Role of the international community in the Rwandan Genocide
Encyclopedia
This article details the role of the international community
in the Rwandan Genocide
.
was the last colonial power in Rwanda, and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
(UNAMIR) was initially mostly composed of Belgian soldiers, until they were withdrawn. The Belgian General Information and Security Service
knew of the genocidal intentions of the Habyarimana regime.
On January 25, 1994 a French DC-8 landed secretly at night in Kigali with a load of arms including ninety boxes of sixty mm mortars originally made in Belgium but coming from France.
After the attack of April 6, 1994, the Radio des milles collines spread the rumor that Belgian soldiers from United Nations Mission for Assistance in Rwanda were the source. The Rwandan presidential guard captured and assassinated prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana
and her husband, as well as the ten Belgian soldiers assigned to protect them. This dramatic episode drove Belgium into a depressive consternation which entailed Belgium's disengagement from UNAMIR. As to justify its decision, Belgium carried the UN along with a spiralling number of countries who were leaving UNAMIR. An informer, known as "Jean-Pierre" by General Dallaire
, had revealed to Dallaire that the people behind the genocide were counting on the fact that western nations couldn't tolerate their own casualties without pulling out of the mission.
Starting with April 7, Belgium demanded an extension from the UN of UNAMIR's mandate in order to evacuate the 1,520 Belgian residents, but not to protect the threatened Rwandans. Rwandan authorities refused to allow an intervention from Belgium, suspected to be the origin of the attack, preferring instead a French intervention. One can read from the report from the Belgian Senate the intentions of the Belgian ambassador
from 12 April 1996: "We are preoccupied above all with the personnel who have worked for us, of certain people associated with the process of democratization, with clergymen." The report follows: "Finally, operation 'Silver Back' began on 10 April and will be completed on April 15, when the last Belgian civilians will have left Rwanda."
After the genocide, Belgium, traumatized, started a parliamentary reflection. The Belgian senate instituted a "Commission d'enquête parlementaire" (Parliamentary Inquiry Commission) which inquired and composed a parliamentary report.
April 6, 2000, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
attended the ceremony commemorating the sixth anniversary of the genocide in Kigali. He took the occasion to make apologies after six years and to 'take on the responsibility of my country,' according to what we have learnt afterwords 'in the name of my country and of my people, I beg your pardon'" - Extract from chapter 15.52 of the report from the UN
against the RPF rebels: "French presence to the limit of direct engagement" according to the title of a chapter of the report of the French parliamentary mission. This operation allowed the French to organize and train Rwandan troops, who subsequently formed the Interahamwe
militias, or even future militiamen.
Oppositely, France, in agreement with the international community, endorsed the peace process
of the negotiations of the Arusha accords
between the Rwandan government, their opposition, and the exiles of the FPR.
In December 1993, France officially hid in front of the arrival of the UNAMIR, peace mission from the UN, who had come to the implementation of the Arusha accords. According to diverse sources, it seems that despite everything, some military technicians continued to operate in Rwanda. A couple of Frenchmen were notably assassinated, it seems by the RPF, in the hours that followed the attack. This couple set up sophisticated electronic equipment. Other leads of this type exist.
On April 8, 1994, two days after the attack against president Habyarimana, France launched Opération Amaryllis in order to permit the secured evacuation of 1500 residents, essentially westerners. The Rwandan survivors have strongly criticized that operation which, according to numerous testimonials, did not include the evacuation of the Rwandans threatened with the massacres, even when they were employed by the French authorities. France also evacuated dignitaries from the Habyarimana regime, and on 11 April, 97 children from the orphanage protected by Madame Habyarimana were evacuated. According to several sources, several dignitaries close to the Habyarimana family were also evacuated. Operation Amaryllis terminated on 14 April.
