Humanitarian aid, genocide and mass killings. MSF, the Rwandan experience (1982-97)

Throughout the 1990s, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was forced to face the challenges posed by the genocide of Rwandan Tutsis and a succession of major outbreaks of political violence in Rwanda and its neighbouring countries. Humanitarian workers were confronted with the execution of close to one million people, tens of thousands of casualties pouring into health centres, the flight of millions of others who had sought refuge in camps and a series of deadly epidemics. Where and in what circumstances were the MSF teams deployed? What medical and non-medical assistance were they able to deliver?

Written by Jean-Hervé Bradol, director of studies at MSF-CRASH and Marc Le Pape, sociologist, member of the CRASH Scientific Committee, this book is based on various hitherto unpublished private and public archives. It recounts the experiences of the MSF teams working in the field. It also describes the tensions (and cooperation) between international humanitarian agencies, the crucial negotiations conducted at local, national and international level and the media campaigns.