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The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994 The Assassination of the Presidents and the Beginning of the "Apocalypse" U.S. Department of State, Telegram State 093509, "Situation Report as of 1600 EDT, 04/08/94, EDT", April 8, 1994 (Freedom of Information Act release)...   [More]

The U.S. and the Genocide in Rwanda 1994

The Assassination of the Presidents and the Beginning of the "Apocalypse"

U.S. Department of State, Telegram State 093509, "Situation Report as of 1600 EDT, 04/08/94, EDT", April 8, 1994 (Freedom of Information Act release)

Under the power-sharing Arusha Accords, the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front had stationed a battalion within Kigali, although all other RPF forces remained north of a demilitarized zone (DMZ) in northern Rwanda or at camps in Uganda. In addition to killing prominent Hutu and Tutsi civilians, Rwandan military forces attacked this RPF battalion. On April 8th, RPF forces launched across the DMZ "because the ceasefire had been violated, its Kigali contingent had been attacked, the Rwandan army is killing officials and Tutsis, and the UN is unable to control the situation" as RPF leader Paul Kagame told a U.S. defense attaché.

The resumption of the civil war had important consequences: for the RPF, it was necessary to rescue both their comrades in Kigali and to rescue Tutsi civilians; for the Rwandan military, it served to solidify ranks which were divided over the military's involvement in killing civilians and taking power; for the interim Rwandan government, it would provide an excuse for prosecuting a war against the RPF and any civilians it considered "accomplices" of the RPF, including Tutsi women and children, and it directly threatened the government's existence; and for outside observers, including the U.S., UN, and others inexperienced with Rwanda's history, it confused the killing of civilians with fighting between regular forces and discouraged outside intervention, particularly in the wake of the U.S. and UN experience in Mogadishu.
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