From Africa Recovery, Vol.13#4 (December 1999), Watch page

RWANDA
Inquiry finds UN failure to halt 1994 genocide

Responsibility for the failure to halt the 1994 genocide in Rwanda lies with the UN system, members of the UN Security Council -- the US and UK in particular -- and other UN member states, according to the report of an independent inquiry made public at UN headquarters in New York on 16 December.

In a statement, Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- who had called for the inquiry -- expressed his "deep remorse" over the UN's failure to halt the massacre of 800,000 men, women and children. He said one of his major goals as Secretary-General is to make sure the UN never again fails to protect a civilian population from mass slaughter. "All of us must bitterly regret that we did not do more to prevent it."

The three-person inquiry team was led by former Primer Minister Ingvar Carlsson of Sweden, and included former Foreign Minister Hun Sung-Joo of the Republic of Korea and retired Lieutenant-General Rufus M. Kupolati of Nigeria. It had full access to UN records and interviewed more than 100 witnesses.

"There was a serious gap between the mandate and the political realities in Rwanda and between the mandate and the resources dedicated to it," Mr.Carlsson told a news conference at UN headquarters in December, referring to the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR). The inquiry concluded that the UN mission had not been planned, deployed or instructed in a way that would have enabled it to stop the genocide. UNAMIR, it said, was also the victim of a lack of political will in the Security Council and by other member states.

"This international responsibility is one which warrants a clear apology by the Organization and by the members states concerned to the Rwandese people," the report says.

The inquiry noted that a number of steps have been taken over the past few years to improve the UN's capacity to respond to conflicts, and specifically to respond to some of the mistakes made in Rwanda.

The Secretary-General said that while the report acknowledged that some steps have been taken over the past few years to improve the UN's capacity to respond to conflicts -- and to ensure it will not repeat some of the mistakes made in Rwanda -- much remained to be done.

The panel underscored the enormous importance of peacekeeping, Mr. Carlsson told the press conference. Member states need to understand that peacekeeping is important and that the UN must carry out peacekeeping duties. "Rwanda clearly shows that if you are to have peacekeeping and, even more, peace enforcement, you must have the personnel and military resources, otherwise the damage will be larger than the benefit from peacekeeping," he said.

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