Alexaleigh Colon
Third Form Seminar
Mr. Nat Waters
April 10, 2014
United Nations Assistance Mission For Rwanda
I. Introduction
In the early 1990’s, the United Nations were deployed to the central African country of Rwanda because of ethnic violence that had erupted after several years of tension between ethnic and political groups. United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda hoped to be an objective power to enforce peace across the two groups. The UNAMIR’s mission, in short, was to stabilize the country by disarming rebels, helping to establish a governing power, and protect its people. However, throughout their time, the United Nations failed to uphold their mission several times leading to the death of countless Rwandese, important political members, their families and even some of their own members. In the years, that the mission had taken place, it seemed was inundate. All in all, due to being completely unprepared for the events that occurred and the terrible communication, UNAMIR was a disappointing failure. Rwanda is a small country that declared independence in 1962 from Belgium. It is about 10 square miles and landlocked by countries Burundi, Zaire, Tanzania and Uganda. (World New Digest) The population consists of over 7 million. The majority is separated in three ethnic groups. About 85% are Hutu, 14% are Tutsi and some 1% are Twa. They all speak the same language and share similar cultures. In 1956, despite the lack of difference between the cultural identities, the Belgian authorities insisted that all Rwandese begin to carry identity cards. In this administrative action, the peace between the three groups slowly disintegrated (UNAMIR Background). Soon, social barriers were created between of them. Eventually, ...
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...f people a day, the men and women in charge of their safety did not even reach a consensus to regard the situation in Rwanda as genocide. Had they see it that way, the efforts made to protect these people might have been a little bit more convincing. In truth, the mandate was also very vague and left a lot decision making up to the individual peacekeeper, allowing a acceptance of walking away or even “fleeing” as to not interfere with local affairs. The UNAMIR mission can easily be regarded a disappointing failure, not accomplishing the majority of the tasks that they were assigned. In the cases of the political figures that requested the protection of the peacekeepers or requested back up, several of them did not even live to see the next day as well as their families. The UN did not stand to halt or even decrease the amount of lives taken in this bloody civil war.
“The Rwandan Genocide represents one of the worst human security failures, and the consequences still reverberate through the Great Lakes region of Africa nearly ten years later”, writes the Commission on Human Security in 2003. “Therefore, realizing human rights lies at the core of protecting and empowering people” (Bodelier, 2011). Canada's lack of response to the Rwandan Genocide was unfortunate, and it allowed for questioning of Canada's continued strength in peacekeeping operations, something Canada had been instrumental in creating merely 40 years prior. It is necessary to examine Canada's role within the international community's failure, to understand what external factors can still influence Canada's foreign policy, and to therefore
The Rwandan Genocide was a terrible event in history caused by a constantly weakening relationship between two groups of people. The country of Rwanda is located in Africa and consists of multiple groups of people. Majority of Rwanda is Hutu, while a smaller amount of people are Tutsis. The genocide started due to multiple events that really stretched the relationship between the two groups to its end. One of the starting factors was at the end of World War 1. Rwanda was a German colony but then was given to Belgium “who favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated[exacerbating] the tendency of the few to oppress the many”(History.com). This created a feeling of anger towards the Tutsis, because they had much more power then Hutus.
Africa has been an interesting location of conflicts. From the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea to the revolutionary conflict in Libya and Egypt, one of the greatest conflicts is the Rwandan Genocide. The Rwandan Genocide included two tribes in Rwanda: Tutsis and Hutus. Upon revenge, the Hutus massacred many Tutsis and other Hutus that supported the Tutsis. This gruesome war lasted for a 100 days. Up to this date, there have been many devastating effects on Rwanda and the global community. In addition, many people have not had many acknowledgements for the genocide but from this genocide many lessons have been learned around the world.
The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 was not only one of the most remarkable tragedies in Rwanda, but is often recalled as one of the most gruesome massacres in all of history. The Rwandan Genocide was an attack on the Tutsi minority from the Hutu majority, the two major ethnic groups of Rwanda. According to the Survivors Fund (SURF), an estimated eight hundred thousand to one million Tutsis, along with some moderate Hutus, were slaughtered over the course of the one hundred day genocide ("Statistics"). The Huffington Post states, "If we follow the U.N. 's estimate, that means that nearly six men, women and children were murdered every minute of every hour of every day," ("5 Staggering Statistics"). Nevertheless, little assistance was provided for the Tutsis during the Rwandan Genocide. The lack of empathy from other nations during the massacre was remarkable. The entire world watched the genocide play out, yet almost all of the observers turned a blind eye and waited for the United Nations to intervene. Although the Tutsis longed for a savior, the U.N. did not intervene until it was far too late.
