Role of The International Community in The Rwandan Genocide - The United States

The United States

After events surrounding the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia the year prior, the US refused to provide requested material aid to Rwanda. France, China and Russia opposed involvement in what was seen as an "internal affair". Dallaire was directly "taken to task," in his words, for even suggesting that UNAMIR should raid Hutu militants' weapons caches, whose location had been disclosed to him by a government informant. The UN failed to respond adequately to Dallaire's urgent requests.

The role of the United States is directly inspired by their defeat that they underwent during their intervention in Somalia in 1993. For two months, from April to May 1994, the American government fought over the word "genocide" which is banned by the Convention for the prevention and the repression of crime and genocide (adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948).

In the US, President Bill Clinton and US Ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright repeatedly refused to take action. US government documents declassified in 2004 indicate the Clinton administration knew Rwanda was being engulfed by genocide in April 1994, but buried the information to justify its inaction. Senior US officials privately used the word genocide within 16 days of the start of the killings, but chose not to do so publicly because Clinton had already decided not to intervene. Intelligence reports obtained using the US Freedom of Information Act show the cabinet and almost certainly the president had been told of a planned "final solution to eliminate all Tutsis" before the slaughter reached its peak.

Clinton and Albright would both later expressed regret for their inaction. Clinton provided major funding for the Rwandan genocide memorial in Kigali, and visited Rwanda in 1998 and 2005. He apologized both times, and "expressed regret for what he says was his 'personal failure' to prevent the slaughter of an estimated 800,000 people there in 1994." He has attempted amends by sponsoring initiatives to help rebuild Rwanda through the Clinton Foundation.

In 2001 the government of the United States declassified documents, which confirm the attitude of the United States of not having taken into account the reality of the situation starting in January 1994 .

This attitude was perceived very negatively in the world and more specifically by the survivors of the genocide which led President Clinton to present his reasons for not acting on the matter to the Rwandan people. The French political class also vigorously underlines it when France's responsibilities in the events are evoked.

These elements of inaction tempered the information according to which the United States would have armed the Rwanda Patriotic Front of Paul Kagame. If it is undeniable that Paul Kagame followed the military training of the United States in his capacity as an Ugandan officer, it is probable that he would have benefited from Anglo-American aid via Uganda, this endorsement does not appear to be as large or determined as that that was received from the outside of those who he fought: the army of the regime of President Habyarimana and then the interim government which led the genocide.