The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has often been condemned for its method of handling humanitarian issues. The UNSC has been criticized for being “indisputably out of date and for being able to effectively address humanitarian issues by not intervene in time to prevent crimes against humanity.” Such occurrence was the Rwandan crisis where millions of people were massacred between the years of 1990 and 1994. Following the Nuremberg trial, the Rwandan Genocide transpired in Central Africa, where more than 500, 000 Tutsi were killed from April to July 1994.” The UNSC was reluctant to act forcefully to prevent the killing and the UN troops were subsequently, withdrawn from the country during the early stage of the massacres. …show more content…
The Rwandan Genocide is a depiction of a time when the global community turned its back on human rights violation. The leadership of the UN and the “functioning of the Secretariat” along with its key member states all contributed to the UNSC failure to deal effectively with the Rwandan genocide. The states of the international community were ignorant and apathetic towards the Rwandan massacres. The Rwandan genocide was a result of an ethnic divide between the Hutus and the Tutsi which was initially commenced by extreme Hutu nationalists. The genocide eventually spread throughout the country to determine which ethnic group was racially superior and …show more content…
In fact, the UN Troops who were sent in were eventually called to withdraw from the scene as “[t]he U.S. and U.N. Security Council vote[d] to withdraw 90% of the peacekeepers in Rwanda.” Factors such “partisanship, ideology, gender, public opinion, constituent demographics and interest, and the financial welfare of the country… shaped legislator’s propensity for supporting humanitarian action.” All of these factors influenced the decision to intervene. They provide the foundation to understand the support of member states, “or lack thereof, for humanitarian intervention.” Organizational factors such as the “demands of electoral politics and party loyalty” had a role in the ineffectiveness of the UNSC. Therefore, it is apparent that organizational factors, mostly the political structure of the UNSC and the power imbalances among member states contribute to the its ineffectiveness in handling humanitarian