Why the U.S. Government Failed to Anticipate the Rwandan Genocide of 1994: Lessons for Early Warning and Prevention
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The International Response to Conflict and Genocide:Lessom from the Rwanda Experience
The International Response to Conflict and Genocide: Lessons from the Rwanda Experience March 1996 Published by: Steering Committee of the Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda Editor: David Millwood Cover illustrations: Kiure F. Msangi Graphic design: Designgrafik, Copenhagen Prepress: Dansk Klich‚, Copenhagen Printing: Strandberg Grafisk, Odense ISBN: 87-7265-335-3 (Synthesis Report) ISBN: 87-7265-331-0 (1. Historical Perspective: Some Explanatory Factors) ISBN: 87-7265-332-9 (2. Early Warning and Conflict Management) ISBN: 87-7265-333-7 (3. Humanitarian Aid and Effects) ISBN: 87-7265-334-5 (4. Rebuilding Post-War Rwanda) This publication may be reproduced for free distribution and may be quoted provided the source - Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda - is mentioned. The report is printed on G-print Matt, a wood-free, medium-coated paper. G-print is manufactured without the use of chlorine and marked with the Nordic Swan, licence-no. 304 022. 2 The International Response to Conflict and Genocide: Lessons from the Rwanda Experience Study 2 Early Warning and Conflict Management by Howard Adelman York University Toronto, Canada Astri Suhrke Chr. Michelsen Institute Bergen, Norway with contributions by Bruce Jones London School of Economics, U.K. Joint Evaluation of Emergency Assistance to Rwanda 3 Contents Preface 5 Executive Summary 8 Acknowledgements 11 Introduction 12 Chapter 1: The Festering Refugee Problem 17 Chapter 2: Civil War, Civil Violence and International Response 20 (1 October 1990 - 4 August -
The Western Media and the Portrayal of the Rwandan Genocide
History in the Making Volume 3 Article 5 2010 The Western Media and the Portrayal of the Rwandan Genocide Cherice Joyann Estes CSUSB Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making Part of the African History Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Estes, Cherice Joyann (2010) "The Western Media and the Portrayal of the Rwandan Genocide," History in the Making: Vol. 3 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/history-in-the-making/vol3/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Arthur E. Nelson University Archives at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in History in the Making by an authorized editor of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Cherice Joyann Estes The Western Media and the Portrayal of the Rwandan Genocide BY CHERICE JOYANN ESTES ABSTRACT: On December 9, 1948, the United Nations established its Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Genocides, however, have continued to occur, affecting millions of people around the globe. The 1994 genocide in Rwanda resulted in an estimated 800,000 deaths. Global leaders were well aware of the atrocities, but failed to intervene. At the same time, the Western media's reports on Rwanda tended to understate the magnitude of the crisis. This paper explores the Western media's failure to accurately interpret and describe the Rwandan Genocide. Recognizing the outside media’s role in mischaracterizations of the Rwanda situation is particularly useful when attempting to understand why western governments were ineffective in their response to the atrocity. -
The Rwandan Genocide: a Study for Policymakers Engaged in Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Development
Pepperdine Policy Review Volume 13 Article 5 5-7-2021 The Rwandan Genocide: A study for policymakers engaged in foreign policy, diplomacy, and international development Emily A. Milnes Pepperdine University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/ppr Recommended Citation Milnes, Emily A. (2021) "The Rwandan Genocide: A study for policymakers engaged in foreign policy, diplomacy, and international development," Pepperdine Policy Review: Vol. 13 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/ppr/vol13/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pepperdine Policy Review by an authorized editor of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. “‘These events grew from a policy aimed at the systematic destruction of a people… We are reminded of the capacity of people