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Topic 1: The Situation in Rwanda

Rwanda is a country with a long-standing history of ethnic conflict. The bad relations between the two ethnic groups involved, the Hutu and the Tutsi, are largely a product of the country’s colonial past, during which Belgium promoted the Tutsi as a superior race. Naturally, the inequality between the Hutu and the Tutsi resulted in competition and deep resentment between the two. Eventually, the Hutu revolted against the system of Tutsi superiority established by the Belgians and took control of the country, forcing thousands of Tutsi to flee.

However, the Tutsi were no more amenable to subjugation than the Hutu had been. The refugees organized themselves into rebel force known as the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and on 1 October 1990, the RPF launched an invasion of Rwanda from their base in Uganda (“Rwanda Civil War”). The RPF invasion sparked more than two years of civil, during which the Rwandan government struggled to maintain control despite the disadvantages faced by the RPF. Ultimately, the two parties reached a clear stalemate and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) finally stepped in to facilitate a diplomatic resolution to the conflict through a series of peace talks known as the Arusha negotiations. These talks concluded with the signing of a treaty known interchangeably as the Arusha Peace Accords and the Arusha Peace Agreement. The Agreement contained provisions for the integration of both Hutu and Tutsi into a new Broad Based Transitional Government (BBTG), the establishment of which would be aided by the work of a United Nations force known as the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR).

The first steps toward the establishment of the BBTG were accomplished with the swearing in of Juvenal Habyarimana, who had been the president of Rwanda prior to the Arusha negotiations, as president of the new government. However, at this point in the process, progress ground to a halt with President Habyarimana and his supporters refusing to share power by fully forming the BBTG. Habyarimana’s stubbornness has created an atmosphere of extreme tension and hostility with violence occasionally breaking out despite the peacekeeping efforts of UNAMIR. The international community has been placing a lot of pressure on Habyarimana to uphold the Arusha Accords and, as of very recently, it seemed that the president would in fact resume a course of obedient execution of the Agreement. Then, on 6 January 1994, in a sudden and tragic turn of events, Habyarimana’s personal jet crashed as it was returning the president to Rwanda. As we begin the Security Council proceedings, the Presidential Guard, elements of the Rwandan armed forces (FAR) and extremist militia (Interahamwe and Impuzamugambi) are setting up roadblocks and barricades in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. There is an urgent concern for the safety of all persons, particularly those located in and around the capital. This incident has the potential to spark total chaos and violent massacre.

Topic 2: The Situation in Abkhazia

The geographic area known as Abkhazia is a small strip of land located on the northeast coast of the black sea, bordered by Russia to the north and Georgia to the southeast. Although the political status and ownership of the region is now the source of hot contention, the territory was formerly understood to be the northwest tip of Georgia. The history of the Abkhaz-Georgian conflict is characterized by ethnic persecution, subservience to Russia, and political oppression. Abkhazia saw itself as culturally and ethnically unique from Georgia, a self-conception that was threatened by Russia-initiated forced Georgianization, an attempt to impose Georgian language and culture on the Abkhaz population that was actively pursued from 1933-1953. In addition to ethnic persecution by the Soviet Union, the Abkhaz were also severely oppressed by the Georgian leadership in Tbilisi from 1953 until 1978.

The Abkhazian independence movement in the latter half of the 20th century had roots in the Russia-initiated forced Georgianization (imposing of Georgian language and culture) of the Abkhaz population. The Abkhaz region during the 19th and 20th century was characterized by many different political statuses, including: the Abkhazian autonomous principality, the Abkhazia district under Russian administration, part of the Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) of Georgia, and the Abkhazian SSR. Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR) were ethnically-based administrative units directly controlled by the USSR (Georgia-Abkhazia: Chronology 4). The subjugated history of the Abkhaz people would eventually lead to the violent conflict in Sukhumi, capital of Abkhazia, between 1992 and 1993.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, sporadic conflicts began to occur as many Soviet Republics declared independence. In early 1991, the Abkhaz declared independence from the central government in Tbilisi (capital of Georgia) (Georgian/Abkhaz Conflict History 1). Many ethnic Georgians were also discontent with the Tbilisi leadership, and in January 1992, Georgian nationalists overthrew the Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia. In early 1992, militant groups involved in the coup of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia entered Abkhazia, where they became involved in raping and killing those who had supported Gamsakhurdia’s regime (Cooper 4). The Georgian nationalists committed these acts of violence in revenge for discrimination by the Abkhaz in the Tbilisi parliament. The conflict was essentially based on the aspirations of the Abkhaz to secure their national survival and on the desire of the Georgians to create a mono-ethnic Georgian state within state borders (Krylov 11).

In May 1992, Georgian deputies in the Abkhaz parliament began boycotting legislative proceedings, complaining of discrimination. The Georgian leadership formed parallel government bodies and set up illegal armed units (Studenikin). On 23 July 1992, the Abkhaz Supreme Soviet (legislative body of the Abkhazia SSR) passed a resolution, without the participation of the Georgian deputies, restoring the 1925 Abkhaz constitution and Abkhazia’s status as a sovereign republic within what was then the Soviet Union (Petersen 8). Georgians saw this as an act of complete disregard for both the territorial integrity of Georgia and the Georgian culture. The dispute over political status and ethnic oppression of both the Abkhaz and the Georgians turned violent when fighting broke out in Sukhumi in August 1992.

Attempted ceasefires fell apart in August and November, as each side perceived the ceasefire attempts as conceding too much autonomy to the other. In February 1993, the situation grew chaotic, as Gamsakhurdia’s Zviadist insurgents began raids in the town of Zugdidi, in west Georgia, and Russian planes bombed Sukhumi (Chervonnaya 163). The Zviadists were those who had supported the regime of Gamsakhurdia and they became very hostile when the regime was overthrown in January 1992. As Georgian and Abkhaz forces continued to stage air and land attacks in Sukhumi, the Russian Supreme Soviets demanded the immediate withdrawal of Georgian troops and proposed that a contingent of Russian peace-keeping forces be deployed in Abkhazia (Georgian Daily 8). On 27 July 1993, another Russian-brokered ceasefire was signed by the belligerent parties in Sochi, just across the Russian border. This agreement led to the withdrawal of Georgian troops from positions in Abkhazia (Petersen 31). The Sochi agreement ceasefire was actually observed because it provided for international observers to monitor the ceasefire.

Although the UN was present in Abkhazia as early as September 1992 with a fact-finding mission, prior to August 1993, Russia played the main regional role in the conflict. The United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) was established in August 1993 by UN Security Council Resolution 858 as a result of the international community’s recognition of the conflict’s threat to peace and stability in the region. The UNOMIG mandate is limited to verifying compliance with the ceasefire agreement reached by the Georgian government and the Abkhaz authorities on 27 July 1993 (S/Res/858). While UNOMIG has the potential to alleviate the conflict in the caucuses, its role is limited. It is still very unclear as to whether UNOMIG will actually have the ability to efficiently respond to any breaches in the Sochi agreement ceasefire.