foreign response

Question 1

françafrique

Answer 1

special relationship France had with its former colonies/French speaking colonies in Africa

Question 2

mandate

Answer 2

instructions or authority given to soldiers

Question 3

UNAMIR

Answer 3

since October 1993, UNAMIR had been in Rwanda with mandate to oversee implementation of Arusha Accords

response to General Roméo Dallaire’s fax sent on 11th January, 1994 where he asked to seize weapons:
> denied permission by Iqbal Riza
> exceeded UNAMIR’s mandate
> instructed to take information to Rwandan government

25th February, 1994- Belgium warned UN Secretary General of impending genocide- UN Security Council rebuffed

UNAMIR resources were limited
> food for <2 weeks
> drinking water for 1 or 2 days
> fuel for 2-3 days
> insufficient no. of troops- 440 Belgians, 200 Ghanians, 900 Bangladeshi soldiers who were poorly trained (7th April- refused to open gate of stadium where they were quartered to admit Belgian soldiers who were trapped outside with Rwandan militia)

following plane crash, Dallaire sent message, “Give me the means and I can do more.”- reply: “that nobody in New York was interested in that.”

moved into a “defensive survival exercise” when troops attacked

although Dallaire, labelled UNAMIR a “failure”, significantly provided refuge to thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutu

Question 4

Belgium

Answer 4

initially reacted with an effort to strengthen UNAMIR

7th April- 10 Belgian peacekeepers were killed by Presidential Guard
8th April- Belgian cabinet decided that Belgian cabinet would end unless mandate was broadened and force strengthened
10th April- Belgians launched vigorous campaign to persuade UN Security Council that UNAMIR must end immediately
> “meant to disguise and lessen Belgian responsibility for deserting Rwanda”
> coincided with US policy to end UNAMIR

Question 5

France

Answer 5

France had very close relations with Habyarimana during his presidency under Francafrique policy
assisted Rwanda militarily during civil war against RPF
> sent approx. 34 different arms shipments between 1990-1994, 31 of which were unofficial
considered RPF and Uganda as part of a plot to increase English speaking influence instead of French in Africa

Question 6

France- Operation Turquoise

Answer 6

late June 1994
UN mission launched by France to create safe humanitarian areas for refugees in danger
in southwestern Rwanda, set up Zone Turquoise which occupied 20% of Rwanda
approx. 650,000 Hutu refugees entered and crossed from there into Zaire
included 30,000-40,000 former RAF soldiers and almost all Hutu politicians responsible for genocide
French made no attempt to detain Hutu officials
Jaques Bihozagara testified, “Operation Turquoise was aimed only at protecting genocide perpetrators, because the genocide continued even with the Turquoise Zone.”
President François Mitterand claimed that the operation had saved “tens of thousands of lives.”

Question 7

USA

Answer 7

intelligence reports indicate President Bill Clinton and cabinet were aware before height of genocide that a “final solution to eliminate all Tutsis was planned.”

Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia 6 months prior shaped US foreign policy [background]:
> 1991- Somalian gov collapses and a civil war breaks out
> 1992- UN peacekeepers (mainly American) distributed aid and food
> 1993- in the Battle of Mogadishu, Somali soldiers shot down US helicopter, killed soldiers, and footage of their mutilated bodies being dragged down the street was shown on CNN

Clinton referred to failure of US government to intervene in Rwanda as one of his major foreign policy failings
> “I don’t think we could have ended the violence, but I think we could have cut it down. And I regret it.”
> 80% of discussion regarded evacuation of US citizens