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| Genocide survivors at Mwurire Genocide Site in Rwanda. UN Photo |
| Citing a "horrifying loss of human life and the suffering of an entire people", Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali has called the ongoing tragedy in Rwanda "one of the most hideous events in recent times". |
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He estimated that the "victims of genocidal slaughter" in the mountainous Central African nation could number as many as 1 million. The "protracted violence" in Rwanda had created "an almost unprecedented humanitarian crisis", he warned.
In reporting on UN involvement in the aftermath of a bloody, three-month long civil conflict, which followed the deaths of the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi on 6 April in an airplane crash near Rwanda's capital of Kigali, the Secretary-General described the "agony of a small country which is having to endure the massacre of a substantial portion of its population". By early October, it had been estimated that Rwanda's pre-war population of 7.9 million had fallen to 5 million. Between 800,000 and 2 million survivors were internally displaced; another 2 million Rwandese had fled to neighbouring countries.
"It is all the more tragic that the international community hesitated for so long to intervene", Mr. Boutros-Ghali declared, despite the fact that most UN Member States had signed the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, on 3 August, expressed profound regret that the international community was "so unforgivably late" in its efforts to prevent the human tragedy and genocide from occurring in Rwanda.
Some UN bodies echoed this judgement. The Commission on Human Rights' Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on 9 August demanded an end to the suffering, citing "tardy and insufficiently effective intervention" by the international community.
"To make amends for the delays", the Secretary-General stated in his 3 August report (S/1994/924), "the international community, at the very least, must ensure" that those individuals responsible in their personal and official capacities "for unleashing and instigating this cataclysm are brought to justice". It must also "do everything in its power to alleviate the appalling human suffering in the refugee camps" in Zaire, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi.
On 22 June, the Security Council had authorized the deployment of a temporary multinational force to Rwanda to contribute to the security and protection of displaced persons, refugees and civilians at risk. "Operation Turquoise—comprising more than 3,000 troops from France and seven African nations—was in place until the end of August, during which time it performed reconnaissance tasks, ensured the security of a "safe humanitarian zone", assisted displaced persons and extricated persons at risk.
It was "hard to describe the horrors faced by those who have fled Rwanda", the Secretary-General stated. The "pace of developments and the sheer number of people overwhelmed the capacities of the humanitarian organizations, which were striving valiantly against impossible odds." Among the obstacles were: a widespread cholera outbreak, attributed largely to water supplies contaminated by unburied corpses; dwindling food supplies; poor road conditions hampering delivery of aid; and the absence of internal security.
The Security Council on 1 July, referring to reports of "systematic" massacres and killings in Rwanda, asked for the appointment of an "impartial Commission of Experts" to provide conclusions on the evidence of grave violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda, including the evidence of possible acts of genocide.
Civil war ends, new Government formed
Also on I July, Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali expressed deep concern over the continued fighting in Rwanda and that the advance of the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) troops "might provoke a mass exodus of civilian populations to neighbouring countries". He called for a cease-fire and a halt to military operations, and stressed that "only the resumption of the political dialogue would restore peace and normalcy to Rwanda".
On 14 July, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sadako Ogata reported that, during the night, some 100,000 people had crossed from Rwanda into Coma, Zaire. More were moving towards the border to escape fighting as it spread into the strongholds of the "interim Government" in the north-west, it was noted.
Stressing that "unless this exodus of population ceases, the stability of the whole region will be endangered, unleashing a humanitarian catastrophe without precedent in Africa", the Secretary-General on 14 July issued an urgent appeal to the parties to the conflict for an immediate cease-fire. His call was echoed by the Security Council in a presidential statement. Meeting that same day in response to a request by France, Council members expressed alarm at the continuation of fighting, which was causing a massive population exodus. "This situation may lead very quickly to a further humanitarian disaster and endanger the stability of the region" since the refugee flow was "seriously affecting the neighbouring countries", they stated.
Also urged was the resumption of the political process in the framework of the 4 August 1993 Arusha Peace Agreement. Member States, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were asked to mobilize all available resources in order to provide humanitarian assistance to the civilian population. Parties to the conflict were invited to report to the Force Commander of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) on their actions in implementing a cease-fire.
It was reported on 18 July that the "interim Government", formed after the outbreak of strife in April, had fled the country and that the RPF had established effective control over most of Rwanda. It declared a cease-fire, effectively bringing the civil war to an end.