UNAMIR's Kigali sector commander, Belgian Col. Luc Marchal, reported to the BBC that one of the French planes supposedly participating in the evacuation operation arrived at 0345 hours on 9 April with several boxes of ammunition. The boxes, about 5 tons, were unloaded and transported by FAR vehicles to the Kanombe camp where the Rwandese Presidential Guard was quartered. The French government has categorially denied this shipment, saying that the planes carried only French military personnel and material for the evacuation.
France was very active at the UN in the discussions about the reinforcement of the UNAMIR in May 1994. In front of the inertia of the international community, France obtained the backing of the UN to lead Opération Turquoise
from June 22 to August 22, 1994. The declared goal was to protect the "threatened populations," both by the genocide and by the military conflict between the FPR and the temporary Rwandan government. No hierarchy between the two types of threatened people was established. The two parties of the military conflict assimilated them and the system was organised to remain neutral between the two different groups. This system was humanitarian in some cases, notably during a cholera
epidemic
in refugee camp
s in Zaïre
, the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo
, however it was the source of many distinct controversies surrounding the French role at the time of Operation Noroit and the criticism of having facilitated the desertion of those responsible for the genocide and a massive refugee movement of the population to Congo (around two million people). France has accused the FPR of having provoked half of these movements by refusing the advice of French authorities to not get involved in the north west of the country.
France, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council of the UN
, has been accused of a role that some of those answerable to France refute and who claim that Operation Turquoise was an exemplarily humanitarian intervention. Some use as context that in supporting a group that would become genocidal, and who, according to the French parliamentary report, did not hide their genocidal intentions, France would have favoured the launching of the genocide.
As the outgrowth of a press campaign, especially the articles written by the journalist Patrick de Saint-Exupéry
which appeared in 1994 and in 1998 in the French newspaper Le Figaro
, the French parliament decided to examine the actions of France in Rwanda using a parliamentary information mission for Rwanda. Some French NGO
s who specialise in Rwanda would have preferred a parliamentary enquiry mission whose judicial powers would have been more extensive in order to find the truth. After several months of work, the president of the parliamentary mission, the former Defence Minister Paul Quilès
, concluded that France was "not guilty" (December 1998).
Ten years later, during the year 2004, book
s, film
s, radio programmes and television shows have brought the controversies surrounding France's role in Rwanda back to life. Unsatisfied by the conclusions of the report from the parliamentary mission for Rwanda, some citizens and NGOs have formed a citizens' enquiry commission. After a week of work in Paris
, their "provisional conclusions" were read on 27 March 2004 at a conference that they organised the enclave of the French Assemblée nationale in the presence of one of two of the original people who had publicly stated the findings of the parliamentary mission, the former deputy Pierre Brana. On April 7, 2004 a serious diplomatic incident took place between France and Rwanda during the commemoration of the genocide in Kigali
. In the course of the ceremonies, the Rwandan President publicly accused France of not having apologised for its role in Rwanda while desiring to participate in the ceremonies.
In July 2004, the ministers of Foreign Affairs from the two countries convened in order to "share the work of a memory piece " about the genocide. Rwanda announced several days later, according to a dispatch from Agence France-Presse
from August 2, 2004, that "the council of ministers has adopted the organic law project to aid in the creation of the independent national commission charged with assembling proof of the implication of France in the genocide perpetrated in Rwanda in 1994." The French minister of Foreign Affairs "took action" for the creation of the Rwandan commission.
On October 22, 2004 the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
officially demanded that the "Republic of France" allow former ambassador Jean Michel Marlaud and one of his military representatives, officer Jean Jacques Maurin to respond to the demand of the defence of the presumed mastermind of the genocide: Colonel Bagosora pending judgement. Colonel Bagosra was the first Rwandan officer to have graduated from the French École des Officiers.
On November 27, 2004 in a televised debate on France 3
, after the showing of the French film "Tuez les Tous" (Kill Them All), created by three students of political science, the president of the parliamentary mission for information for Rwanda, Paul Quilès
stated for the first time that "France asks to be pardoned by the people of Rwanda, but not by their government".
