A critical analysis of humanitarian intervention by the United Nations in contemporary international law: A case study of the 1994 Rwanda genocide

Abstract

What kind of world ignores the systematic vilification, victimization and murder of a group of people? What does it mean when genocide not only occurs, but is ignored? In 1994, over 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically murdered while the international community watched. This project explores the UN indifference to the Rwandan genocide as a failure in its obligation to maintain international peace and security. Through an analysis of the events at the international scene during the genocide, I argue that the UN could have intervened in good time to prevent the genocide from occurring or at least prevented the loss of so many lives.