An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir July/August 2015 www.dfmagazine.ie 28 | by CIAN MORAN R wanda is a tiny but densely populated country in East Africa, a little bit larger than Munster but with a popula- tion of over twelve million. historically, two major ethnic groups, hutu and Tutsi, have dominated Rwandan society. The short, dark hutus formed the majority and were traditionally farmers, while the minority Tutsis who are generally taller and thinner have traditionally been cattle herders. As Rwandan society rated cattle as a sign of wealth, the Tutsis were seen as the elite. Their dominance was increased during German colonisation and again after World War I when Belgium took control of Rwanda. This caused resentment among the Hutu majority and following Rwanda's independence, ethnic violence forced many Tutsis to flee the country. In 1988, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) was formed in Ugan- da among Tutsi refugees and Hutu dissidents, who then invaded Rwanda in 1990, leading to the Rwandan Civil War. Initially, the Rwandan government under President Habyrarimana held firm, backed by France, Zaire and Belgium. However, under the leader- ship of Paul Kagame, the RPF forced the Rwandan government into signing a peace agreement in 1993. The resulting Arusha Accords called for a provisional government with power shared between the Tutsis and Hutus. As both Habyarimana and Kagame feared extremists would take advantage of the power vacuum, in 1993 a UN peace-keeping force was autho- rised under Chapter VI of the UN Charter. The UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) was created with the mandate to contribute to security in Kigali, Rwanda's capital, monitor the cease-fire and the repatriation of refugees. UNAMIR was to be led by Canadian Major Gen- eral Roméo Dallaire and to have some 2,500 peacekeepers. As a Chapter VI mission, UNAMIR was intended to help maintain an existing peace agreement rather than enforce peace. Such a small and lightly armed force would be of little use if violence erupted, as was possible in Rwanda, which was polarised by de- cades of ethnic conflict. This swiftly became apparent when Maj Gen Dallaire was contacted by an informant who warned that Hutu extrem- ists outraged by the Arusha Accords were stockpiling weapons, training militias and compiling lists to exterminate Tutsis. The UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations denied Maj Gen Dallaire's request to move against the extremists. On 6th April 1994, President Habyarimana's plane was shot down in dubious circumstances. It is unclear who was responsible but, claiming the RPF was behind it, Hutu extremists seized control and began mur- dering moderate Hutus such as Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana. Following the neutralisation of moderate Hutu leadership, extremist attention soon turned to the Tutsis with Rwandan army roadblocks being set up and extremist radio stations an- nouncing Tutsis as targets. An orgy of violence swiftly took place with Rwandan soldiers and militiamen massacring hundreds of thousands of Tutsis. In the face of such violence, troop-contributing countries were reluctant to risk their peacekeepers' lives. After ten of its peace- keepers were massacred protecting Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana, Belgium sought to withdraw its troops from UNAMIR, raising the risk of total UNAMIR withdrawal. Although the UN Security Council opted to maintain UNAMIR, its numbers were drastically reduced so its members could do little against the genocide. Overall, 800,000 people were killed; around three quarters of Rwanda's Tutsi population alongside thousands of moderate Hutus. According to the Czech ambassador to the Security Council, Karel Kovanda, the Council spent 80% of its time discussing pull- ing out UNAMIR and 20% of its time trying to broker a ceasefire (which Kovanda compares to wanting Hitler to reach a ceasefire with the Jews). As a small, lightly equipped operation, UNAMIR was simply unequipped to intervene in genocide. Maj Gen Dallaire appealed for more troops, arguing that with just 5,000 peace- keepers, he could secure Kigali then fan across Rwanda to protect civilians. Although the UN eventually agreed to expand UNAMIR to 5,500 troops and many African nations offered to contribute unaMIr and the rWandan genocIde Rwanda refugees. Photo by: © Peter Turnley/CORBIS French soldiers on patrol driving past ethnic Hutu troops from Rwandan government forces, near Gisenyie, about 10kms from the border with Zaire. Photo by: © Pascal Guyotpascal Guyot/AFP/Getty Images Thousands of Rwandan refugees settle down in a schoolyard in downtown Bukavu across the border in Zaire. Photo by: © Hector Mata/AFP/Getty Images

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