(the president at the time), Édouard Balladur
(the prime minister), Alain Juppé
(the foreign minister), and his then chief aide, Dominique de Villepin
. “French soldiers themselves directly were involved in assassinations of Tutsis and Hutus accused of hiding Tutsis,” said the report, which was compiled by a team of investigators from the Justice Ministry.
the year prior, the US refused to provide requested material aid to Rwanda. France, China
and Russia
opposed involvement in what was seen as an "internal affair". Dallaire was directly "taken to task," in his words, for even suggesting that UNAMIR should raid Hutu militants' weapons caches, whose location had been disclosed to him by a government informant. The UN "failed" to respond adequately to Dallaire's urgent requests.
The role of the United States
is directly inspired by their defeat that they underwent during their intervention in Somalia
in 1993. For two months, from April to May 1994, the American government fought over the word "genocide" which is banned by the Convention for the prevention and the repression of crime and genocide (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948).
In the US, President Bill Clinton
and US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright
repeatedly refused to take action. US government documents declassified in 2004 indicate the Clinton administration knew Rwanda was being engulfed by genocide in April 1994, but buried the information to justify its inaction. Senior US officials privately used the word genocide within 16 days of the start of the killings, but chose not to do so publicly because Clinton had already decided not to intervene.
Intelligence reports obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act show the cabinet and almost certainly the president had been told of a planned "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis" before the slaughter reached its peak.
Clinton and Albright would both later expressed regret for their inaction. Clinton provided major funding for the Rwandan genocide memorial in Kigali, and visited Rwanda in 1998 and 2005. He apologized both times, and "expressed regret for what he says was his 'personal failure' to prevent the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people there in 1994." He has attempted amends by sponsoring initiatives to help rebuild Rwanda through the Clinton Foundation.
In 2001 the government of the United States declassified documents, which confirm the attitude of the United States of not having taken into account the reality of the situation starting in January 1994 http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB53/press.html.
This attitude was perceived very negatively in the world and more specifically by the survivors of the genocide which led President
Clinton
to present his reasons for not acting on the matter to the Rwandan people. The French political class also vigorously underlines it when France's responsibilities in the events are evoked.
These elements of inaction tempered the information according to which the United States would have armed the Rwanda Patriotic Front of Paul Kagame
. If it is undeniable that Paul Kagame followed the military training of the United States in his capacity as an Uganda
n officer, it is probable that he would have benefited from Anglo-America
n aid via Uganda, this endorsement does not appear to be as large or determined as that that was received from the outside of those who he fought: the army of the regime of President Habyarimana and then the interim government which led the genocide.
, created a report on the genocide in 2000. Before the UNAMIR mission led by Gen. Roméo Dallaire
(military) and Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh
(civilian), the OAU had indeed sent a Neutral Military Observation Group, known by its French initials as GOMN..
has been criticized, especially by France and Rwanda. The UN did not make an enquiry into the attack. For several weeks, the international community let the killers act without intervening. UNAMIR, the mission of the United Nations in Rwanda, had to figure things out during this period in conditions that UNAMIR's commander, General Roméo Dallaire
described in great detail in his book "J'ai serré la main du diable" (Published in English
as: Shake Hands With The Devil) The UN created a report on the genocide.
In January 1994, Rwanda obtained a representative in the Security Council. For the duration of the genocide, the Rwandan representative, from the government which was leading the genocide, attended the debates of the security council.
A quote from Roméo Dallaire's book :
The Guardian on April 12, 1994 stated that when viewing a woman "being hauled along the road by a young man with a machete":
, was confiscated by UNAMIR at Kigali International Airport. The delivery was in violation of the cease-fire clauses of the Arusha Accords, which prohibited introduction of arms into the area during the transition period. General Dallaire put the arms under joint UNAMIR-Rwandan army guard. Formally recognizing this point, the French government argued that the delivery stemmed from an old contract and hence was technically legal. Dallaire was forced to give up control over the aircraft.
International community
The international community is a term used in international relations to refer to all peoples, cultures and governments of the world or to a group of them. The term is used to imply the existence of common duties and obligations between them...
in the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
.
