historical security council study guide · isabel carrión & leonard heberer 2. chair...

Isabel Carrión & Leonard Heberer

Historical Security Council: The Rwandan Genocide

United Nations Historical Security Council !1

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Index

1. Committee introduction

2. Chair introduction

3. The Genocide in Rwanda

1. Introduction to the topic

2. Background to the ethnic conflicts between Tutsi and Hutu

3. History of Rwanda

4. Important actors

1. RPF

2. Interahamwe

3. MNRD

4. UNAMIR

2. The Arusha Accords

3. Most recent developments

5. UN Resolutions

6. Questions a Resolution should answer

7. Further reading

8. References


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1. Committee introduction

On October 24, 1945, the UN Charter was ratified by the victors of World War II, creating not only the body of the Security Council, but also a new way to manage international crisis and solve disputes in a pacific manner. It held its first session in 1946 in Westminster, London, and since then takes permanent residence at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City (United Nations, 2018). The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, taking the lead when determining the existence of a threat to peace or any act of aggression (United Nations, 2018). The Council also recommends to the General Assembly (GA) the admission of new members to the United Nations and elects the judges of the International Court of Justice, together with the GA.

It is composed of 15 members, five permanents (China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America), and ten non-permanent which are elected in two-year terms. The presidency of the Council rotates monthly. The P5 (five permanent) group has a “veto power”, which consists of being able to completely disregard a UNSC Resolution just by voting “No”. The Russian Federation has been the most frequent user of the veto, blocking more than 100 resolutions since the UNSC founding (Rodriguez, 2017).

Furthermore, according to Article 25 of the United Nations Charter, all members of the United Nations have to accept the decisions of the Security Council, making its resolutions totally binding. Maintaining Peace and Security is the primary mandate of the UNSC, so whenever there is a complaint concerning a threat to peace, the issue is brought before the council, which normally recommends that the parties reach an agreement by peaceful means by the UNSC setting forth principles for the agreement, undertaking investigation or mediation, dispatching a mission. When the dispute has led to hostilities, the Council can take different measures in order to end the conflict: issue ceasefire directives, dispatch military observers or peacekeeping forces, economic sanctions, arms embargoes, financial penalties, blockade or collective military actions, among others.

Since the Cold War, the Security Council has authorized fifty-one operations, responding to failing states, civil wars or complex humanitarian emergencies. It also has the power to refer cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity to the International Criminal Court (Rodriguez, 2017).


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2. Chair introduction

Isabel Carrión is a student of Sociology, International Relations and Cooperation Development in Complutense University of Madrid. She got into MUN when she was 15 years old and since then she has not stopped learning about it. Given the importance of comprehensive dialogue, not only between countries, but also between people, she has come to realize that what the world needs are more peacemakers, more tolerant and more empathetic leaders. She is also a passionate feminist. Some of her research projects in University include: a study in role behaviour in teenagers regarding exclusion, and another on psycho-social processes in the Armenian genocide. Whenever she is not thinking about IR, she works as a private English teacher and as a

babysitter. Dance is another passion of hers, practicing belly-dancing for 10 years now. Her favourite writer is Stephen King, so it’s normal to find one of his books her bag. She is willing to give her best as a Historical Security Council Chair at AUMUN 2018 and hopes to make the experience memorable for her delegates.

Leonard is a master’s student of Environmental Economics at the University of Kiel, Germany, but will be doing an Erasmus at the UAM from September onwards. He has been doing MUN since 2014 and has been to over 20 conferences since. He has occupied virtually any position in the MUN world there is: Delegate in a GA committee, P5 in the SC, Crisis front- as well as backroom, Chair and Secretariat member. In 2015 he was the Chairman of the Board of his home society, the HanseMUN, and in 2016 he was chosen the be the Secretary General of the HamMUN, Germany’s biggest MUN on University level and one its oldest as well. AUMUN will be the sixth time he´s occupying a chairing position, and the second time he chairs

the SC, in addition to countless training sessions he chaired for his home society. He is very much looking forward to Historical SC at AUMUN. With Rwanda being probably the greatest failure of the UN in the 20th century, you, the delegates, will have all hands full in trying to solve this issue.


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3. The Genocide in Rwanda

1. Introduction to the topic

Today is April 7th, 1994. The Security Council has gathered for an emergency session. In the early hours of April 6th, 1994, the plane carrying the Presidents of Rwanda, Juvénal Habyarimana; and Burundi, Cyprien Ntaryamira, was shot down. All twelve people on board of the presidential machine were killed. As the dust settles, the UNSC will have ensure that the situation in the small African nation, which has a history of ethnically motivated violence, will not spiral out of control, which might lead to unprecedented levels of violence.

