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U.S.
Intelligence Warned 'Genocide' in Rwanda
Clinton Administration
Waited to Use Word
National Security Archive (Washington, DC). March 29, 2004
New Documents
And Report Highlight Array Of Info Before U.S. Policymakers
U.S. intelligence
reports concluded that the slaughter in Rwanda ten years ago
amounted to genocide as early as April 23, 1994, while
policymakers debated for another month over whether to use the
word publicly, according to a new report and declassified
documents posted on the Web by the National Security Archive.
Obtained through
the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, the documents illuminate
the vast array of 'information and intelligence' available to
Clinton Administration officials during the crisis, as well as
the policymaking committees and working groups that used the
information.
The documents
reveal:
* The CIA's top
secret National Intelligence Daily, circulated to President
Clinton, Vice President Gore and hundreds of senior officials,
featured the slaughter in Rwanda on a daily or near-daily basis
in April and May 1994, including an April 23 analysis that
Rwandan rebels will continue fighting to "stop the
genocide, which...is spreading south";
* The State
Department's intelligence briefing for Secretary Christopher and
other top officials saw in Rwanda "genocide and
partition" as early as April 26, reporting declarations of
"a 'final solution' to eliminate all Tutsis", but the
U.S. did not officially declare the killing genocide until May
25;
* U.S. officials,
including Secretary Christopher and Secretary Perry, met with
and telephoned counterparts such as UN Secretary General
Boutros-Ghali, Gen. Romeo Dallaire, and French Foreign Minister
Alain Juppe throughout the crisis, with Gen. Dallaire pleading
with USAID head Brian Atwood that "without U.S. equipment,
UNAMIR can do virtually nothing" to save civilians in
Rwanda;
* U.S. officials
met throughout April and May with human rights and humanitarian
agency representatives concerned with Rwanda, including a May 17
meeting where International Committee of the Red Cross official
Jean de Courten told State Department Under Secretary Timothy
Wirth the "mass killings" in Rwanda compared to the
"genocide in Cambodia".
Archive consulting
fellow William Ferroggiaro, who wrote the report and obtained
the documents through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, said,
"The documents show that despite Rwanda's relative
unimportance to U.S. interests and despite other crises
demanding their attention, U.S. officials had the capacity and
resources to know what was happening in Rwanda. In a sense, the
system worked: Diplomats, intelligence agencies, defense and
military officials--even aid workers--provided timely
information up the chain to President Clinton and his top
advisors. That the Clinton Administration decided against
intervention at any level was not for lack of knowledge of what
was happening in Rwanda."
Ferroggiaro also
serves as a research consultant to "Ghosts of Rwanda",
a special two-hour Frontline documentary that will be broadcast
on PBS on April 1, 2004.
* * * * *
The
National Security Archive is an independent non-governmental
research institute and library located at The George Washington
University in Washington, D.C. The Archive collects and
publishes declassified documents acquired through the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). A tax-exempt public charity, the Archive
receives no U.S.
government funding; its budget is supported by publication
royalties and donations from foundations and individuals.
* * * * *
Source:
For the report, go to:
http://www.nsarchive.org/NSAEBB/NSAEBB117 |
