Fiche du document numéro 20699

Num
20699
Date
Tuesday April 12, 1994
Amj
Fichier
Taille
46803
Pages
2
Urlorg
Titre
[According Secretariat the situation is chaotic. The provisional government has left Kigali. RPF describes it as criminal. RPF units arrived in Kigali from DMZ. Future of UNAMIR, 4 options]
Cote
2482
Source
Fonds d'archives
NSA
Type
Document diplomatique, TD
Langue
EN
Citation
2482  –  12-­04  
 
Secretariat  information  

The  situation  is  getting  ever  more  complicated.  According  to  the
 Secretariat  it  is  chaotic,  the   killing  continues.  The  provisional
 government  has  left  Kigali  for  Butare  in  the  south  of  the   country.
 Only  the  defense  minister  has  stayed  on  in  Kigali.  Disturbances  are
 spreading  to   other  parts  of  the  country.  The  private  radio  station
 in  Kigali  (it  is  unclear  whether  it  is  the   only  one  there)  sides
 with  the  government  and  is  militating  against  foreigners,  especially  
Belgians.  

RPF  units  arrived  in  Kigali  from  the  demilitarized  zone  in  the  North
 of  the  country  and   control  all  important  points,  except  for  the
 airport.  They  do  not  recognize  the  defense   minister.  (Note:  In  a
 very  sharp  letter  to  the  SC  President,  the  New  York  representative
 of   the  RPF  described  the  transitional  government  as  one  of
 criminals.  He  didn’t  mention  a  word   about  the  Arusha  peace
 agreements.)  

The  evacuation  of  foreigners  went  well.  The  RPF  has  given  the
 French-­‐Belgian  expedition   until  1900  hrs  local  time  on  14  April
 to  pull  out  of  the  country  –  because  after  that  it  intends   to
 attack  government  units  at  the  airport.

UNAMIR  absolutely  hasn’t  managed  to  induce  the  parties  to  a  cease
 fire  or  a  truce.  Both   parties,  however,  assure  the  force  that  it
 is  safe.  SG’s  recommendations,  based  on  the   analysis  of  his  SRSG
 –  Booh  Booh  from  Cameroun  –  will  be  available  tomorrow.  

Discussion  

The  core  of  the  discussion  concerned  the  future  of  UNAMIR.  In  other
 words:  Will  the  UN   leave  Rwanda  to  its  catastrophic  fate  or  will
 it  continue  to  be  involved  there  in  some  way?   The  non-­‐aligned
 are  preparing  a  draft  resolution  which  will  be  available  on  13
 April  but  any   suggestions  will  still  have  to  follow  from  the  SG’s
 recommendations.  

The  contribution  of  the  UK  was  the  most  useful  one.  It  clarified
 four  possible  alternatives:  

1. Strengthen  UNAMIR  and  give  it  a  new  mandate  (note:  one  which
 would  of  course   have  to  be  based  on  Ch  VII  of  the  Charter,  as
 we  mentioned  earlier).  This  would  be   difficult  according  to  the  UK.

2. Pull  out  completely  –  which,  however,  would  send  a  negative  signal
 about  UN’s   involvement  

3. Leave  UNAMIR  as  is  -­‐  but  what  could  it  do?  

4. Leave  some  elements  of  UNAMIR  in  Rwanda,  as  earlier  in  Angola  –
 which  might  be   the  safest  solution,  a  signal  that  the  UN  continues
 to  be  engaged.  

Before  the  UK  spoke,  France  had  considered  only  alts.  2  and  3,  then
 he  spoke  off  the  top  of   his  head  and  only  on  his  own  behalf,
 without  instructions  from  home.  SP  clarified  that  the   “Angola
 solution”  may  seem  to  be  the  best  but  it  has  its  own  problems:
 “It  is  easy  to  squeeze   the  accordion  but  it  can  be  difficult  to
 stretch  it  later.”  He  also  drew  attention  to  the  possible   problem
 of  troop  contributors  which  will  have  to  be  consulted.

The  US  were  a  shade  more  skeptical  to  UNAMIR’s  continuation.  If  it
 were  to  stay  with  its   current  mandate,  it  could  become  a
 destabilizing  factor.  “It  may  become  necessary  to   withdraw  UNAMIR
 but  that  should  not  mean  we’ll  stop  being  concerned  with  Rwanda.  
Perhaps  we  should  have  this  force  ready  somewhere  so  that  it  could
 return  straight  away.”   Arg.  agreed  with  this  view.    

Amb  Kovanda  pointed  out  that  events  in  Rwanda  will  also  necessarily
 influence  the  situation   of  UNOMUR  –  another  Rwanda-­‐related  PKO  but
 operating  in  Uganda.  The  Secretariat   confirmed  this.  

Delegation  comment  

A  representative  of  the  Belgian  delegation  telephoned  Amb  Kovanda
 requesting  that   tomorrow  we  support  in  the  SC  the  withdrawal  of
 UNAMIR  and  suspending  the  operation.  In   his  view,  this  alternative
 will  be  submitted  by  the  US  or  the  UK.  The  Belgians  are  in
 contact   with  the  SG  who  should  tomorrow  formulate  a  recommendation
 to  this  effect.  In  their  [Be]   view,  any  other  alternative  is
 unrealistic.  He  stated  that  they  are  fully  aware  of  the  fact  that  
this  proposal  will  likely  not  be  acceptable  for  the  non-­‐aligned.  We
 are  therefore  requesting   instructions  on  how  to  proceed.  
Haut

fgtquery v.1.9, 9 février 2024