On 19 July, the Broad-based Government of National Unity was formed. The Secretary-General asked it to make every effort to reassure members of the population who had fled, or were in the process of doing so, that their security would be assured and they should return to their homes.
‘Operation Turquoise’
The French-commanded "Operation Turquoise" was launched on 22 June and first deployed to the towns of Coma and Bukavu in Zaire. In authorizing the temporary force, the Security Council, in resolution 929 (1994), stressed the humanitarian purpose of the operation, the duration of which was limited to a two-month period, unless the Secretary-General determined before then that an expanded UNAMIR was able to carry out its mandate.
France, in a 5 July report (S/1994/795) on "Operation Turquoise", noted that the RPF advance had led to a further flow of refugees. On 2 July, a "safe humanitarian zone" for refugees had been created within the Cyangugu-Kibuye-Gikongoro triangle in south-west Rwanda, covering one fifth of the country's territory. France said its forces had "demonstrated impartiality in the field by rescuing many Hutu and Tutsi Rwandese from certain death"—an impartiality that was beginning to be recognized by the RPF, it added. Noting the difficulties involved in controlling the "extremely tense military situation", France urged participation by third countries in the operation.
In a second report (S/I 994/933) on 4 August, France reported that the force's activities had been widened to include collection and burial of the victims of epidemics or starvation, and transportation and distribution of water and food.
"Operation Turquoise" concluded on 21 August. In a final report (S/1994/l100) of 26 September on the Operation, France said the 3,000-strong "Turquoise" force included troops from Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Mauritania, Egypt, Niger and Congo. The Force had "put an end to the massacres in Rwanda and ensured the protection of the population" in the safe humanitarian zone, the report stated.
The presence of the "Turquoise" force had also made it possible to conduct international humanitarian activities, since prior to its arrival no agency had been able to conduct significant activities in the area held by the former Rwandese Government. France also stated that the force had been able to gather reports of abuses against the population.
France speaks
In an address to the Security Council on 11 July, French Prime Minister Edouard Balladur said France had had a "moral duty" to act without delay to stop the genocide and provide immediate assistance to the threatened populations. "Without swift action, the survival of an entire country was at stake and the stability of a region seriously compromised", he said.
Reporting on the progress of Operation Turquoise in the three weeks since the adoption of resolution 929 (1994), Mr. Balladur stressed that its humanitarian goals had been "largely achieved". The massacres had almost completely stopped in areas protected by French troops. In addition, a large volume of humanitarian supplies had been delivered, and almost a million refugees were currently being protected in the safe humanitarian zone by "Turquoise" forces.
However, the "vast extent" of the country's needs exceeded the capacity of France and the countries working with it. At the humanitarian level, "only firm action" by States, UN humanitarian organizations and NGOs could "prevent hunger and sickness from following upon the massacres", Prime Minister Balladur said.
Parallel with the humanitarian aid effort which France was seeking, reinforcements for UNAMIR should be deployed as soon as possible. French and Senegalese forces in Rwanda could not take the place of an operation established by the Council. "That is not their mission, nor is it the intention of the French Government", he stated.
Only the presence of a sizeable UN force, he went on to say, would make it possible to begin Rwanda's recovery by promoting a return to stability and the expansion of humanitarian action. He therefore appealed to the international community to "do everything possible to enable the strengthened UNAMIR to be deployed quickly".
The "fate of a people and a country" depended on the ability to ensure that the UN peace-keeping mission was successfully carried out, he concluded. Declaring that France had had to act "to help a martyred people", Mr. Balladur called it "imperative now" that the "Turquoise" effort be assumed by the international community as a whole.
More support needed for UNAMIR
In his 3 August report, the Secretary-General stated that the RPF had established military control over most of the country. The "ultimate political aim" had to be the installation of a broad-based system of government that would give "all elements of society, irrespective of ethnic origin or social level, a sense of security and a stake in the country". The Arusha Peace Agreement provided principles and a broad framework for establishing such a system, he said.
That pact between the former Government of Rwanda and the RPF called for a democratically-elected government and establishment of a broad-based transitional Government until elections. Both wanted a UN multinational force to help implement it. The Council subsequently established UNAMIR on 5 October by resolution 872 (1993).
UNAMIR's "foremost priority" since the outbreak of the conflict, Mr. Boutros-Ghali said, had been to bring about a cease-fire and a halt to the carnage. Those efforts had intensified since early June, when the two sides initiated cease-fire talks at the military level under the auspices of UNAMIR.