Belgium
BelgiumBelgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
was the last colonial power in Rwanda, and the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
The United Nations Assistance Mission In Rwanda was a mission instituted by the United Nations to aid the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed August 4, 1993, which were meant to end the Rwandan Civil War. The mission lasted from October 1993 to March 1996...
(UNAMIR) was initially mostly composed of Belgian soldiers, until they were withdrawn. The Belgian General Information and Security Service
Belgian General Information and Security Service
The General Intelligence and Security Service , known in Dutch as Algemene Dienst Inlichting en Veiligheid , and in French as Service Général du Renseignement et de la Sécurité is the Belgian military intelligence service under responsibility of the Minister of National Defense...
knew of the genocidal intentions of the Habyarimana regime.
On January 25, 1994 a French DC-8 landed secretly at night in Kigali with a load of arms including ninety boxes of sixty mm mortars originally made in Belgium but coming from France.
After the attack of April 6, 1994, the Radio des milles collines spread the rumor that Belgian soldiers from United Nations Mission for Assistance in Rwanda were the source. The Rwandan presidential guard captured and assassinated prime minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana
Agathe Uwilingiyimana
Agathe Uwilingiyimana was a Rwandan political figure. She served as Prime Minister of Rwanda from 18 July 1993 until her death on 7 April 1994. Her term was ended when she was assassinated during the opening stages of the Rwandan Genocide...
and her husband, as well as the ten Belgian soldiers assigned to protect them. This dramatic episode drove Belgium into a depressive consternation which entailed Belgium's disengagement from UNAMIR. As to justify its decision, Belgium carried the UN along with a spiralling number of countries who were leaving UNAMIR. An informer, known as "Jean-Pierre" by General Dallaire
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...
, had revealed to Dallaire that the people behind the genocide were counting on the fact that western nations couldn't tolerate their own casualties without pulling out of the mission.
Starting with April 7, Belgium demanded an extension from the UN of UNAMIR's mandate in order to evacuate the 1,520 Belgian residents, but not to protect the threatened Rwandans. Rwandan authorities refused to allow an intervention from Belgium, suspected to be the origin of the attack, preferring instead a French intervention. One can read from the report from the Belgian Senate the intentions of the Belgian ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
from 12 April 1996: "We are preoccupied above all with the personnel who have worked for us, of certain people associated with the process of democratization, with clergymen." The report follows: "Finally, operation 'Silver Back' began on 10 April and will be completed on April 15, when the last Belgian civilians will have left Rwanda."
After the genocide, Belgium, traumatized, started a parliamentary reflection. The Belgian senate instituted a "Commission d'enquête parlementaire" (Parliamentary Inquiry Commission) which inquired and composed a parliamentary report.
April 6, 2000, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt
Guy Verhofstadt is a Belgian politician who was the 47th Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. He is currently a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.- Early career :...
attended the ceremony commemorating the sixth anniversary of the genocide in Kigali. He took the occasion to make apologies after six years and to 'take on the responsibility of my country,' according to what we have learnt afterwords 'in the name of my country and of my people, I beg your pardon'" - Extract from chapter 15.52 of the report from the UN
France
From October 1990 to December 1993, the French army led Opération Noroit, when the president of the French Republic responded to the Rwandan Republic. France openly supported the regime of Juvénal HabyarimanaJuvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...
against the RPF rebels: "French presence to the limit of direct engagement" according to the title of a chapter of the report of the French parliamentary mission. This operation allowed the French to organize and train Rwandan troops, who subsequently formed the Interahamwe
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe is a Hutu paramilitary organization. The militia enjoyed the backing of the Hutu-led government leading up to, during, and after the Rwandan Genocide. Since the genocide, they have been forced out of Rwanda, and have sought asylum in Congo...
militias, or even future militiamen.