everywhere—not just in Rwanda, and certainly not just in Africa—but the capacity for people everywhere to slip into pure evil. We cannot abolish that capacity, but we must never accept it.’” —President Bill Clinton, Kigali, Rwanda (1998) I. Introduction Over a period of 100 days between April and mid-July of 1994, the Rwandan genocide claimed the lives of approximately 800,000 Rwandans and caused the displacement of an estimated two million refugees into surrounding nations (UNHCR). The eruption of fear, brutality, and violence as Rwandans massacred Rwandans stemmed from decades of civil war fueled by intractable existential, political, and socioeconomic conflicts between Tutsis and Hutus. -
Assumpta -And-Benjamin 010Ed
WP 010 | May 2018 WoP Ar king P E R Singing the Struggle: The Rwandan Patriotic Front’s ideology through its songs of liberation Assumpta Mugiraneza and Benjamin Chemouni About the authors Abstract Benjamin Chemouni is a LSE Fellow in the Department of This article studies the Rwandan Patriotic International Development at the London School of Eco- Front’s (RPF) ideology as articulated nomics. His research analyses post-conflict state building before the genocide. To do so, it identi- trajectory in the African Great Lakes’ Region, focusing fied, transcribed, translated and analysed especially on Burundi and Rwanda. He explores in partic- 20 songs of RPF members and supporters ular elite dynamics, rebel movements and their ideology, and state/society interface. He has published in World composed before or around 1994 to under- Development, the Journal of Eastern African Studies, and stand how, before reaching power, the Third World Thematics. RPF made sense of its environment and Assumpta Mugiraneza is the co-founder and director of the issues it faced, how it envisioned the the IRIBA Centre for Rwanda’s multimedia heritage. She proper order of society, and how such is an educationalist, a psychologist and a political scien- order was to be achieved. Analysis focus- tist. For 20 years, she has worked on the topics of extreme es on four main themes: national unity, the violence and genocide, focusing particularly on the role of RPF’s depiction of itself, the depiction of language and communication, for example comparing the its enemy, and its relation to the interna- Nazi and Hutu power discourses. -
Guerrillas from the Mist: a Defense Attaché Watches the Rwandan Patriotic Front 1 Transform from Insurgent to Counter Insurgent Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P
Small Wars Journal – Jul 2006 SWJ Maga1zine Volume 5 July 2006 SMALL WARS JOURNAL www.smallwarsjournal.com Guerrillas From the Mist: A Defense Attaché Watches the Rwandan Patriotic Front Transform from Insurgent to Counter Insurgent Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P. Odom USA (ret.) "If you as the head of the UNHCR and the so-called "purely civilian" camps at operation here in Goma do not address the Kibumba and Katale, some 30 and 65 issue of disarming of the ex-FAR [former kilometers to the north, were taking on an air Forces Armées Rwandaise] and militias in the camps, you will probably see an RPA [Rwandan Patriotic Army] brigade on that traffic circle DIAMONDS IN within the next year," I said, pointing at the THE ROUGH junction just outside the window. "There is another war coming if we do not disarm the SPREAD THE WORD!!! 1 camps and get the refugees home." 1) Great articles from our contributors in this edition. Thanks to them. Hope you get as much out of them as It was late fall 1994 and I had just we did. finished another scouting trip through the 2) The Small Wars Council, our discussion board at Rwandan refugee camps in the area outside www.smallwarsjournal.com. Tremendous level of 2 discussion. 300+ members with wide ranging Goma, Zaire. I did not like what I had seen: experience. And the community has been very civil, the ex-FAR area remained a uniformed camp welcoming, and responsive. Join in. with heavy weapons visible in various places 3) SWJ Daily Links – more far-reaching than the Early Bird for news of interest to Small Wars researchers and 1 practitioners. -
The Capture of Power and the Path to Hegemony
Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-04355-8 - Political Governance in Post-Genocide Rwanda Filip Reyntjens Excerpt More information 1 The Capture of Power and the Path to Hegemony seeking hegemony When taking power, the RPF inherited a country it hardly knew. Being an “outsider” coming from abroad, it had a poor understanding of the social and political relations, and it was probably genuinely disappointed by the lukewarm way in which it was welcomed by most Rwandans. The years in exile and the guerrilla experience pushed it toward self-reliance and dis- trust toward anything outside its known environment, and therefore toward a strong degree of isolationism. Establishing control and only counting on those who can be trusted (i.e., the core of the movement) was a logical, even essential course of action, and this is what the RPF set out to do from day one. The war between the Forces armées rwandaises (FAR) and the Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA), the military wing of the RPF, which had resumed on April 7, 1994, ended with the fall of Gisenyi (northwest) on July 18. The RPA controlled the country’s territory, with the temporary exception of the “safe humanitarian zone” created in the southwest by the French operation Turquoise. On the next day, a new government was inaugurated in Kigali. Although its composition appeared at first sight to obey the spirit if not the letter of the Arusha peace accord signed in August 1993, the departures were considerable, and they all aimed at establishing hegemony. According to Article 2 of the Declaration of the RPF Concerning the Putting into Place of the Institutions made on July 17, from being purely ceremonial, the presidency became executive and even dominant. -
"Race" Relations in Rwanda: an Historical Perspective
University of Wollongong Research Online Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive) Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities 1-1-2010 "Race" relations in Rwanda: An historical perspective Deborah Mayersen University of Wollongong, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/artspapers Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Mayersen, Deborah, "Race" relations in Rwanda: An historical perspective 2010. https://ro.uow.edu.au/artspapers/1287 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Race Relations in Rwanda: An Historical Perspective Deborah Mayersen „“Genocide” Charge in Rwanda‟ blared the headline in The Times; a few days later it was „Rwanda Policy of Genocide Alleged.‟1 Yet these headlines are not from 1994, but 1964. And while the massacres to which they refer occurred on a far smaller scale than the 1994 genocide, they are unprecedented as massacres targeted at the Tutsi minority as a group. They occurred at the end of a decade of radical change for the tiny nation. In 1954, Rwanda was administered as part of Ruanda-Urundi, a United Nations Trust Territory under Belgian trusteeship.2 The Tutsi minority was regarded as racially superior, enjoyed preferential access to privilege and almost exclusive access to indigenous positions of authority. Their position seemed stably entrenched. Yet an examination of Rwanda just ten years later reveals a starkly contrasting picture. By 1964, the newly independent Republic of Rwanda was ruled almost exclusively by the Hutu majority.3 More than 300,000 Tutsi refugees were scattered around its borders; thousands had been killed in massacres following a failed refugee invasion.4 In the intervening decade the nation had experienced the full throes of rapid decolonisation, revolution and its first democratic elections. -
September 2019, Vol
DALLAIRE SCHOLAR NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2019, VOL. 1, NO. 2 That trip was made possible by a grant from the Student Academic Affairs Board (SAAB). In addition to the students’ remarks, attendees also heard remarks from former Ambassador to Guinea Joyce Leader, who served as deputy to the U.S. ambassador in Rwanda during the genocide. During her 21-year career, she has Kwibuka 25 at Lewis & Clark represented the U.S. in attempts to resolve threats to peace and human rights in Central Story by Franchesca Schrambling, BA ’22, in Africa. Lewis & Clark Newsroom archives She was joined by two additional dignitaries at Inexplicable events tie together communities of the event: David Rawson, U.S. ambassador to the world. The 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, Rwanda from 1993–96 and current visiting led by Hutu extremists, left an estimated scholar in the Graduate School of Business at 800,000 people dead. To