Do Not Intervene: unamir’s Rules of Engagement from the Inside

Abstract

This article provides a first-hand account on how the rules of engagement (roe) for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Rwanda (unamir) were developed and implemented. It provides insight into the difficulties that were encountered in developing the roe and getting them authorized. While the mission is often criticized for its failure to protect civilians from genocidal violence, the paper explores the factors that influenced the creation of the rules, and why, given its force structure, unamir was incapable of preventing or stopping the violence.