Oppositely, France, in agreement with the international community, endorsed the peace process
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
of the negotiations of the Arusha accords
Arusha Accords
The Arusha Accords were a set of five accords signed in Arusha, Tanzania on August 4, 1993, by the government of Rwanda and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front , under mediation, to end a three-year Rwandan Civil War...
between the Rwandan government, their opposition, and the exiles of the FPR.
In December 1993, France officially hid in front of the arrival of the UNAMIR, peace mission from the UN, who had come to the implementation of the Arusha accords. According to diverse sources, it seems that despite everything, some military technicians continued to operate in Rwanda. A couple of Frenchmen were notably assassinated, it seems by the RPF, in the hours that followed the attack. This couple set up sophisticated electronic equipment. Other leads of this type exist.
On April 8, 1994, two days after the attack against president Habyarimana, France launched Opération Amaryllis in order to permit the secured evacuation of 1500 residents, essentially westerners. The Rwandan survivors have strongly criticized that operation which, according to numerous testimonials, did not include the evacuation of the Rwandans threatened with the massacres, even when they were employed by the French authorities. France also evacuated dignitaries from the Habyarimana regime, and on 11 April, 97 children from the orphanage protected by Madame Habyarimana were evacuated. According to several sources, several dignitaries close to the Habyarimana family were also evacuated. Operation Amaryllis terminated on 14 April.
UNAMIR's Kigali sector commander, Belgian Col. Luc Marchal, reported to the BBC that one of the French planes supposedly participating in the evacuation operation arrived at 0345 hours on 9 April with several boxes of ammunition. The boxes, about 5 tons, were unloaded and transported by FAR vehicles to the Kanombe camp where the Rwandese Presidential Guard was quartered. The French government has categorially denied this shipment, saying that the planes carried only French military personnel and material for the evacuation.
France was very active at the UN in the discussions about the reinforcement of the UNAMIR in May 1994. In front of the inertia of the international community, France obtained the backing of the UN to lead Opération Turquoise
Opération Turquoise
Opération Turquoise was a French-led military operation in Rwanda in 1994 under the mandate of the United Nations.- Background :On 6 April 1994 Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira were assassinated, sparking the 1994 Rwandan Genocide...
from June 22 to August 22, 1994. The declared goal was to protect the "threatened populations," both by the genocide and by the military conflict between the FPR and the temporary Rwandan government. No hierarchy between the two types of threatened people was established. The two parties of the military conflict assimilated them and the system was organised to remain neutral between the two different groups. This system was humanitarian in some cases, notably during a cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
epidemic
Epidemic
In epidemiology, an epidemic , occurs when new cases of a certain disease, in a given human population, and during a given period, substantially exceed what is expected based on recent experience...
in refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
s in Zaïre
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
, the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
, however it was the source of many distinct controversies surrounding the French role at the time of Operation Noroit and the criticism of having facilitated the desertion of those responsible for the genocide and a massive refugee movement of the population to Congo (around two million people). France has accused the FPR of having provoked half of these movements by refusing the advice of French authorities to not get involved in the north west of the country.
France, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council of the UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, has been accused of a role that some of those answerable to France refute and who claim that Operation Turquoise was an exemplarily humanitarian intervention. Some use as context that in supporting a group that would become genocidal, and who, according to the French parliamentary report, did not hide their genocidal intentions, France would have favoured the launching of the genocide.
As the outgrowth of a press campaign, especially the articles written by the journalist Patrick de Saint-Exupéry
Patrick de Saint-Exupéry
Patrick de Saint-Exupéry started his career at age 19 after winning a young reporters award.He worked for several newspapers :* France Soir Magazine starting in 1983* France Soir at the foreign service in 1987...
which appeared in 1994 and in 1998 in the French newspaper Le Figaro
Le Figaro
Le Figaro is a French daily newspaper founded in 1826 and published in Paris. It is one of three French newspapers of record, with Le Monde and Libération, and is the oldest newspaper in France. It is also the second-largest national newspaper in France after Le Parisien and before Le Monde, but...
