Apr 07, · In this essay, it was demonstrated that the “shadow of Somalia”, national interest and lack of internal pressure, or short “lack of political will”, were the main factors that led to the international community’s failure to prevent and stop the Rwandan genocide. The main actors Belgium, the US and France had sufficient information on This essay will discuss to what degree Instrumentalism is to blame for the Rwandan Genocide of , focussing on the notion of the elite manipulation of the masses. Two other theories – Constructivism and Primordialism – have also been used to explain ethnic conflict In April , a vast killing spree broke out in Rwanda, a nation located in central Africa. An estimated , Tutsi and their defenders were murdered in a government-sponsored genocide. With the failure in Somalia still very much in the minds of American policymakers, neither the United States nor the United Nations moved aggressively to
Culture of Rwanda - history, people, traditions, women, beliefs, food, customs, family, social
In mid, overTutsi and moderate Hutu were killed in the Rwandan genocide Destexhe The international community utterly failed to prevent and stop this atrocity. There are numerous interconnected and complex factors that led to international inaction, such as a misguided view of African conflicts, the bureaucratic nature of the United Nations and peacekeeping fatigue in general. Second, inaction was due to national interest: the United States decided not to intervene in Rwanda as there was no national interest at stake.
France, which had national interests at stake, did not try to save Rwandan lives, but actively contributed to the genocide. My argument develops as follows. The major actors [2] — Belgium, the UN Secretariat, the US and France — knew that there was rwanda genocide essay underway in Rwanda; therefore, they had an obligation to prevent and stop the genocide but lacked political will.
Each actor will be assessed individually. Following this analysis, I will show that the three factors mentioned above led to inaction at the level of the Security Council, where member states focused on the ongoing civil war rather than discussing the genocide, which would have forced them to act under the Genocide Convention.
Finally, it will be shown that this international failure had horrific consequences for the United Nations Assistance Mission For Rwanda UNAMIRrwanda genocide essay, with neither a robust mandate nor adequate resources, became an eyewitness to the genocide. Belgium, as the former colonial master of Rwanda, had a deep political connection with that country. When UNAMIR was formed in Octoberthey contributed the largest Western contingent UNDPI There were further reasons for Belgian involvement in the mission.
After the Cold War, rwanda genocide essay, Rwanda genocide essay needed a rationale for keeping a large and well-equipped national army; in order to preserve its status, Belgium tried to present itself as the Rwanda genocide essay peacekeeping specialist African Rights Early on, Belgium knew of the ethnic and rwanda genocide essay killings so it began to argue for a stronger UNAMIR mandate, but no other state was interested in supporting the mission Des Forges After the debacle with the dead Belgian peacekeepers, the only time the country showed any interest in Rwanda was when Belgian, French rwanda genocide essay US soldiers came to rescue expats between April 7 and 10 Melvern The quick and effective rescue mission of foreigners demonstrated what would have been possible had the international community been serious about stopping the genocide PBS Belgium knew about the nature of the killings and had the capacity to prevent and stop the genocide.
The Secretariat and the Secretary General, however, have come under considerable criticism for failing to pass on information before and during the Rwandan genocide Barnett 20; UNGA As a result, non-permanent members in the Security Council, who rely on the Secretariat for information, did not come to see the killings as genocide OAU The Department of Peacekeeping Operations DPKO only counted a few hundred over-worked staff, who were responsible for 17 missions and over 70, peacekeepers Boutros-Ghali ; Power With large and complex missions in Bosnia and Somalia, Rwanda assumed a low status Wheeler UN staff were determined to avoid another peacekeeping failure, rwanda genocide essay, due to concerns that this could mean the end of UN peacekeeping Des Forges ; Independent Inquiry The United States is often blamed as being most responsible for inaction in Rwanda.
As early asCIA studies warned of imminent massacres with up topotential victims Des Forges ; Power Kuperman states that by April 20, the US must have known about the genocide. President Clinton, who was rwanda genocide essay about his poll ratings after bringing home body bags from African missions, had decided that a range of factors must be met in order for the US to approve future UN peacekeeping missions Bellamy and Williams : The Presidential Decision Directive 25 PDDrwanda genocide essay not published until Maystrongly influenced US decision-making in April Scheffer Citizens rwanda genocide essay a powerful voice in lobbying their government to place topics on the policy agenda.
However, there was no such pressure inrwanda genocide essay largely to the absence of international media in Rwanda Power Government officials realised that they would look ridiculous calling the killings in Rwanda genocide and then do nothing PBS Apart from moral obligations, there are also legal requirements.
Under the Genocide Convention, the rwanda genocide essay community is obliged to act if genocide occurs anywhere in the world Genocide Convention So far in this essay, I have considered the roles of Belgium, the UN Secretariat and the US, which failed to prevent and stop the Rwandan genocide due to deliberate in actions Uvin I now will turn to the role of France, the country with the longest and deepest political and military involvement in Rwanda and whose actions directly contributed to the genocide.
