The role of the international community

1Why this matters

The 1948 Genocide Convention obliges states to prevent and punish genocide. In 1994 the world had peacekeepers in Rwanda, embassies in Kigali and detailed warnings, yet it did not stop the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The international community here means the United Nations and foreign governments. Understanding their failures is part of the lesson "Never Again".

2Before April 1994

• UNAMIR, a UN force of about 2,500, was created in October 1993 to help carry out the Arusha Agreement. Its mandate did not allow it to use force except in self-defence.
• UN headquarters refused General Dallaire's request of 11 January 1994 to seize hidden weapons.
• France had armed and trained the government army since 1990 and remained a close ally of the regime.

3During the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi

• Evacuation of foreigners. In the first days, French, Belgian and Italian troops flew in to evacuate foreign nationals, then left. Rwandans in danger were left behind.
• Belgium withdrew. After its ten peacekeepers were killed on 7 April, Belgium pulled out its UNAMIR contingent. On 11 April, Belgian UN troops left the École Technique Officielle (ETO) in Kicukiro, where about 2,000 people had sheltered under their protection. Most of those people were killed the same day.
• The UN cut its force. On 21 April 1994, Security Council Resolution 912 reduced UNAMIR from about 2,500 to 270.
• Avoiding the word. Many governments avoided calling the killing "genocide", because that word would have created an obligation to act.
• A seat at the table. Rwanda was a member of the Security Council in 1994, so the representative of the government carrying out the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi sat on the body meant to stop it.
• Too late. On 17 May the Security Council authorised a larger force (UNAMIR II) and an arms embargo, but most of the new troops arrived only after the RPF had stopped the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.
• Opération Turquoise (22 June – 21 August), authorised by the UN, saved some lives but also let many organisers of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi escape into Zaire.

4Courage within a failure

Some individuals did their duty. General Dallaire's small remaining force protected thousands of people at sites in Kigali. Captain Mbaye Diagne, a Senegalese UN officer, saved hundreds of lives before he was killed on 31 May 1994; the UN later named a medal for exceptional courage after him.

5After 1994: justice and recognition

• 8 November 1994: the Security Council created the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which sat in Arusha until 2015. In 1998 it delivered the first judgment by an international court for the crime of genocide (Jean-Paul Akayesu), recognising sexual violence as a means of genocide, and convicted Jean Kambanda, the first head of government convicted of genocide.
• Apologies: US President Bill Clinton (1998), UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (1999) and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (2000) apologised or expressed regret for their failures. In 2021 French President Emmanuel Macron recognised France's responsibilities.
• Naming it correctly: in January 2018 the UN General Assembly designated 7 April as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, recalling also that Hutu and others who opposed the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi were killed.

Worked example: assessing responsibility

Question: "The international community could not have done anything." Do you agree?

No. The UN had a force on the ground, was warned in January 1994 and chose not to seize the weapons. Instead of reinforcing UNAMIR in April, the Security Council cut it to 270. Evacuation forces came and left without protecting Rwandans, and governments avoided the word "genocide" to escape their obligations. Dallaire and Mbaye Diagne showed that even a small, determined presence saved lives. The failure was one of will, not of possibility.

Practice

Solution. It reduced UNAMIR from about 2,500 peacekeepers to 270, at the height of the killing.

Solution. Belgian UN troops withdrew, leaving about 2,000 people who had sheltered under their protection; most were killed the same day.

Solution. Under the 1948 Convention, recognising genocide creates an obligation to prevent and punish it, and they did not want to act.

Solution. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), created on 8 November 1994, which sat in Arusha, Tanzania.