, the French parliament decided to examine the actions of France in Rwanda using a parliamentary information mission for Rwanda. Some French NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s who specialise in Rwanda would have preferred a parliamentary enquiry mission whose judicial powers would have been more extensive in order to find the truth. After several months of work, the president of the parliamentary mission, the former Defence Minister Paul Quilès
Paul Quilès
Paul Quilès is a French Socialist politician.-Biography:He was born in Sig, Algeria.Deputy of Tarn département, close to Laurent Fabius, he was Defense Minister from 1985 to 1986, after the Rainbow Warrior scandal...
, concluded that France was "not guilty" (December 1998).
Ten years later, during the year 2004, book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s, radio programmes and television shows have brought the controversies surrounding France's role in Rwanda back to life. Unsatisfied by the conclusions of the report from the parliamentary mission for Rwanda, some citizens and NGOs have formed a citizens' enquiry commission. After a week of work in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, their "provisional conclusions" were read on 27 March 2004 at a conference that they organised the enclave of the French Assemblée nationale in the presence of one of two of the original people who had publicly stated the findings of the parliamentary mission, the former deputy Pierre Brana. On April 7, 2004 a serious diplomatic incident took place between France and Rwanda during the commemoration of the genocide in Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...
. In the course of the ceremonies, the Rwandan President publicly accused France of not having apologised for its role in Rwanda while desiring to participate in the ceremonies.
In July 2004, the ministers of Foreign Affairs from the two countries convened in order to "share the work of a memory piece " about the genocide. Rwanda announced several days later, according to a dispatch from Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
from August 2, 2004, that "the council of ministers has adopted the organic law project to aid in the creation of the independent national commission charged with assembling proof of the implication of France in the genocide perpetrated in Rwanda in 1994." The French minister of Foreign Affairs "took action" for the creation of the Rwandan commission.
On October 22, 2004 the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to judge people responsible for the Rwandan Genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan...
officially demanded that the "Republic of France" allow former ambassador Jean Michel Marlaud and one of his military representatives, officer Jean Jacques Maurin to respond to the demand of the defence of the presumed mastermind of the genocide: Colonel Bagosora pending judgement. Colonel Bagosra was the first Rwandan officer to have graduated from the French École des Officiers.
On November 27, 2004 in a televised debate on France 3
France 3
France 3 is the second largest French public television channel and part of the France Télévisions group, which also includes France 2, France 4, France 5, and France Ô....
, after the showing of the French film "Tuez les Tous" (Kill Them All), created by three students of political science, the president of the parliamentary mission for information for Rwanda, Paul Quilès
Paul Quilès
Paul Quilès is a French Socialist politician.-Biography:He was born in Sig, Algeria.Deputy of Tarn département, close to Laurent Fabius, he was Defense Minister from 1985 to 1986, after the Rainbow Warrior scandal...
stated for the first time that "France asks to be pardoned by the people of Rwanda, but not by their government".
Rwandan report of 2008
On August 5, 2008, an independent Rwandan commission said France was aware of preparations for the 1994 Rwanda genocide and helped train the ethnic Hutu militia perpetrators. It accuses France of training Hutu militias responsible for the slaughter, helping plan the genocide, and participating in the killings. The report accused 33 senior French military and political officials on Tuesday of involvement in the genocide. Among those named were François MitterrandFrançois Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
(the president at the time), Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur
Édouard Balladur is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 29 March 1993 to 10 May 1995.-Biography:Balladur was born in İzmir, Turkey, to an Armenian Catholic family with five children and long-standing ties to France...
(the prime minister), Alain Juppé
Alain Juppé
Alain Marie Juppé is a French politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac and the Minister of Defence and Veterans Affairs from 2010 to 2011...
(the foreign minister), and his then chief aide, Dominique de Villepin
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007....
. “French soldiers themselves directly were involved in assassinations of Tutsis and Hutus accused of hiding Tutsis,” said the report, which was compiled by a team of investigators from the Justice Ministry.