In the documentary Inanga: A Song of Survival in a Daughter’s Rwanda, Sibomana Athanase says, “After the drum, the inanga is the queen of all the traditional instruments” (Inanga: A Story of Survival in a Daughter’s Rwanda). For Rwandans, it is an instrument that is deeply rooted in tradition and in culture, yet as time goes on, it is slowly losing its appeal across generations. Traditionally associated with the Tutsi people, the inanga’s identity lies in its historical origin. Played in the courts in order to soothe the Tutsi kings, or mwami, the inanga became a concrete symbol of the contention and power divide that separated Rwanda into two distinct groups (Barz, McGovern). It is impossible to assess the significance of the inanga without first looking at the historical background of Rwanda. It is within this context that the inanga drew its meaning—both as a symbol of destruction and of rehabilitation. It is imperative that the role of the inanga be assessed from an African perspective; only then can one fully appreciate the instrument as a national symbol rather than a primitive and inconsequential artifact.
The beginning of the Rwandan massacre can be traced to the death of President Habyarimana. After his plane was shot down, Hutu extremists seized control of the government and began killing an average of 8,000 Tutsi Rwandans daily over the next 100 days. Shortly after Hutu extremists took over the government, their gunmen began killing moderate Hutu politicians and Tutsi leaders. Radio transmissions were sent all across the nation with instructions to systematically destroy all Tutsi people. When the U.S. ambassador in Rwanda tried to notify Washington that the killings were not political, but genocidal, the U.S. decided to evacuate all Americans. The U.N. advised their head of the peacekeeping force, General Dallaire, not to intervene and to avoid arms conflict. After one week of fighting, Belgium decided to withdraw their troops from the U.N. force after ten of their soldiers were tortured and killed by Hutu extremists. Days later the U.S. and U.N. Security Council voted to withdraw 90% of the peacekeepers in Rwanda, after Human Rights Watch demanded them to use the word genocide and take action. By evacuating their forces and turning a blind eye, they removed themselves from the legal obligation of ...
As of March of 2008, a total of 300,000 people have died in Darfur, Sudan due to genocide. That is equivalent to the entire population of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Genocide started back in February of 2003 in Darfur, Sudan. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines the liberties set for everyone in the World. Established in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights displays the rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled to. The situation in Darfur, Sudan is known as Genocide, Genocide is defined as a systematic extermination or attempt at exterminating a national, political, racial or cultural group. The Darfur Genocide has violated Article #3, Article #5 and Article #9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Darfur Genocide violates article #3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article #5 has been violated by the Genocide in Darfur. Article #9 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been violated by the Darfur Genocide. Attacks in Darfur are mostly by a group called the Janjaweed which are an Arab based group supported by the Sudanese Government, to carry out attacks on people with different religious, economic and political views. The Darfur Genocide violates the rights of its citizens; steps should be enforced by United Nations and it allies.
The Rwandan Genocide “It is our responsibility to empower the powerless while giving voice to the voiceless” -(Irwin Cotler “Six Lessons from the Rwandan Genocide”) When the Rwandan Hutu majority betrayed the Tutsi minority, a destructive mass murdering broke out where neighbor turned on neighbor and teachers killed their students; this was the start of a genocide. In this paper I will tell you about the horrors the people of Rwanda had to face while genocide destroyed their homes, and I will also tell you about the mental trauma they still face today. Hutu and Tutsi Origins When Rwanda was first settled, the people there raised cattle, the ones with the most cattle were considered “Tutsi” and everyone else was ‘Hutu”.
Overall, the United Nation is unsuccessful in it’s peacekeeping operation, seeing it has lost control over many countries. In some situations such as in Sri Lanka, the UN has simply made no attempt in helping the Sri Lankan people, leaving them to die. From what I have gathered in this assignment, the UN simply just talks towards the media, telling us that everything will be okay, and that it’s up to the peacekeepers to stop this mess. In most cases none of what they are saying is being done.……………...This is why countries worldwide have lost a great deal of their respect towards the Un peacekeepers. Many of the soldiers associated in the UN are to be blamed.
April to July 1994 marked the Rwandan genocide, a period of mass slaughter by the Hutu majority government of the Tutsi's and the moderate Hutu's. As it only happened recently, many of the current population have both first hand experiences of the conflict and experienced extensive sexual violence that came with it. Yet, despite this, Rwanda managed to achieve 'peace' with its political and economic turn around (Naftalin, 2011:22). Rwanda has not fallen into another inter-ethnic conflict and is one of the main countries that has a majority of women in the government (The Economist, 2017). Rebuilding a country after such an event requires both political strength and an effective way of dealing with the past.
A UN peacekeeping operation was sent to Rwanda in April but they failed to be an benefit and they weren't very well equipped.
Under the Hutu’s government reign the people of Rwanda voted to become a republic. A year later on July 1, 1962 Ruanda-Urandi became two separate countries. Though Belgium was no longer in power over Rwanda, ethnic dissension continued to affect the people. At independence a Hutu was elected, and later on another Hutu whom favored his ethnicity came into power. Hutu’s continued to dominate the governme...
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.
To better understand how Rwanda has come to rebuild itself and has found success in achieving international goals such as those set out by the United Nations, it is important to know about some of the main transforming initiatives that the country is currently un...
Middleton, John. "Rwanda." Africa: an Encyclopedia for Students. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. Print.