The Secretary-General's new Special Representative, Shaharyar Khan, who had arrived in the Rwandan capital of Kigali on 4 July, had had contacts with the leadership of both parties and had emphasized the importance of a cease-fire, especially with a view to preventing further exacerbation of the humanitarian crisis. Cease-fire negotiations, however, remained stalled until 17 July, when former Rwandese government soldiers withdrew into Zaire and the RPF forces took control of Gisenyi in northwest Rwanda, in and around which the retreating forces had concentrated.
With the situation on the ground having "changed radically over the past few weeks", the Secretary-General reported that UNAMIR had adjusted its operational plans to cope with the new circumstances.
Its principal tasks now included: ensuring stability and security in the north-western and south-western regions; stabilizing and monitoring the situation in all regions of Rwanda to encourage the return of refugees and displaced persons; providing security and support for humanitarian assistance operations inside the country; and promoting, through mediation and good offices, national reconciliation.
Even with "severely limited resources", UNAMIR had been able to deploy a company along the border near Goma, as well as a number of observers in that region and in the zone controlled by "Operation Turquoise". The principal areas of concern were in the north-west to resettle returning refugees and in the southwest to avert possible outbreaks of violence, the report stated.
"Substantial numbers" of the former Rwandese government forces and militia, as well as extremist elements suspected of involvement in the massacres of the Hutu opposition and RPF supporters, were "mingled with refugees in Zaire" and were reported trying to prevent their return. It was more volatile in the south-west, where armed elements of the former government forces had sought refuge in the French-protected zone.
'Deliberate massacres'
The Secretary-General stressed that the "failure of Member States to reinforce the military component of UNAMIR with the necessary speed severely limited its capacity to reduce the human suffering that accompanied the civil conflict and the deliberate massacres of civilians, mainly members of the Hutu opposition and supporters of the RPF".
In a 1 August letter (S/1994/923), Mr. Boutros-Ghali noted that the offers of several Governments to provide troops for UNAMIR had been conditional, entailing "complicated efforts to match troops from one country with equipment from another". As of 25 July, less than 500 troops had been deployed. The delays, the Secretary-General said, had "contributed to the catastrophe which we now countenance". He reiterated his "urgent request in the strongest terms" to Governments to provide the essential reinforcements for UNAMIR. Rwanda would continue to need the help of the international community for the foreseeable future and the Secretary-General was "convinced" that resources did exist. What was required was the "political will in the countries around the world coalescing into a collective political will at the United Nations". At 3 October, UNAMIR's troop strength stood at 4,270 all ranks.
The Security Council, in a 10 August statement, welcomed the Secretary-General's intention "to adapt UNAMIR's practical tasks to the evolving situation". The Council, maintaining that the Mission's full deployment would be important in establishing a more secure environment, said it was "essential" that the contingents that were to be part of UNAMIR be deployed without delay and that the technical assistance they required be provided to them as soon as possible.
It reaffirmed that the Arusha Peace Agreement constituted an appropriate frame of reference for promoting national reconciliation in Rwanda and reminded the new Government of its responsibility for bringing its people together again.
Major-General Guy Tousignant of Canada was named the new Force Commander of UNAMIR as of 15 August, succeeding Major-General Romeo A. Dallaire.
UNOMUR closes
The UN Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda (UNOMUR) was officially closed on 21 September. Established on 22 June 1993, UNOMUR was mandated to deploy on the Ugandan side of the border with Rwanda and verify that no military assistance reached that country. One goal was to help create an atmosphere conducive to a negotiated settlement of the Rwandese conflict.
In a 19 September report (S/1 994/1073), the Secretary-General said the Mission had played a useful role as a confidence-building mechanism, especially "during UNAMIR's initial efforts to defuse tensions between the Rwandese parties and to facilitate the implementation of that agreement".
After the resumption of the civil war in April 1994, UNOMUR also played an important role in supporting the deployment of the expanded UNAMIR and the coordination of humanitarian activities in Rwanda, the report said. That role had been performed at a critical time when the resumed fighting had made the use of the airport at Kigali difficult and, later, impossible.
Humanitarian crisis
On 14 July, voicing its concern that fighting in Rwanda was causing a mass exodus of the population which might endanger regional stability, the Security Council issued its call for an immediate cease-fire and urged the urgent mobilization of "all available resources" to provide humanitarian assistance.