The United States
After events surrounding the Battle of Mogadishu in SomaliaSomalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
the year prior, the US refused to provide requested material aid to Rwanda. France, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
opposed involvement in what was seen as an "internal affair". Dallaire was directly "taken to task," in his words, for even suggesting that UNAMIR should raid Hutu militants' weapons caches, whose location had been disclosed to him by a government informant. The UN "failed" to respond adequately to Dallaire's urgent requests.
The role of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is directly inspired by their defeat that they underwent during their intervention in Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
in 1993. For two months, from April to May 1994, the American government fought over the word "genocide" which is banned by the Convention for the prevention and the repression of crime and genocide (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948).
In the US, President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Albright
Madeleine Korbelová Albright is the first woman to become a United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by U.S. President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by a U.S. Senate vote of 99–0...
repeatedly refused to take action. US government documents declassified in 2004 indicate the Clinton administration knew Rwanda was being engulfed by genocide in April 1994, but buried the information to justify its inaction. Senior US officials privately used the word genocide within 16 days of the start of the killings, but chose not to do so publicly because Clinton had already decided not to intervene.
Intelligence reports obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act show the cabinet and almost certainly the president had been told of a planned "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis" before the slaughter reached its peak.
Clinton and Albright would both later expressed regret for their inaction. Clinton provided major funding for the Rwandan genocide memorial in Kigali, and visited Rwanda in 1998 and 2005. He apologized both times, and "expressed regret for what he says was his 'personal failure' to prevent the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people there in 1994." He has attempted amends by sponsoring initiatives to help rebuild Rwanda through the Clinton Foundation.
In 2001 the government of the United States declassified documents, which confirm the attitude of the United States of not having taken into account the reality of the situation starting in January 1994 http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB53/press.html.
This attitude was perceived very negatively in the world and more specifically by the survivors of the genocide which led President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
to present his reasons for not acting on the matter to the Rwandan people. The French political class also vigorously underlines it when France's responsibilities in the events are evoked.
These elements of inaction tempered the information according to which the United States would have armed the Rwanda Patriotic Front of Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame
Paul Kagame is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Rwanda. He rose to prominence as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front , whose victory over the incumbent government in July 1994 effectively ended the Rwandan genocide...
. If it is undeniable that Paul Kagame followed the military training of the United States in his capacity as an Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
n officer, it is probable that he would have benefited from Anglo-America
Anglo-America
Anglo-America is a region in the Americas in which English is a main language, or one which has significant British historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural links...
n aid via Uganda, this endorsement does not appear to be as large or determined as that that was received from the outside of those who he fought: the army of the regime of President Habyarimana and then the interim government which led the genocide.
The Organization for African Unity and other African countries
The OAU, which has today become the African UnionAfrican Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
, created a report on the genocide in 2000. Before the UNAMIR mission led by Gen. Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...
(military) and Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh
Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh
Jacques-Roger Booh-Booh was the Minister of External Relations of Cameroon from 1988 to 1992 and the head of United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda .-Biography:Booh-Booh was born in Manak, Cameroon...
(civilian), the OAU had indeed sent a Neutral Military Observation Group, known by its French initials as GOMN..
The UN
The role of the United NationsUnited Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
has been criticized, especially by France and Rwanda. The UN did not make an enquiry into the attack. For several weeks, the international community let the killers act without intervening. UNAMIR, the mission of the United Nations in Rwanda, had to figure things out during this period in conditions that UNAMIR's commander, General Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...
described in great detail in his book "J'ai serré la main du diable" (Published in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as: Shake Hands With The Devil) The UN created a report on the genocide.
In January 1994, Rwanda obtained a representative in the Security Council. For the duration of the genocide, the Rwandan representative, from the government which was leading the genocide, attended the debates of the security council.