2. Background to the ethnic conflicts between Tusti and Hutu

In 1994 Rwanda’s 7 million people were made up of three ethnic groups. The Hutu, the Tutsi and the Twa. The first made up the majority of the Rwandan population at around 85%, the Tutsi roughly 14% and the remaining 1% were Twa (United Nations, 2005).

In pre-colonial times Tutsi were the ruling, aristocratic class and the Hutu, although being in the majority, the lower class (Fullerton, Steward and Morgan, 2015). It is however a mistake to assume that the two represent different ethnic groups. Limited social mobility did exist, meaning that it was possible for poor Tutsi to fall in the group of Hutus and for rich Hutu to rise up to be a Tutsi (United Nations, 2005). This, conversely, means that Hutu and Tutsi should, at least not historically, be regarded as different ethnicities, but rather as social classes. Hutu and Tutsi share a common culture, language and religion, which sets them apart from many sub-saharan populations. The Twa are, and always have been, a tribe of hunter-gatherer pygmy people and are relatively distinct from the other two groups (Human Rights Watch, 1999).

It was during colonial rule that these differences really started to have an impact. The Belgian colonial administration, which replaced Germany as colonial power after the end of WWI in 1918, reinforced and deepened the existing and started a process of “tutsification”, which meant the removal of Hutu from all administrative positions they previously held and centralizing the power in the hand of the Tutsi elite (Human Rights Watch, 1999).

The events after Rwandan independence are mostly known as the “Hutu Revolution”. After voting, with on overwhelming 80%, to end the, Tutsi-dominated, monarchy and establish a republic under the leadership Parmehutu (Parti du mouvement de l’émancipation des Bahutu), the Hutu-associated


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party. The following years saw many Tutsi being either displaced or pushed into exile under the attacks from the government. Around 20.000 Tutsi were killed during these events. During the presidency of Habyarimana, who came to power after a military coup in 1975, the disenfranchisement of Tutsi began to get worse leading to the refugee population to swell up to nearly 600.000 (United Nations, 2005).

3. History of Rwanda

The Republic of Rwanda was proclaimed in 1961, carrying the weight of a complicated colonial past, the country is characterized by the division and mutual hatred of two different ethnical groups: Hutus and Tutsis. The story of Rwanda is one marked by ethnical clashes based on the physical differences between Tutsis, Hutus and Twa (a pygmy group that were the original inhabitants of Rwanda). In the 1300s, the Tutsi migrated to Rwanda, which was already inhabited by the Hutus and Twa, that made up 85% and 1%, respectively, of the population (United to End Genocide, 2018). Both Hutus and Tutsis are very similar, they share language and cultural traditions, but their physical features are what separated them and set the Hutus aside. Tutsis are taller and thinner (it is believed that they are originally from Ethiopia) and were considered because of that superior to Hutus by Belgian colonizers (BBC, 2011). In 1894, Germans colonized Rwanda, but it was not until 1918 when Belgium took control of it. In 1933, Belgians started issuing identity cards, classifying the population in different ethnical groups (Rosenberg, 2018). Tutsis were granted better educational opportunities and better jobs than their neighbour Hutus for the following 20 years, so resentment among Hutus started to build up through the years (BBC, 2011).

In 1957 the situation started to change. Hutus issued a manifesto that called for a change in the political power structure so that them being the majority translated into more power; the first Hutu political parties were formed. Riots towards Tutsis and Belgians started rapidly spiralling out of control, forcing 20.000 Tutsis to leave the county and exile into Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi. Once the Tutsi King Kieri V exiled, the Republic was proclaimed, and Rwanda regained its independence formally in 1962 (Rosenberg, 2018).

Once the republic was proclaimed, Gregoire Kayibanda, the Hutu president, took power, which made thousands of Tutsis flee the country. At that time a Tutsi rebel group formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), led by Paul Kagame, which would be one of the key agents in the development of the events. The RPF was made up of refugee Tutsis and moderate Hutus which sympathized


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with their cause of claiming that they also had the right to live in that land peacefully and without being prosecuted and blamed for every crisis Rwanda went through.

In 1973, Kayibanda was ousted in a military coup led by Juvenal Habyarimana, who became elected president immediately after. Not only there was an economic crisis developing, there were also international affairs pressuring the country. In 1988, 50.000 Hutus had to flee to Rwanda from Burundi, since they were experiencing ethnical harassment and violence (BBC, 2018).

During this time, the radio was used to spread hate towards Tutsis and to justify the genocide. Radio programmes started remembering the Hutus how they were treated as slaves during the colonization and how the chasing after Tutsis was no more than a “slave rebellion” (United to End Genocide, 2018).

