Rwanda and Darfur

The international community has condemned the horrendous crimes against civilian in Rwanda and Darfur and the Security Council admitted their failure in addressing the genocide. President Clinton declared in 1998 in a visit to Kigali “It may seem strange to you here, especially the many of you who lost members of your family, but all over the world there were people like me sitting in offices, day after day after day, who did not fully appreciate the depth and speed with which you were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror” (1). The UN received harsh criticism for not being able to effectively intervene and prevent millions of deaths in both crises. Lack of political will and support from member states contributed to the UN inability to carry out peacekeeping missions, even with a Security Council approval. It is prudent to affirm after the genocides, with more million casualties in Rwanda alone, that the UN did not fulfill its duties and complete responsibilities to protect the lives of individuals and maintain international peace and security.
According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 5: “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Tthe international community ignored its mandate in both conflicts (Rwanda and Darfur). Rwanda’s civil war unfolded under the UN’s key members closed eyes. They refused to admit, regardless of information from the ground that the genocide was occurring. The minority Tutsi and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by the Hutus extremist militias backed by the Hutu government after the Tutsi rebels assassination of Hutu President Juvenal Habyarimana . Peacekeeping troops from UNAMIR that were present in the country since the year before were significantly reduced during the conflict due to increasing violence on the ground and only served to help foreigners to leave the country, abandoning the minority to defend themselves on their own. Refugee camps were not properly protected and the killings continued to occur there too. The humanitarian crisis deteriorated quickly the civilians were victimized being brutality tortured, raped, mass murdered resulting in an ethnic cleansing situation. Only after the Rwanda Patriotic Front, the Tutsi rebels gained grounds with their offensive strategy that the genocide came to an end. However, with limited support, the genocide had already claimed almost one million lives. In Sudan, the violence is still part of their daily lives and the ongoing genocide is still occurring. The Sudanese government with President Bashir still in power after the ICC condemned him of crime against humanity, it keep providing arms to Janjaweed militia who in turn increasingly commits atrocious terror and crimes in the Darfur region generating a refuge crises and destabilizing bordering countries. As Susan Rice declared “we (US) have no comprehensive strategy for stopping the killings.”(2)

In my view, peacekeeping forces have an essential role to play in international crises. The UN has legitimacy from the international community in its work to preserve global security and stability and protecting civilians when they are most vulnerable throughout crises. Peacekeeping missions are believed to be the victims’ last hope and resort. This is a huge task and the UN has the possibility to make immense difference whether conflicts will be resolved or not and whether crimes against humanity where citizens’ human rights violations are stopped or not. However, if the UN finds the morally right political will to authorize a peacekeeping mission, it is the responsibility of member states to resource it effectively to obtain positive outcomes. The world cannot afford to revive the situation in Rwanda. We said “no more” after WWII and again after the genocide in Rwanda. However, there are many humanitarian crises happening today where peacekeeping missions are necessary to ensure protection of innocent civilians. Sudan is still very unstable and now the situation in Somalia is critically deteriorating due to the famine and political instability. In Somalia, 29000 children had died so far in the past few months. Developed countries need to drop the rhetoric and provide substantial funds and support for the UNDPKO and comprehensive long term development plan created together with leaders of these countries to be able to avoid human rights crises.
Key influential states in the UN tend to see humanitarian crises through a political lens. That must to be change if the UN wants to fulfill its obligation to guarantee human security. A dose of empathy towards the least protected human citizens would serve good to correct the problems faced by UNDPKO. Good intentions enough do not solve humanitarian crises. Serious commitment to Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding should be a UN priority. Saving innocent civilian lives is morally and ethically the right action by the international community. Nothing should prevent that task to be accomplished whether is race discrimination, how leaders perceive the worth of other people lifes, economic and political interests and neocolonialism. As found in the Lessons from Rwanda, The United Nations and the prevention of Genocide, “Following the Millennium Report, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (set up by the Canadian government) issued a report entitled “The Responsibility to Protect”. The report found that sovereignty not only gave a State the right to “control” its affairs, it also conferred on the State primary “responsibility” for protecting the people within its borders. It proposed that where a State fails to protect people -- either through lack of ability or a lack of willingness -- the responsibility shifts to the broader international community.”(3)
Notes:
1-) http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/1998/03/25/world/main5798.shtml (Text of President Clinton's address to genocide survivors at the airport in Kigali, Rwanda, as provided by the White House)
2-) Rourke, John T. 2010 Taking Sides: Clashing Views in World Fifteenth Edition (McGraw-Hill) Page 167
3-) http://www.un.org/preventgenocide/rwanda/responsibility.shtml (Responsibility to Protect)