The International Responsibility to Rebuild: Evaluating United Nations Humanitarian and Judicial Interventions in Post-Genocide Rwanda and the Great Lakes Region (1994-2025)

The 1994 genocide of Tutsi in Rwanda is one of the darkest chapters in contemporary African and international history. In just one hundred days approximately one million people, mainly Tutsi but also moderate Hutu and Twa, were systematically killed. Throughout the unfolding of these tragic events, the international community failed to prevent and halt the violence. In the aftermath of the genocide, international actors disbursed massive amounts of aid for humanitarian assistance and judicial efforts, but their long-term effectiveness and sustainability remain uncertain. Three decades later, Rwanda is governed by President Paul Kagame, whose increasingly repressive rule coexists with unresolved legacies of the genocide, including regional instability and partial social reconciliation. Rwanda has become an emblematic case of the United Nations failure in preventing and addressing a genocide, yet comparatively limited scholarly attention is dedicated to the post-genocide phase. Despite symbolic achievements, notably the creation of the ICTR, international actors ended up perpetuating a cycle of violence in the Great Lakes region. Through its humanitarian intervention, the UN exacerbated regional insecurity while judicial efforts fell short of achieving durable peace within Rwandan society. Drawing on the literature of peacebuilding, positive and negative peace, humanitarian-security nexus, transitional justice, this research explores to what extent the UN, the international body responsible for restoring peace and security globally, as well as the states involved, have supported the country to rebuild in the aftermath of the genocide. Through a retrospective analysis of UN responses to post-mass violence contexts, this study tries to shed light on the responsibilities of the international community to understand the factors contributing to its declining legitimacy, as well as the erosion of multilateralism and international law, especially among post-colonial actors.