[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                            CRISIS IN RWANDA

  Mr. SIMON. Madam President, I am pleased to submit this resolution 
expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the recent tragic events 
in Rwanda. I am joined in this effort by Senators Jeffords, Kassebaum, 
Kennedy, Feingold, Wofford, and Pell.
  On April 6, 1994, President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and Cyprien 
Ntaryamira of Burundi were killed when their plane was shot down in 
Kigali. We have all heard the grim reports since that time--the 
eruption in Rwanda of brutal, systematic, and indiscriminate violence, 
resulting in the deaths of more than 100,000 people to date. These 
actions constitute genocide, and clearly violate all international 
standards of human rights.
  President Clinton acted swiftly to condemn these acts and to evacuate 
some 250 Americans from Rwanda. The President and his senior advisers, 
particularly United States Ambassador to Rwanda David Rawson, are to be 
commended for their action. Other governments have also acted to rescue 
their citizens from the ensuing violence.
  However, the lives of millions of Rwandans remain in jeopardy. Almost 
all foreigners and aid workers have been evacuated, resulting in the 
cessation of humanitarian relief to the hundreds of thousands of 
refugees that were already in Rwanda prior to this latest crisis--and 
who are dependent on international assistance. Millions more have been 
forced to flee their homes as a result of the recent massacres.
  As the violence continued, tens of thousands of Rwandans sought the 
protection of the United Nations peacekeeping forces. The UNAMIR 
operation was deployed in Rwanda this past year to ensure 
implementation of the August 1993 Arusha accords, signed by the Rwandan 
Government and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front, which created the 
basis for installation of an integrated transitional government. At its 
peak, the UNAMIR force numbered 2,500.
  Late last week, however, the U.N. Security Council voted to reduce 
the UNAMIR force to a mere 250 troops. And, as feared, the slaughter of 
innocent civilians has only continued.
  This resolution puts the Senate on record as strongly deploring the 
actions by the perpetrators of the violence in Rwanda. It calls upon 
the United Nations, the United States, and the entire international 
community to act swiftly and in a capacity that will ensure the safety 
of civilians, the delivery of humanitarian relief, achieve an immediate 
cease-fire, and facilitate negotiations toward a lasting peace in 
Rwanda.
  Madam President, I urge all of my colleagues in the Senate to join me 
in supporting this measure. The bloodshed in Rwanda is no less than 
genocide; we have a moral responsibility and a commitment under 
international law to stop it.
  Finally, Madam President, I would like to recognize the bravery of a 
particular Rwandan national, Monique Mujawamariya, a human rights 
activist who was a target of the killers in Rwanda. Hers is an 
incredible story. After hiding for more than 40 hours in her house, she 
managed to escape from Rwanda with only the clothes on her back, and 
she has come to the United States to tell us her eyewitness account of 
the horrors going on in her country. We must listen to her story, and 
put an end to these horrors.

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