Carter Center International Peacekeeping Efforts - Rwanda

Activities By Country

Waging Peace: Rwanda

Mediating Conflict

In October 1995, heads of state in the Great Lakes region of Africa asked The Carter Center to help them undertake a regional initiative to stimulate the repatriation of 1.7 million Rwandan refugees and curb violence in the region. Subsequently, the presidents of Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zaire held summits in Cairo (November 1995) and in Tunis (March 1996), where they agreed upon actions that would be required by their countries and the international community to finally bring peace, justice, reconciliation, stability, and development to this troubled region. Invited by the African presidents to facilitate those formal meetings and ongoing consultations were former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, former Tanzania President Julius Nyerere, former Mali President Amadou Touré, and South Africa Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Commitments made by the heads of state in Cairo and Tunis included promises to: prevent cross-border raids into any country and halt arms flow to rebel groups making incursions; remove from refugee camps in Zaire intimidators stirring fears it was unsafe to return to Rwanda; return military equipment to its country of origin, including that of the Rwandan government held in Zaire; deliver individuals indicted for crimes of genocide to the International Tribunal for Rwanda; identify and destroy hate radio inciting violence in Burundi; quickly create a justice system in Rwanda; and allow as many as 300 human rights observers in Rwanda to reassure returning refugees who fear for their safety.

Despite this comprehensive plan of action, refugees continued to return only in small numbers to Rwanda, and violence escalated in Burundi. "It's not possible to solve the intractable questions of this region in just a few months. But I think that progress is being made," said President Carter during a worldwide telecast on CNNI in May 1996. "By bringing these leaders together, perhaps we have prevented even greater problems, and I hope we are creating the basis for future progress in this neglected region."

The great majority of Rwandan refugees crossed the Zaire border to return home in late 1996 and 1997. Leaders in the region continue to work to resolve complex challenges.