AVD

August 1993
 General Dallaire assigned to create peace between the Rwandan
government and RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) in Northern Rwanda
 Rebels guerrilla forces agitates Rwandan Government
 RPF and UN forces Habyarimana to sign peace accord
 UN forces unprepared/unarmed (Only 2500 soldiers in Rwanda)
 “We had very little information on Rwanda. Its background, its
history, its culture. What had taken place during independence,
before independence, and especially even in the last couple of years.
We went in quite blind.”-Major Brent Beardsley----Military assistant
to general Dallaire
 Mysterious riots/assassinations occurred
 “And also already we were already getting information on a third force
of killers and we couldn’t confirm anything; we were just getting all
that as rumors and innuendos and we couldn’t crosscheck the stuff
because I was not allowed to have an intelligence capability”-Dallaire-
Head/General of Peacekeeping forces (UN) in Rwanda
January 1994
“He (informant of the “third force”) was within the higher
the higher MRND party, which was the hard-line party of
the president… he simply wasn’t going to work in that
atmosphere, that they were undermining the whole
process… that they were planning to attack not only the
Tutsis, but all the moderate Hutus.”-Dallaire
Kofi Annan: Head of Peacekeeping (UN) Responds to
Dallaire’s cable concerning information from the informant
Incident in Mogadishu (American aircraft shot down in
Somalia with 18 soldiers dead) influences the Clinton
Administrations Policy in Africa: (Michael Sheehan: White
House Liaison on Somalia)
March 1994
Hutu extremists plan to contribute to the removal of the
UN
Imports thousands of machetes and other arms (on a
small scale) such as grenades
Ex-Soldiers use/donate guns to the interhamwe (Rwandan
Militia; “Those who fight together”)
Monique Mujawamariya (Human Rights Activist) speaks
about pre-Genocide Events:

d
April 6 and 7th, 1994
Central Kigali, 8:30 PM: Habyarimana’s plane shot
down
10 PM: Hutu extremist Colonel Pagasaura chairing
UN crisis meeting urged to hand power to Madam
Magaff (Hutu Moderate)
2 AM
Kofi Annan sends new orders in response to
Habyarimana’s death:
4 am: Gunshots heard throughout the city
7:00 AM
Hutu extremists seize militant control over roads and
government
Madam Magaff killed
“The informant told us that they were trying to set up
to wipe out a dozen or ten Belgians to break the back
of our mission, because if the Belgians pulled out, I
had no real substantial capability to sustain myself,
and the international community would pull us all
out.” -Dallaire
April 8
US citizens begin to evacuate in Rwanda
Embassies in Kigali close
Northern Rwanda
 April 9
1000 French and Belgian paratroopers arrive in Kigali
airport
Rwandan Civilians hunted down by the interhamwe
“What that meant was anyone that was white skinned
got to go on an airplane. Anyone that was black-
skinned got to stay in Rwanda and stay killed.”—
Major Brent Beardsley
April 9 (continued)
Hutu civilians heavily influenced by propaganda:
Red Cross arrives saving 65,000 lives
Philippe Gaillard publicizes killings of Red Cross
patients
14 days: 100,000 Rwandans killed
April 21
UN votes to withdraw 90% of troops in Rwanda, later
votes eventually lead to Dallaire having 450 ill-
equipped troops
4 weeks after the genocide began: 300,000 Rwandans
killed
May 3
RPF demanded by the United States and UN to halt
advance and negotiate despite ongoing genocide
d

if you read this you lost the game

May 17
5000 more peacekeepers offered to Rwanda
Availability/payment issues hinder equipment and
soldier delivary

Genocide ends in July 1994 with RPF victory in the civil

war
Habyarimana’s role in the
Genocide
 Habyarimana’s “clique” opposes Hutu-Tutsi power sharing and democratization
 Anti-Tutsi propaganda used focusing on RPF guerilla attacks and original Tutsi
monarchy and etc.
 Uses Catholicism to create the “Ten Commandments” on how to treat/find “Tutsi
traitors”
 Radio Millie Collins and other news media
 April 6: Hutu extremists utilize assassination of Habyarimana
 Average citizen has “subsistence existance”
 PARMEHUTU (Party for Emancipation of the Hutus) and Habyarimana cuts off public
welfare and organizes Tutsi massacres in the 60s
 Habyarimana begins Anti-Tutsi revolt and then “restores order”: New MRND political
party
 1991, Habyarimana pressured into multiparty politics by the RPF, along with a reduction
of presidential powers (Arusha Peace accords)
 MRND portrayed as RPF supporters due to Hutu opposition
Socio-economic conditions and
the Genocide
Mid 1980s: Economic growth decreases dramatically
International Money Fund (IMF) structural
adjustment program
Massive arms imports (Grenade prices drop to $3.00)
Massive overpopulation; 86% of all Rwandans in
poverty... Wealthiest 10% own 52% of country’s
wealth due to privilege (ex: Tax exemptions, federal
spending cuts on public welfare)
Belgian regime excludes Hutu from politics
European/Catholic Church’s
role in the Genocide
 French halt RPF advance
 1900: First missionaries convert many Hutus to Catholicism
 Church/Colonists exclude Hutu from opportunities
 Originally, Hutu-Tutsi divisions based on wealth
 Germany defeated in WWI—Belgium gains Rwanda
 Belgians/Catholic Church favors Tutsis
 (Due to lighter color; based off of Old Testament when identifying
descendents of Ham [Noah’s son] cursed for “sin”
 Originally used to justify racism against Africans, later shifting
toward anti-Hutu ideology
 Leon Classe advocates Tutsi-Hutu caste system in education and
Catholic conversions
Effects of Genocide/Causes
500,000 Women raped, destroying Tutsi ethnicity
through both HIV and bloodline
800,000-1,000,000 dead
2,000,000 refugees in neighboring countries
Lack of workers creates agricultural issues
Continued Interhamwe terrorism
Multiple Choice Questions
Answers