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Elizabeth Schaeffer

Mr. Fischer

CHC2D

Monday, December 16

The Effectiveness of the United Nations in Rwanda

In the midst of the tension in Rwanda, when the UN could have been most effective, the

system failed. The Super Friends went home when they were needed most. The United Nations

left an entire people almost by themselves to suffer genocide when they knew what was

happening. They left Romeo Dallaire in extreme circumstances, and his performance was

extraordinary. He went beyond the system and helped the people of Rwanda to the best of his

ability.

The slaughtering of the Tutsis in Rwanda began on April 6, 1994, but the United Nations

decided that they would pull the majority of their troops out of Rwanda on April 22 — 16 days

after the beginning of a genocide (Lewis.) The decision to leave the Rwandans to die was made

purely out of racism and self-preservation. In a documentary with Romeo Dallaire, ​Shake Hands

with the Devil, ​one of the associates in the film enlightens us that, “Africans were only gonna kill

Africans, what was it their business?” It wasn’t as important as it should have been because they

were of a different race. Dallaire, speaking about the United Nations’ departure in the same

documentary, said, “They had to avoid bodies all over the place” (Raymont.) There is no excuse

for their actions. All that the UN has done since is acknowledge their “collective failure” and

attempt to make reparations (United Nations.)

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Romeo Dallaire, in his dire situation, invoked his will to make a difference in Rwanda

when the United Nations’ tactics weren’t working. Peacekeepers were told to use force only in

self-defense, but Dallaire began using force to prevent “crimes against humanity” (Bonikowsky.)

He made the decisions necessary to do what he thought was right, and subsequently saved the

lives of many Tutsis and Tutsi sympathizers.

The genocide in Rwanda was a learning experience for the United Nations — they can’t

approach every situation diplomatically if they want to make a difference. Simply talking to the

people of Rwanda made no difference for the more than 800,000 people who were slaughtered.

We can only hope that the United Nations will use their knowledge from this experience in the

future to make more effective policies of peacekeeping. Their choice is to either change the

system, or have more outstanding individuals like Romeo Dallaire go around the system without

their approval. It’s a choice of systemic improvement or consistent subordination.

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Works Cited

Lewis, Paul. “Security Council VOtes to Cut Rwanda Peacekeeping Force.” ​The New York

Times, ​The New York Times, 22 Apr. 1994,

www.nytimes.com/1994/04/22/world/security-council-votes-to-cut-rwanda-peacekeeping

Raymont, Peterm director. ​Shake Hands with the Devil: the Journey of Romeo Dallaire.

YouTube​, CBC, 2004, ​www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CAOnJrxmKk

United Nations. “Rwanda — What Would Have Prevented This?” Outreach Programme on the

Rwanda Genocide and the United Nations, 30 Apr. 2007,

www.un.org/en/preventgenocide/rwanda/assets/pdf/exhibits/Panel-Set3.pdf​.

Bonikowsky, Laura Neilson. “Roméo Dallaire.” ​The Canadian Encyclopedia​, 3 Apr. 2008,

www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/romeo-dallaire​.