UN in Rwanda
The United Nations peacekeeping troops were stationed in Rwanda as part of UNAMIR (United Nation Assistance Mission For Rwanda). Canadian Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire was in charge of the 2,548 peacekeepers stationed in Rwanda. On January 12th, 1994, Dallaire sent an urgent telegram to his superiors that said that he had found 4 weapons caches and plans to exterminate Tutsi and that the situation he was in was increasingly hostile. He also told them that he was going to seize the weapons caches. Their immediate response was that he can't do that because that those actions were outside the mandate given to UNAMIR. The assassinations of several Tutsi and moderate Tutsi caused Dallaire to send peacekeepers to protect Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. The peacekeepers were attacked by Rwandan government troops and eventually surrendered their weapons. The 5 Ghanaian peacekeepers were released, but the 10 Belgian peacekeepers were tortured and killed. This caused Belgium to pull out its remaining troops leaving Dallaire with only 270 soldiers. Dallaire asked his superiors repeatedly to intervene but he always received a negative response. Dallaire and the rest of his troops saved as many Tutsi as they could up until the genocide ended. The United Nations helped save many lives but that doesn't mean that they couldn't have engaged the killers or send in more troops to prevent the killings. The UN council delayed Dallaire's reinforcements so they only arrived after the large amount of killings took place. The United States could have helped immensely by simply jamming the Hutu extremist radio station but the government was concerned with costs and international laws. In the end, the United Nations should have been more responsible to protect the Rwandan's right to life.
The United Nations peacekeeping troops were stationed in Rwanda as part of UNAMIR (United Nation Assistance Mission For Rwanda). Canadian Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire was in charge of the 2,548 peacekeepers stationed in Rwanda. On January 12th, 1994, Dallaire sent an urgent telegram to his superiors that said that he had found 4 weapons caches and plans to exterminate Tutsi and that the situation he was in was increasingly hostile. He also told them that he was going to seize the weapons caches. Their immediate response was that he can't do that because that those actions were outside the mandate given to UNAMIR. The assassinations of several Tutsi and moderate Tutsi caused Dallaire to send peacekeepers to protect Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana. The peacekeepers were attacked by Rwandan government troops and eventually surrendered their weapons. The 5 Ghanaian peacekeepers were released, but the 10 Belgian peacekeepers were tortured and killed. This caused Belgium to pull out its remaining troops leaving Dallaire with only 270 soldiers. Dallaire asked his superiors repeatedly to intervene but he always received a negative response. Dallaire and the rest of his troops saved as many Tutsi as they could up until the genocide ended. The United Nations helped save many lives but that doesn't mean that they couldn't have engaged the killers or send in more troops to prevent the killings. The UN council delayed Dallaire's reinforcements so they only arrived after the large amount of killings took place. The United States could have helped immensely by simply jamming the Hutu extremist radio station but the government was concerned with costs and international laws. In the end, the United Nations should have been more responsible to protect the Rwandan's right to life.