Although France knew that there were ethnic massacres going on in Rwanda, it continued to give military and political support to the interim government Melvern 24; Wallis This led to quick and deep intervention in Rwanda Prunier Janvier Afrika, a former Rwandan Hutu supporter, remembers French involvement in in Rwanda in Wallis 57 :.
We had two French military officers who helped train the Interahamwe [3], rwanda genocide essay. A few days after the genocide had begun, the French embassy was abandoned and the only thing left behind was a heap of shredded documents and at least seventy French soldiers Melvern 48; Wallis These soldiers continued to hand out firearms, train the militia and even control check-points and demand to see identity cards, arresting Tutsi and handing them over to the Rwandan army Melvern 49; Wallis In France, between April and May, like elsewhere, there was virtually no media coverage about the genocide Prunier Therefore, French citizens did not call for an intervention; however, as soon as there was sufficient NGO and media pressure, starting in early June, official French intervention was again contemplated Prunier However, the real reasons for French intervention were to keep Rwanda francophone by stopping the RPF advance and to send a signal of commitment to other French speaking African countries African Rights While France did have national interest in Rwanda, this did not lead to Rwandan lives being saved.
As the only Western country willing to send a force, rwanda genocide essay, it could have supported UNAMIR. As explored above, the information flow from the UN Secretariat to the Security Council was insufficient.
Security Council states were extremely reluctant to use the word genocide, as this would have bound them to act under the Genocide Convention Melvern At the same time, he passed on information to the Rwandan government about Western apathy, rwanda genocide essay, which gave it the impression of moral and legal impunity Melvern These Security Council decisions had horrific consequences for Rwandans, rwanda genocide essay.
Although the Rwanda genocide essay established UNAMIR II with a Chapter VII mandate and authorised 5, rwanda genocide essay, troops in Resolution a few weeks later on 17 May UNDPIWestern countries were still unwilling to physically or monetarily contribute so that UNAMIR II could not be deployed until the genocide was rwanda genocide essay Melvern ; UNDPI This allowed France to deploy its own mission, rwanda genocide essay.
First, it did not have a sufficient mandate. The only time Dallaire was rwanda genocide essay to use force other than in self-defence was when he was requested to help with the evacuation of foreign nationals between 7 and 10 April Power This shows that Western states simply put the lives of white people above that of Africans. This is even more tragic when one considers that rwanda genocide essay modest force of 5, troops, rwanda genocide essay, UNAMIR could have stopped the worst killings Carnegie Corporation Furthermore, the Genocide Convention of not only carries moral but also legal responsibilities.
Lack of political will led to the failure of the Security Council, which has responsibility for international peace and security. Its malfunction meant that UNAMIR rwanda genocide essay never able to protect or save Rwandan lives and became a bystander to genocide.
Recognition of international failure to prevent and stop the Rwandan genocide should be the first step in ensuring that it will never again fail another state in the face of genocide.
Barnett, Michael. Eyewitness to a genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda, London: Cornell University. Bellamy, Alex J. and Paul D. Williams, eds. Understanding Peacekeeping2 nd ed, Cambridge: Polity Press. Caplan, Gerald.
Accessed 16 September Carnegie Corporation. Preventing Deadly Conflict: Final Report with Executive Summary. Accessed 6 October Available at www. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide Genocide Convention. Accessed 1 October Dallaire, Roméo, rwanda genocide essay. Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, London: Arrow Books.
Des Forges, Foreign Affairs 79 3 : Destexhe, Alain. Rwanda and genocide in the rwanda genocide essay century. London: Pluto Press. Melvern, Linda. Organisation of African Unity OAU. Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide: International Panel of Eminent Personalities.
Accessed 14 September Power, Samantha. The Athlantic Monthly 2 : Rwanda genocide essay Problem From Hell: America and the age of genocide, London: Flamingo, rwanda genocide essay.
Prunier, Gérard, rwanda genocide essay. The Rwanda Crisis: History of a genocide. Independent Inquiry. Report of the Independent Inquiry into the actions of the United Nations during the genocide in Rwanda. Accessed 15 September Scheffer, David.
Georgetown Journal of International Affairs : The White House, rwanda genocide essay. Accessed 29 September United Nations. United Nations Charter. Accessed 5 October
RWANDAN GENOCIDE - Why Did It Happen?
, time: 10:56Bill Clinton: Foreign Affairs | Miller Center
Feb 05, · The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide, Reyntjens, Filip. L'Afrique des Grands Lacs en crise: Rwanda, Burundi, –, ——. Pouvoir et Droit au Rwanda: Driot Publique et Evolution Politique, –, Sirven, Pierre. La sous-urbanization et This essay will discuss to what degree Instrumentalism is to blame for the Rwandan Genocide of , focussing on the notion of the elite manipulation of the masses. Two other theories – Constructivism and Primordialism – have also been used to explain ethnic conflict Apr 05, · In , Rwanda’s population was composed of three ethnic groups: Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa. Approximately 85 percent of the country was Hutu, while 14 percent was Tutsi and one percent was Twa. Rwanda was ruled by leaders of the Hutu majority from the time it gained independence in until the genocide in
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