Civil war broke out in Rwanda in 1990, the RPF, led by Paul Kagame, launched an offensive attack against Rwanda from Uganda, targeting Habyarimana (current President of the Republic of Rwanda). The aim was to overthrow him and to secure the right of the refugees to come back to their country (BBC, 2011). The RPF blamed the actual government for not being able to address the Tutsi refugee situation and for shadowing Tutsis from the society since the republic started. Consequently, all Tutsis in Rwanda were characterized as sympathizers of the RPF, and Hutu parties of the opposition were considered traitors to their homeland (United to End Genocide, 2018). However, there was hope in achieving harmony between Tutsis and Hutus by political negotiations.

Finally, a ceasefire took place between the RPF and the government in 1992. In 1993, Habyarimana signed with the RPF the Arusha Peace Agreement in Tanzania. The Arusha agreement aimed for the creation of a transition government that included the RPF (History.com, 2009). However, the consensus was not reached easily. The peace agreement was mediated by the Tanzanian government, together with the Organization of African Unity and the governments of France, Belgium and the United States (Wage and Haigh, 2004).

The first step was to achieve a durable ceasefire by creating a power sharing administration to build confidence between parties. The representatives from Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe were asked to create a “buffer zone” between the RPF areas and the government areas in North Rwanda. The agreement started challenging the Hutu’s coalition government and negotiations stagnated since they could not reach consensus. Furthermore, the reality in Kigali was far more complicated


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than the mediators were picturing (Wage and Haigh, 2004). The major discussion between Hutus and the RPF was based on the government institutions and the powers of the president. “The power-sharing framework became the heart of the Arusha agreement. Habyarimana would remain president during the transition; however most of his powers would be transferred to a cabinet led by a prime minister” (Wage and Haigh, 2004).

The signing of the agreement was just a veil to keep the International Community content. A Hutu extremist group formed the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) who were wary of Habyarimana’s loss of power. At the same time, the RPF exposed plans of the president’s supporters to murder their political opponents. The Peace Agreement had turned out to be the beginning of genocide.


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4. Important actors

1.1. RPF

The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) is a rebel group and the main antagonist of the government. It is led by Paul Kagame, himself a Tutsi. It was formed in Kampala in 1987, emerging from its predecessor the Rwandese Alliance for National Unity (RANU). Although the party was formed mostly by Tutsi refugees, from their very beginning they adopted a nationalist ideology, claiming that

before colonialization Rwandans were living in harmony among each other and it was not until the Europeans began to divide the population in different groups that animosities arose (Human Rights Watch, 1999).

After the RPF set up permanent bases in the Virunga mountains following their invasion of Rwanda in 1990 they began to systematically recruit Hutus, sometimes with force. The RPF was supposed to be

integrated in the Rwandese Army according to the Arusha accords, which was however never executed (Human Rights Watch, 1999).

1.2. Interahamwe

The Interahamwe are Hutu paramilitary organisation. Their name means “those who fight together” (BBC, 2011). They started out as the youth wing of the MRND, but quickly developed into an independent body with an ideology of Hutu power (Human Rights Watch, 1999). The command structure of the Interahamwe is hard to pin down. While they had their own President, Jerry Robert Kajuga, but there are also reports that they followed the orders of military commanders and civilian administrators.

1.3. MNRD

The National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MNRD) is the party of President Juvénal Habyarimana and the single most powerful party in Rwanda as of 1994. Up until 1990, when opposition parties were legalised, it was the only political party allowed in Rwanda. Since it had to share power with the opposition it has noticeably drifted to a more extreme rhetoric.


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It´s informal governing head are known as the Akazu, a group of protégés, relatives and friends of the President and his wife, Agathe Habyarimana (Human Rights Watch, 1999).

1.4. UNAMIR

The UNAMIR was created with UNSC Resolution 872. It´s primary mandate was to secure the city of Kigali and monitor the implementation of the ceasefire was well the preparation for the elections to be held after the implementation of the Arusha accords (United Nations Security Council, 1993). The Missions was made up of troops from Belgium, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Ghana. It consists of around 2500 units and is headed by Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire from Canada. Its mandate is strictly limited to monitoring functions and tasks connected with provision of humanitarian aid (United Nations, 1996).

2. The Arusha Accords

With the peace agreement was discussed for almost a year and signed on August 4th, 1993. The very extensive document contains provisions regarding the ceasefire as well as future development of the country. Based on the Accord, a multi-ethnical Government of National Unity was to be established (Arusha Accords, 1993). Fifteen places were to be assigned to Hutu and six to Tutsi. Until now, no such government has been established. Until 1994, the Arusha Accord has been the most important attempt of the international community to solve the situation in Rwanda. As of April 1994, its statute is being regularly questioned. Some of its provisions are being implemented (joint Hutu and Tutsi supervising force, deployment of the UNAMIR mission), the rest is unlikely to follow, as a new wave of violence is erupting. There is also no sign the government and leadership in the presidential palace are willing to agree to a multi-ethnic government, which represents one of the cornerstones of the Accord (Arusha Accords, 1993).