Describing the tragedy as assuming "unimaginable proportions", the Secretary-General on 22 July launched the UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Persons Affected by the Crisis in Rwanda, prepared by the new UN Rwanda Emergency Office (UNREO). Mr. Boutros-Ghali said the international community had been confronted with tribal genocide for months, and must respond urgently to "a new kind of genocide—by hunger, by thirst, by disease".
UN agencies and humanitarian organizations faced an unprecedented crisis, he said. Without substantial financial support, "we shall not be able to meet the humanitarian challenge that faces us". He entreated the international community to respond generously and quickly.
The Secretary-General also announced that he would send Peter Hansen, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, to head a relief assessment mission "to conduct an on-the-spot evaluation of the status of relief operations" in Rwanda and the region, and ensure that adequate coordination mechanisms were in place.
Under-Secretary-General Hansen also presided over a pledging conference on 2 August in Geneva. He cited three major tasks: meeting immediate life-saving needs in the hardest bit areas; establishing and facilitating conditions for the safe return of refugees; and ensuring a smooth transition in the humanitarian protected zone as the French-led multinational force withdrew.
By 1 September, donors had provided 70 per cent of the $552 million required by UN agencies to fund assistance. Donors had also made additional relief contributions, either bilaterally or through non-governmental organizations. In his 3 August report, the Secretary-General cited a fourth humanitarian task which remained to be addressed: to restore basic infrastructure in Rwanda. He urged governments with the necessary resources to apply them to Rwanda's reconstruction and rehabilitation.
On 20 July, a UNHCR representative, introducing the agency's report (E/1994/41), told the Economic and Social Council that the "greatest tragedies" had resulted from the political and ethnic conflicts in Rwanda and Burundi. UNHCR was coordinating a massive emergency assistance operation, in cooperation with the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Organization for Migration, the UN Development Programme, the UN Children's Fund, the World Healtb Organization and NGOs.
In its 10 August statement, the Security Council said the most immediate task was to respond to the "massive humanitarian crisis" created by the population movements. Member States, UN agencies, NGOs and individuals were encouraged to intensify their humanitarian efforts.
The rapid return of refugees and displaced persons was "essential for the normalization of the situation", and it welcomed the declared readiness of the new Government of Rwanda to encourage their return, ensure their protection and legal rights, and allow aid to reach those who required it anywhere in the country. Council members condemned attempts to intimidate refugees in order to prevent them from returning.
On 19 August, the Secretary-General briefed the Council in a closed meeting that the UN would probably have to maintain its presence in Rwanda for years if the country were to recover from its ordeal, a UN official reported. Military personnel would be needed, in addition to humanitarian workers, in view of the security conditions, he said. Given the "significant spill-over of the crisis engulfing Rwanda", the Secretary-General an 1 September announced his decision to pursue more vigorously a regional approach to address the problems and its consequences for Burundi, the United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda and Zaire. Robert Sberwood Dillon, the Secretary-General's Special Humanitarian Envoy for Rwanda and Burundi, was asked to examine the merits of a broader, more comprehensive regional approach. Mr. Dillon visited the area from 8 to 22 September.
Commission of Experts
After adopting resolution 935 (1994) on 1 July, calling for creation of an expert commission to investigate violations of humanitarian law in Rwanda, the Security Council was informed (5/1994/8 79) on 26 July of the Secretary-General's decision to establish such a body.
Commission members—Chairman Atsu-Kaffi Amega of Togo, Mrs. Habi Dieng of Guinea and Salifou Fomba of Mali—in a preliminary report an 30 September, stated there was ample evidence that individuals from both sides had perpetrated serious breaches of international humanitarian law and committed crimes against humanity.
"Overwhelming evidence" existed to prove that acts of genocide against the Tutsi group had been perpetrated by Hutu elements in a "concerted, planned, systematic and methodical way". To that point, the Commission had not uncovered any evidence that Tutsi elements had perpetrated acts "committed with intent to destroy the Hutu ethnic group" as such within the meaning of the 1948 Genocide Convention.
The Commission recommended that the Council act to ensure that the individuals responsible for the serious human rights violations were brought to justice before an international criminal tribunal.
