Why Didn't the UN Pursue Intervention in Rwanda?

Introduction

One million people, primarily of the Tutsi ethnic minority, were killed by the majority Hutus during the Rwanda genocide between April and August of 1994. A power struggle between the Tutsis and Hutus has existed as far back as 1300, when the Tutsis first arrived in central East Africa. The Tutsis, making up fourteen percent of the population, eventually established power in present-day Rwanda and Burundi. The genocide was a culmination of nearly thirty-five years of violence, following the Rwandan independence from Belgium in the early 1960s, when the Hutus gained control of the country. To end the cycles of violence in the region, there have been attempts by the international community, the Rwandan government, and local communities in Rwanda to seek justice and reconciliation for the crimes committed during the genocide. (Vansina, 93)

The main issue raised by the genocide in Rwanda in April-July 1994 is the humanitarian intervention that did not happen: the failure of states and the UN to intervene promptly and decisively in the period up to May when faced with evidence of genocide, massive internal displacement, and refugee flows. A small UN peacekeeping force, the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), was already present in the country in connection with the war between the government and the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF). However, with a limited mandate and force structure, it could do little to stop the government-backed killings of Tutsis. A UN-commissioned survey of the 1994 genocide was critical of the failure both of the UN and its member states to intervene more promptly.

Research Question

Why Didn't the UN Pursue Intervention in Rwanda?

Method of Study

This paper employs case study of Rwanda and comparisons to discuss the problem that why the UN did not pursue intervention in Rwanda. Secondary sources have been used in this paper.

Discussion

The UNO also had recognized the results of a negative report that blames UN of being unsuccessful to stop the Rwandan genocide. Belgium, France and the United States must accept a degree of responsibility for this genocide. Belgium is responsible for having largely created the political antagonism between the Hutus and Tutsis and then transforming it into a racial problem which sowed the seeds of the present tragedy. France closed its eyes to the growing racism at the heart of the system and the increasing number of massacres over the past four years and continued to support the former regime to the bitter end (Allison, 1999). The subsequent actions of the French government to protect the Tutsis cannot balance out the weight of the past. The United States can be accused of not taking up its moral responsibility as the major world power, blocking the initiatives of UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and preventing US officials from using the word genocide to sidestep the international obligation to intervene that recognition of the crime would have imposed. (Carr, 2000)

The USA also had wide interests in the Rwandan genocide. The U.S. relationship to the Rwandan genocide was part of ...