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Kofi Annan
Former UN Secretary-General; Head of UN Peacekeeping During Rwanda Genocide
As head of UN Peacekeeping; failed to act on explicit warnings of genocide in Rwanda; later served as 7th Secretary-General; Nobel Peace Prize 2001
Overview
Kofi Atta Annan was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001. However; his most consequential and controversial role came before his appointment as Secretary-General; when he headed the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In January 1994; UNAMIR commander General Romeo Dallaire sent a now-famous cable to Annan's department warning of a Hutu plot to "exterminate the Tutsis" and requesting authorization to seize weapons caches. Annan's office ordered Dallaire not to act and to share the intelligence with the Rwandan government; which was planning the genocide. When the killing began on April 7, 1994; Annan's department recommended withdrawing UN peacekeepers rather than reinforcing them. Over the next 100 days; approximately 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were slaughtered while 2,500 UN peacekeepers were reduced to 270. Annan later acknowledged the UN's failure in Rwanda; commissioning the 1999 Carlsson Report which concluded that the UN's response was a "failure of the United Nations system as a whole." He also oversaw the Oil-for-Food Programme scandal; in which his son Kojo Annan received payments from a firm that had contracts under the program.
Key Affiliations
Controversies & Concerns
As head of UN Peacekeeping; overruled General Dallaire's request to seize weapons caches before the Rwanda genocide; ordered him to share intelligence with the Rwandan government that was planning the slaughter
Recommended withdrawing rather than reinforcing UN peacekeepers when the Rwanda genocide began; 800,000 died in 100 days while UN presence was reduced from 2,500 to 270 troops
UN Oil-for-Food Programme scandal; his son Kojo Annan received payments from Cotecna Inspection SA; which had contracts under the programme; independent inquiry found Annan had not been sufficiently vigilant
Failed to prevent the Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in July 1995 while heading UN Peacekeeping
Carlsson Report (1999) commissioned by Annan himself concluded that the UN's response to Rwanda was a "failure of the United Nations system as a whole"
Related Investigations (1)
Known Associates & Connections
Romeo Dallaire
UNAMIR commander whose warnings of genocide were overruled by Annan's Peacekeeping department
Sources & Documentation
3 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports
Personal Information
- Born
- April 8, 1938
- Birthplace
- Kumasi, Gold Coast (now Ghana)
Education
- •University of Science and Technology; Kumasi
- •Macalester College; B.A. Economics 1961
- •MIT Sloan School of Management; M.S. 1972
Key Timeline
April 8, 1938
Born in Kumasi; Gold Coast (now Ghana)
March 1993
Appointed head of UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations
January 11, 1994
Dallaire's "Genocide Fax" sent to Annan's department warning of Hutu plot to exterminate Tutsis; department orders Dallaire not to act
April 7-July 15, 1994
Rwanda genocide; approximately 800,000 killed; UN peacekeepers withdrawn rather than reinforced
July 1995
Srebrenica massacre occurs while Annan heads UN Peacekeeping
January 1, 1997
Becomes 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations
1999
Commissions Carlsson Report on UN failures in Rwanda
2001
Awarded Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the United Nations
2005
Oil-for-Food scandal; Volcker Commission investigation
December 31, 2006
Ends second term as Secretary-General
August 18, 2018
Dies in Bern, Switzerland at age 80