3. Most recent developments

The signature of the Arusha accords the civil war was supposed to have stopped and the UNMAIR mission was supposed to have had an eye on the implementation of the accord.


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Tensions however are on the rise and the Accords are regularly being questioned. Ethnically motivated violence has not ceased completely, there are reports of massive propaganda aimed against all Tutsi (Hilsum, 1994). This propaganda comes from radio stations or newspapers such as Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines or Kangura and have sometimes government connections (Yanagizawa-Drott, 2014).

Even before the plane crash Tutsis were referred to as “rats” or “cockroaches” and in the hours after the crash the situation has dramatically worsened according to UNAMIR sources. Checkpoints and roadblocks have been set up by the Interahamwe or the Rwandan army. The Radio station Radio

Télévision Libre des Mille Collines has already started to put the blame on the RPF and Tutsi in general (Yanagizawa-Drott, 2014).

Reports of ethnically motivated violence have emerged not only targeted at Tutsis, but also at Twa and Hutus, who were assumed to hide Tutsis. It is so far unclear whether European expatriates or UNMAIR soldiers are target of the violence as well, reports however indicate that several European governments discuss the evacuation of their citizens.

Since the beginning of 1994, Rwanda has a seat in the Security Council, being represented by Jean Damascene

Bizimana, an ambassador close to the Kigali government. Having a primary source of information right at its hands, the SC is provided with an excellent opportunity to act swiftly and decide before an irreversible tragedy occurs (BBC, no date). At the same time, however, the SC has been struggling with action in the past months. The memories of Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in October 1993, where 18 American Soldiers died, are still very fresh and the Western nations, especially the USA, are very reluctant to risk the lives of their soldiers yet again (Gordon and Friedman, 1993). Furthermore, the SC has in the past been paralyzed because of disagreements over other conflicts such as war in the Balkans.

The complicated dynamics in the region is a negative contributor to the situation as well. Uganda, a long-term host and supporter of the RPF, is on bad footing with the current Rwandese government in Kigali. Zaire, on the other hand, is more likely to stand by it or allow Hutus seek a sanctuary there in case of necessity (McGreal, 1993). If the current situation in Rwanda were to turn very badly, there would also be a high risk of spill-over to neighbouring Burundi whose society is just as divided, and its president has fallen victim to the plane crash of April 6th, 1994, as well.


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5. UN Resolutions

1. UNSC Resolution 812. Accessible at:

- http://undocs.org/S/RES/812(1993)








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http://undocs.org/S/RES/812(1993)





6. Questions a Resolution should answer

1. Can the Security Council react to the plane crash? If yes, how?

2. What can the Security Council do to address the matter at hand?

3. What measures might prove effective in this situation?

4. Are there any precedents one could relate to? E.g. in the Balkans?

5. Is UNAMIR equipped to deal with the situation, if it were to deteriorate and full-scale violence/

civil war breaks out? Is its mandate robust enough?

6. Are there partners in the country/region that could be cooperated with?


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7. Further reading

Archives with newspaper articles about the genocide:

A. The Guardian (2011). Rwanda: archive special | Special reports | guardian.co.uk. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/rwanda/history/0,,1187516,00.html [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

B. The New York Times (2018). Rwandan Genocide. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/topic/destination/rwandan-genocide [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

Timelines:

A. The Guardian. (2014). Rwanda timeline: 100 days of genocide. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/ng-interactive/2014/apr/03/rwanda-timeline-100-days-of-genocide [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

B. BBC News. (2018). Rwanda profile - Timeline. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14093322 [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

C. ThoughtCo. (2018). A Timeline of the Genocide in Rwanda. [online] Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/rwanda-genocide-timeline-1779930 [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

Case Studies:

A. Nbiconflict.web.unc.edu. (2018). Nations Borders Identities Conflict - Resolution. [online] Available at: http://nbiconflict.web.unc.edu/conflicts/rwandan-genocide/resolution/ [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

B. Consensus.fsu.edu. (2004). [online] Available at: https://consensus.fsu.edu/academic_directory/2004casestudies/HaighWageRwandaCaseStudy.pdf [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

Website of the UNAMIR Mission:

A. United Nations (1996). UNAMIR. [online] Available at: http://www.un.org/Depts/DPKO/Missions/unamir_b.htm [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

B. Peacekeeping.un.org. (1999). UNAMIR. [online] Available at: https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/unamirS.htm [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].

HRW Report:

A. Hrw.org. (2004). Leave None to Tell the Story: Genocide in Rwanda (Human Rights Watch Report, March 1999). [online] Available at: https://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/rwanda/ [Accessed 3 Oct. 2018].


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