border region of Democratic Republic of Congo.
April 13, 2006: Paul Bisengimata convicted by ICTR of crimes
against humanity (Extermination) for events in 1994 at the
Musha Church in Kigali, where approx. 1000 perished. He
received a 15 year sentence.
6. Rwanda: After the Genocide -6-
As of May 5, 2006: 24 cases had been completed by ICTR, with 8
of these on appeal. Another 42 cases are proceeding
against defendants in custody, 27 in trial and 15 awaiting
trial. Nine additional indictees remain at large.
8. Discussion Questions: Justice for Rwandans
Given what we know occurred in Rwanda, what do you think
would be appropriate to be done with those responsible?
Has what has been done with them been sufficient to ground the
new Rwanda in justice and democracy? Why or why not?
Samantha Power once wrote that:
" ‘mere genocide’ could not pass a Pentagon cost-benefit
analysis.”
What does this perspective suggest about the U.S. response
to the Rwandan genocide?
Is this view sufficient to explain the behavior of diplomats
and White House as well? Why or why not?
Consider the behavior of the U.N. head of peacekeeping in New
York, Kofi Annan, in the Rwandan genocide. What explanations
did he or other U.N. officials offer for their behavior? Are these
explanations adequate? How, if at all, do they harmonize with
Power’s point?
