Cease Fire – 1993

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Cease Fire – 1993

1993

Minimum Implementation Minimal implementation

The N’sele Cease-fire Agreement of 12 July 1992 did not result in a cessation of hostilities. Both sides continued to engage in fighting.1 The ceasefire agreement included a provision for a 50-member Neutral Military Observer Group – I (NMOG-I) furnished by the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The observers were drawn from Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe and deployed by the first week of August 1992.2

Into 1993 the fighting continued and both sides were very much involved in fighting, in violation of the ceasefire agreement to which they had agreed in July 1992, after occupying a large swath of territory in northern Rwanda in the preceding days. The Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) declared an immediate ceasefire on 12 February 1993, which the Rwandese government forces were also expected to respect immediately. The rebel group put forward a plan to achieve the ceasefire implementation through the assistance of the NMOG-I.3 The Government rejected the RPF offer of ceasefire and asked the rebels to withdraw before the ceasefire.4

A new ceasefire agreement was announced and came into effect on 9 March 1993 and parties agreed to hold further talks in Arusha, Tanzania on 15 March.5 In March, the UN Security Council approved the deployment of peacekeepers to monitor the ceasefire.6 Despite the promise of the new ceasefire agreement, it was quickly violated by both sides. As a part of the ceasefire monitoring, “the Security Council in June 1993 established the United Nations Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda (UNOMUR) on the Ugandan side of the border to verify that no military assistance reached Rwanda.”7

  1. “Rwanda Government and Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) Accuse Each Other of Breaking Cease-Fire,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, September 8, 1992.
  2. “Egypt to Send Ceasefire Observers to Rwanda,” Xinhua General News Service, August 4, 1992.
  3. “Rwanda; RPF Announces Cease-Fire,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, February 12, 1993.
  4. “Government Insists on Rebel Withdrawal before Cease-Fire,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, February 15, 1993.
  5. “Dates set for cease-fire and Arusha talks,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts/The Monitoring Report, March 9, 1993.
  6. “Security Council OKs Cease-Fire Monitors for Rwanda,” Associated Press, March 12, 1993.
  7. “UNAMIR Background,” accessed September 9, 2011, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unamirS.htm.