commemorate the George Fox University; and Niels tragedy and to focus efforts on moving forward Marquardt BA ’75, Lewis & Clark’s and rebuilding, the Rwandan people inaugural diplomat in residence. developed Kwibuka, a Kinyarwanda word that means to remember or remembrance. This Both Leader and Rawson were serving in year’s theme is “remember, unite, and renew.” Rwanda before the genocide and were Beginning April 7 and ending July 4, Kwibuka responsible for the evacuation of Americans to marks the Rwandan period of mourning as well Burundi. as remembrance. Ambassador Leader’s remarks are here. Every year, Kwibuka asks the world to come together, support survivors, and ensure that events like the Rwandan genocide never happen again. -
Unclas Sifted, Klleased in Fuel
UNCLAS SIFTED,KLLEASED IN FUEL United States Department of State:." Washington, D. C. 20520 INFORMATION MEMORANDUM SA3 CONFIDENTIAL DECL: OADR TO: The Secretary THROUGH: P - Mr. Tarnoff FROM: AF - Edward Brynn, Acting SUBJECT: U.S. Delegation to Burundi and Uganda SUMMARY We have sent an interagency delegation to Burundi and Rwanda to (1) help bolster Burundi's fragile democracy; (2) discuss humanitarian aid concerns; (3) enlist the support of Burundi and Uganda in pressing the Rwandans for a Cease-fire; and (4) discuss plans for expansion of the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda. U.S. Ambassador to Rwanda David Rawson is heading the delegation. DISCUSSION A three-person delegation composed of Ambassador Rawson, AF/RA senior politico-military advisor Scott Fisher, and Col. Jean Michael Beraud, regional director for Africa in OSD's Office of Foreign Civil-Military Affairs, w4-11 arrived-in Burundi on June 15. They will be joined by Rwanda Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) leader Kate Farnsworth and our regional Defense Attache LTC Charles Vuckovic. In Burundi, the team will pursue the following goals: o Reassure the Burundians that the U.S. and international community are engaged and concerned about Burundi's fragile stability. There has been a recent upsurge in the incidence of violence in Burundi. We have found that high-level visits to Burundi often reduce tensions and inhibit outbreaks of violence, and regular visits are an important component of the overall multilateral strategy for Burundi which you approved in April. CONFTDENTI64 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF STATE REVIEW AUTHORITY: CHARLES L PARIS DATE/CASE ID: 12 APR 2006 200103014 UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED CONFIDENTIAL - 2 - o Review progress in talks among the government, the ruling, Hutu-dominated FRODEBU party, and the Tutsi-dominated opposition to select a successor to President Ntaryamira, and encourage the parties to continue peaceful dialogue to resolve the issue. -
Annexe 51 : Les Assassinats Des Opposants Et Des Témoins Des Crimes Du FPR. Questions Sur Les Libertés Civiques Au Rwanda 1. S
Annexe 51 : Les assassinats des opposants et des témoins des crimes du FPR. Questions sur les libertés civiques au Rwanda 1. Seth Sendashonga ou le prix du reniement du serment au FPR………………………..4 1.1 André Guichaoua, Le problème de la réinstallation et du rapatriement des réfugiés rwandais dans le contexte politique rwandais en mars-avril 1995, Banque mondiale, Washington, avril 1995………………………………………………………………………..7 1.2 To the Vice President and Minister of Defence, Enemy Internal Activity, Monthly Report, document remis par Seth Sendashonga en mars 1995………………………………………..15 1.3 La lettre de démission de Seth Sendashonga, ministre de l’Intérieur et du Développement communal, du 28 août 1995…………………………………………………………………..17 1.4 André Guichaoua, Seth Sendashonga, un fidèle militant du FPR, inédit, août 2005…….19 1.5. L’assassinat de Seth Sendashonga……………………………………………………….34 2. La mort de Monseigneur André Sibomana, un assassinat par refus de soins.…….…40 2.1. Le « testament politique » d’André Sibomana rédigé le 4 mars 1998 (copie de l’original) ……………………………………………………………………………………..41 2.2. Transcription du testament de Mgr André Sibomana…………………………….…….. 45 2.3. André Guichaoua, Préface, in Hervé Deguine, Enquête sur la mort d’André Sibomana, Paris, Reporters sans frontière, 1998, p. 5-10……………………………….………………..46 2.4. Extraits de Hervé Deguine, Enquête sur la mort d’André Sibomana, Paris, Reporters sans frontières, 1998, 140 p………………….…..……………….………………………………..50 2.4.1. L’assassinat par un militaire de l’APR du père Curic Vjecko, économe général du diocèse de Kabgayi, in Hervé Deguine, Enquête sur la mort d’André Sibomana, Paris, Reporters sans frontières, 1998, p. 17-28…………………………………………………....52 2.4.2. -
