A People Betrayed: The Role of the West in Rwanda's Genocide

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Zed Books, 2000 - Education - 272 pages

In Rwanda in 1994 one million people were killed in a planned, public and political campaign. For six years Linda Melvern has worked on the story of this horrendous crime, and this book, a classic piece of investigative journalism, is the result. Its new and startling information has the making of an international scandal.

The book contains a full narrative account of how the genocide unfolded and describes its scale, speed and intensity. And the book provides a terrible indictment, not just of the UN Security Council, but even more so of governments and individuals who could have prevented what was happening but chose not to do so.
Drawing on a series of in-depth interviews, the author also tells the story of the unrecognized heroism of those who stayed on during the genocide - volunteer UN peacekeepers, their Force Commander the Canadian Lt.-General Romeo A. Dallaire, and Philippe Gaillard, the head of a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, helped by medical teams from Medecins Sans Frontieres.

The international community, which fifty years ago resolved that genocide never happened again, not only failed to prevent it happening in Rwanda, but, as this book shows, international funds intended to help the Rwandan economy actually helped to create the conditions that made the genocide possible. Documents held in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, as well as hitherto unpublished evidence of secret UN Security Council deliberations in New York, reveal a shocking sequence of events.

What happened in Rwanda shows that despite the creation of an organisation set up to prevent a repetition of genocide - for the UN is central to this task - it failed to do so, even when the evidence was indisputable. At a time when increasing attention is being given to the need for UN reform, this book provides evidence to urgently accelerate and focus that process. Only by understanding how and why the genocide happened can there be any hope that this new century will break with the dismal record of the last.

 

Selected pages

Contents

Genocide April 1994
1
The Past is Prologue Rwanda 18941973
7
The Involvement of France Egypt and Uganda
24
Akazu The Oligarchy Ruling Rwanda
39
Peace in Rwanda? The Arusha Accords
52
Preparing the Genocide
61
The Hate Radio RadioTelevision Libre des Mille Collines
70
The New World Order and High Hopes for a UN Success
74
The Secret Meetings of the Security Council
152
Genocide Spreads
168
The World Shuts the Door
186
For Valour
210
Starting from Zero 18 July 1994
222
The Genocide Convention
227
Chronology
239
Background to the Genocide Convention
249

Peacekeepers the UN Arrives
82
Peacekeepers in Trouble FebruaryApril 1994
99
The UN Security Council 5 April 1994
111
Four Days in Kigali 69 April 1994
115
The Genocide Exposed
137
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 1948
251
Sources
256
Index
265
Copyright

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About the author (2000)

Linda Melvern is an investigative journalist and writer. For four years she was a reporter with The Sunday Times, including as a member of their award-winning Insight Team. Since leaving the paper to write her first book, she has written widely for the British press and also lectures on international issues. Her books include: The Ultimate Crime: Who Betrayed the United Nations and Why (1995) End of the Street (1986) Techno-Bandits (1984). Linda Melvern is an investigative journalist and writer. For four years she was a reporter with The Sunday Times, including as a member of their award-winning Insight Team. Since leaving the paper to write her first book, she has written widely for the British press and also lectures on international issues. Her books include: The Ultimate Crime: Who Betrayed the United Nations and Why (1995) End of the Street (1986) Techno-Bandits (1984).

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