Abstract
By soliciting African leaders' views on the crisis in
Rwanda I was able to establish areas of consensus on policy and
express our support for their efforts. There was broad
agreement that Rwanda is a human rights catastrophe of the
first magnitude; that there is a need for an enhanced UN
presence with a new mission, centered on assuring unimpeded
access to humanitarian assistance and civilian protection; that
there should be a UN human rights inquiry as a means, in part,
of halting the spiral of retribution; and that a ceasefire is
critically important although it is unlikely to end all the
killings. My stop in Burundi allowed me to encourage the
interim leadership in their efforts to maintain calm. I
believe Rwanda is a test of our commitment to universal
principles of human rights.