Re-Imagining Rwanda Conflict, Survival and Disinformation in the Late Twentieth Century
This page intentionally left blank Re-imagining Rwanda Conflict, Survival and Disinformation in the Late Twentieth Century The tragic conflict in Rwanda and the Great Lakes in 1994 to 1996 attracted the horrified attention of the world’s media. Journalists, diplomats and aid workers struggled to find a way to make sense of the bloodshed. Johan Pottier’s troubling study shows that the post-genocide regime in Rwanda was able to impose a simple yet persuasive account of Central Africa’s crises upon international commentators new to the region, and he explains the ideological underpinnings of this official narrative. He also provides a sobering analysis of the way in which this simple, persuasive, but fatally misleading analysis of the situation on the ground led to policy errors that exacerbated the original crisis. Professor Pottier has extensive field experience in the region, from before and after the genocide. JOHAN POTTIER is Professor of Social Anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His previous publica- tions include ‘Anthropology of Food: The Social Dynamics of Food Security’ (1999) and ‘Migrants No More: Settlement and Survival in Mambwe Villages, Zambia’ (1988). African Studies Series 102 Editorial Board Dr David Anderson, Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Professor Carolyn Brown, Department of History, Rutgers University, New Jersey Professor Christopher Clapham, Department of Politics and International Relations, Lancaster University Professor Michael Gomez, Department of History, New York University Professor Patrick Manning, Department of History, Northeastern University, Boston Professor David Robinson, Department of History, Michigan State University Professor Leo Villalon, Department of Political Science, University of Kansas Published in collaboration with THE AFRICAN STUDIES CENTRE, CAMBRIDGE A list of books in this series can be found at the end of this volume. -
Changes in United States Diplomacy: How International Development and an Increasing Military Role Is Challenging the Relevance of U.S
Eastern Illinois University The Keep Undergraduate Honors Theses Honors College 2012 Changes in United States Diplomacy: How International Development and an Increasing Military Role is Challenging the Relevance of U.S. Ambassadors Jennifer M. Prillaman Follow this and additional works at: https://thekeep.eiu.edu/honors_theses Part of the American Politics Commons, and the International Relations Commons Changes in United States Diplomacy: How International Development and an Increasing Military Role is Challenging the Relevance of U.S. Ambassadors BY Jennifer M. Prillaman UNDERGRADUATE THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENTAL HONORS DEPARTMENT OF r?&�,<f�-'Jt.-a-J , ALONG WITH THE HONORS COLLEGE, EASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY CHARLESTON, ILLINOIS 2012 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THIS UNDERGRADUATE THESIS BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THE THESIS REQUIREMENT FOR UNDERGRADUATE DEPARTMENTAL HONORS DATE DATE t:iAT7E / Changes in United States Diplomacy: How International Development and an Increasing Military Role is Challenging the Relevance of U.S. Ambassadors Jennifer M. Prillaman Political Science Departmental Honors Thesis Spring 2012 Advisor: Dr. Ryan C. Hendrickson Introduction Diplomacy is inarguably the central act through which international relations of all states is conducted. American diplomacy has been a longstanding tradition, beginning with the first American Ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin, who set the precedent forthe qualities of an ambassador and the roles of peacekeeping, negotiation, understanding, and representation. However, the role of a United States' diplomat has been forced to change within an increasingly globalized world with new state interdependency, technologies, and political situations. It has been stated "a real gap exists between the study of diplomacy and the study of most of the rest of international relations" (Sharp, 1998: 46).