A quote from Roméo Dallaire's book :
- "Let there be no doubt: the Rwandan genocide was the ultimate responsibility of those Rwandans who planned, ordered, supervised and eventually conducted it. Their extremism was the seemingly indestructible and ugly harvest of years of power struggles and insecurity that had been deftly played on by their former colonial rulers. But the deaths of Rwandans can also be laid at the door of the military genius Paul KagamePaul KagamePaul Kagame is the sixth and current President of the Republic of Rwanda. He rose to prominence as the leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front , whose victory over the incumbent government in July 1994 effectively ended the Rwandan genocide...
, who did not speed up his campaign when the scale of the genocide became clear and even talked candidly with me at several points about the price his fellow Tutsis might have to pay for the cause. Next in line when it comes to responsibility are France, which moved in too late and ended up protecting the genocidaires and permanently destabilizing the region, and the U.S. government, which actively worked against an effective UNAMIR and only got involved to aid the same Hutu refugee population and the genocidaires, leaving the genocide survivors to flounder and suffer. The failings of the UN and Belgium were not in the same league. (p.515)"
The Guardian on April 12, 1994 stated that when viewing a woman "being hauled along the road by a young man with a machete":
- "none of the troops moved. 'It's not our mandate,' said one, leaning against his jeep as he watched the condemned woman, the driving rain splashing at his blue United Nations badge. The 3,000 foreign troops now in Rwanda are no more than spectators to the savagery which aid workers say has seen the massacre of 15,000 people"
From France
In the early morning of January 22, 1994, a DC-8 aircraft loaded with armaments from France, including 90 boxes of Belgian-made 60 mm mortarsMortar (weapon)
A mortar is an indirect fire weapon that fires explosive projectiles known as bombs at low velocities, short ranges, and high-arcing ballistic trajectories. It is typically muzzle-loading and has a barrel length less than 15 times its caliber....
, was confiscated by UNAMIR at Kigali International Airport. The delivery was in violation of the cease-fire clauses of the Arusha Accords, which prohibited introduction of arms into the area during the transition period. General Dallaire put the arms under joint UNAMIR-Rwandan army guard. Formally recognizing this point, the French government argued that the delivery stemmed from an old contract and hence was technically legal. Dallaire was forced to give up control over the aircraft.
From Mil-Tec Corporation Ltd (UK)
A UK company, Mil-Tec Corporation Ltd, was involved in arms supplies to the Hutu regime at least from June 1993 to mid-July 1994. Mil-Tec had been paid $4.8 million by the regime in return for invoices of $6.5 million for the arms sent. The manager of Mil-Tec, Anoop Vidyarthi, was described as a Kenyan Asian who owned a travel company in North London and was in business with Rakeesh Kumar Gupta. They both fled the UK shortly after the revelations.- 6 June 1993 ($549,503 of ammunitionAmmunitionAmmunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
from Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
to Kigali); - 17–18 April 1994 ($853,731 of ammunition from Tel Aviv to GomaGomaGoma is a city in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the northern shore of Lake Kivu, next to the Rwandan city of Gisenyi. The lake and the two cities are in the western branch of the Great Rift Valley, and Goma lies only 13 to 18 km due south of the crater of the active...
); - 22–25 April 1994 ($681,200 of ammunition and grenades from Tel Aviv to Goma);
- 29 April - 3 May 1994 ($942,680 of ammunition, grenades, mortars and rifles from TiranaTiranaTirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
to Goma); - 9 May 1994 ($1,023,840 of rifles, ammunition, mortars and other items from Tirana to Goma);
- 18–20 May 1994 ($1,074,549 of rifles, ammunition, mortars, rocket propelled grenadeRocket propelled grenadeA rocket-propelled grenade is a shoulder-fired, anti-tank weapon system which fires rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. These warheads are affixed to a rocket motor and stabilized in flight with fins. Some types of RPG are reloadable while others are single-use. RPGs, with the exception of...
s and other items from Tirana to Goma); - 13–18 July 1994 ($753,645 of ammunition and rockets from Tirana to KinshasaKinshasaKinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
).
External links
- "Tous complices du génocide au Rwanda"
- Voices of Rwanda The Rwanda Testimony Film Project