On May 6, 1994, the UN Security Council declined a request to beef up its forces aimed at peacekeeping in Rwanda. The proposal had been brought forward by the council’s non-permanent member states, Spain, New Zealand, Argentina, and the Czech Republic. However, some countries with a permanent seat on the council rejected the idea, and suggested that Rwanda's problems should be deliberated by the African Union Organisation (OAU). ALSO READ: May 5, 1994: Catholic nun’s letter leads to massacre of Tutsi refugees at Sovu Monastery In this regard, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros Ghali, wrote to the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was supposed to be the president of the OAU, and in return, Mubarak wrote to the OAU Secretary General, Salim Ahmed Salim. He requested that African countries should find troops to send to Rwanda. Salim Ahmed Salim told President Mubarak that Africa could not cope with the kind of massacres which were in Rwanda. ALSO READ: May 4, 1994: Students accused of listening to Inkotanyi songs on Radio Muhabura, murdered As opposed to Mubarak’s request, Salim suggested that the United Nations had the power to use political force and seek necessary support for action in Rwanda. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) criticised the international community for abandoning Rwanda. The ICRC promised to support the vulnerable people in Rwanda. During the first week of May, ICRC personnel from Kigali, Byumba, Gisenyi, Kabgayi and Kibungo tried to take care of the injured who had been hurt by the Interahamwe and soldiers. The head of ICRC, Cornelio Sommaruga, spoke to the ICRC’s representative to Rwanda, Philippe Gaillard. Afterwards, he published an article in the International Herald Tribune denouncing media and governments that did not report on the massacre of Tutsi, saying that all countries were implicated. Gaillard sent assistance to support up to 30,000 refugees who had fled the massacres in Nyamagabe. The Tutsi refugees were provided with basic support, but again, the Interahamwe continued to attack and kill some of them. ALSO READ: May 3, 1994: Students, children take part in Genocide Meanwhile, on the same day, the Rwandan government continued to incite the population towards violence against the Tutsi. On the day, Radio RTLM broadcast an extremist speech that had been made by Prime Minister Jean Kambanda three days earlier. In the speech, the politician was asking the population to take up weapons. “We have men, ammunitions, a united government, a united army and we have to win. Everyone must be armed; it is the government’s priority to ensure there are enough weapons even if this prevents the importation of other goods,” he said. ALSO READ: May 2, 1994: Plot to attack refugees at Hotel des Mille Collines foiled
