Rebellion And Diplomacy In International Politics In The Context Of The Rwandan Crisis

ABSTRACT

Rebellion and diplomacy have played considerable roles in international politics in the last two decades.

Both phenomena, however, have failed to resolve many crises and conflict of interests that have plagued the African

continent. Studies have been done on the causes and effects of these conflicts. However, substantial attention has not

been paid to the centrality of diplomacy in the conflict processes. By drawing the contours of successes and failures of

diplomacy, this study investigated the consequences, challenges and effects of diplomacy in the Rwandan conflict, one

of the deadliest conflicts in Africa.

The study utilized both primary and secondary data. Survey method, in-depth interviews and Focus Groups

Discussions (FGDs) were utilized to source primary data. These include: 146 unstructured key informant interviews

with 14 academic staff of the National University of Rwanda (NUR), two staffers of the International Criminal

Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), four journalists, four members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC),

seven members of the Association of Widows and Victims of Genocide amongst Women (AVEGA), 14 genocide site

guides, nine Gacaca members and four war crime prisoners. Eleven FGDs involving undergraduate and postgraduate

students of NUR were also conducted. Secondary data were drawn from library and archival documents. The study

employed a descriptive and content analysis approach.

Ethics of humanitarian intervention was a major factor that made decisive action slow, or impossible in

emergency situations by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Similar provisions in the OAU charter principles

made the organisation incapable of effectively dealing with ethno-chauvinistic conflicts. Focus Groups Discussions

emphasized competing and incompatible goals and exercise of state power as sources of many conflicts in Africa.

Rebel movements emerged where democratic processes failed, leading to civil wars and genocides. The growing

number of these crises, conflicts and civil wars therefore, led to the increasing demand for new conflict resolutions,

transformations, and post-conflict reconciliatory initiatives that require direct intervention beyond the purview of the

O.A.U charter. Such interventions require defining, acceptable and workable power sharing arrangements. In the

specific case of Rwanda, these requirements were complicated by neo-colonial manipulations, inciting ethnic hatred

and genocide. Thus, the failures of African and international diplomacy were central to the occurrence of genocide

and its devastating effects in Rwanda. These failures were repeated in the post-conflict reconstruction process, where

political intrigues and diplomatic inconsistencies in the workings of ICTR prolonged the process of healing and

reconciliation amongst the people.

The Rwandan case revealed how rebellion could degenerate into genocide in a divided society, where

leadership is overwhelmed by sectarian struggles. Effective diplomacy will require a larger regional framework of

conflict management that affords the opportunity for quick intervention. African leaders within the framework of

African Union (AU) should encourage their peers to respect the sanctity of human life, and its centrality to

development and governance, by creating an effective mechanism for solving conflicts in Africa. The proposed AU

standby force needs to be established and strengthened, to encourage diplomatic methods of negotiation and

compromise in order to prevent a quick recourse to violence by opposition forces.