The Council, in a 10 August presidential statement, encouraged the new Rwandese Government to cooperate with the UN, in particular with the Commission of Experts, in ensuring that those guilty of atrocities committed in Rwanda, including the crime of genocide, "are brought to justice through an appropriate mechanism or mecbanisms which will ensure fair and impartial trials".
The Council action was based on the Secretary-General's 3 August report, stating that the international community, "at the very least", must ensure that those individuals responsible for "unleashing and instigating this cataclysm are brought to justice".
Other human rights matters
On 25 July, Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali reported (5/1994/867) on the human rights violations in Rwanda, in line with Council resolution 918 (1994) of 17 May.
It was estimated that several hundreds of thousands of Rwandans, the majority innocent civilians, including women and children, had been killed since April. While many were said to have lost their lives, caught up in combat or during indiscriminate attacks against civilian settlements, "large-scale killings of civilians by Government forces" were also reported from areas far removed from the hostilities between those forces and the RPE.
Available evidence strongly suggested the killings were carried out in a "planned and concerted manner". Radio stations close to the former government were reported to have broadcast programmes inciting violence and extrajudicial killings. "Massive killings" continued throughout the period since 6 April, he said. Reports had also been received concerning summary or arbitrary executions carried out by RPF forces, in what were described as "acts of revenge".
René Degni-Ségui of Cote d'Ivoire, the Special Rapporteur appointed by the Commission on Human Rights to investigate first hand the human rights situation in Rwanda, undertook two missions to that country and some neighbouring States from 9 to 20 June and from 29 to 31 July.
In his first report, Mr. Degni-Ségui stated that the massacres seemed to have been planned, systematic in nature and carried out under "atrocious, appallingly cruel, conditions". The events "undoubtedly constitute grave and massive violations of human rights", he said. In a second report, he said "all the signs" were that the mass exodus had been "forced and planned". Despite "distressing and tragic" conditions in the refugee camps, refugees' fears of returning were being "nurtured" by the former Government in exile and by its Radio Tél"evision Libre des Milles Collines. Reporting various measures taken by the new Government to encourage their return, the Special Rapporteur also put forward a plan of action recommending the urgent deployment of 20 UN human rights experts, with another 150 to 200 to be deployed as soon as possible for at least six months, to monitor the return of refugees and the reconstruction of the country, as well as to inquire into rights violations (A/49/508-S/1994/1157).
On 7 September, William Clarance was named head of the UN Human Rights Field Operation in Rwanda. He was to direct and coordinate the work of human rights monitors, as well as investigators and forensic experts examining serious human rights violations in that country.
A five-member investigative team was dispatched to Kigali in rnid-September to gather evidence to identify persons "most culpable and responsible for grave violations of international humanitarian law, including genocide". The team, provided by the United States, was to work within the framework of the human rights field operation in Rwanda.
The Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on 9 August demanded "rapid and complete disarmament of the militias and extremist elements of the former Rwandese forces" and stressed that an international effort should be made to bring to trial the perpetrators of those crimes.
In a 28 September letter (5/1994/1115), the new Government of Rwanda reaffirmed its commitment to providing peace and security and encouraging refugees to return. It declared that refugees were "hindered from returning owing to this harassment prevailing in camps in the countries of asylum".
Other issues
A joint Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and WFP crop assessment mission reported on 29 August that the number of Rwandans to receive food aid inside the country was expected to rise by 1 million, to 2.5 million over the next five months. Under normal conditions, Rwanda, largely self-sufficient in food, would require seed, cuttings, fertilizer and basic tools for the agricultural season beginning in September.
A WFP emergency team visiting southern Rwanda an 18 July warned of a potential "humanitarian and ecological disaster", resulting from displaced persons settling randomly throughout the entire area, destroying woods and exhausting local food supplies.
A mission from the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat) and the UN Environment Programme, which was in Kigali from 7 to 14 September, drew up plans of action in five areas: urban infrastructure and housing, including road repair, water and electricity; urban environment, including protecting such resources as water and waste disposal; employment and the local economy; environmental interaction between city and countryside: and urban management. Experts would be cooperating with the UN Development Fund for Women's (UNIFEM) "Women in Crisis" project.
Presidency of the Security Council
The Security Council stated that its presidency in September should be held by Spain instead of Rwanda. In a statement issued an 25 August, the Council said it had decided to suspend the operation of rule 18 of its provisional rules of procedure, which stipulated that the Council presidency is held in turn by members according to the English alphabetical order of country names. Rwanda would assume the presidency in December, it was reported later.
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