United Nations Observer Mission Uganda–Rwanda

TheUnited Nations Observer Mission Uganda–Rwanda(UNOMUR) was apeacekeepingmission established by theUnited Nations Security CouncilinResolution 846and lasted from June 1993 to September 1994. Its mission was "to monitor the border between Uganda and Rwanda and verify that no military assistance was being provided across it". It was based inKabale,Ugandaand its mandate thus covered 193 miles of border. Countries contributing to UNOMUR included Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, Hungary, the Netherlands, Senegal, Slovakia and Zimbabwe.^[1]

Its chief military observer from June to October 1993 was Brigadier-GeneralRoméo DallaireofCanada,who later gained fame as Force Commander of theUnited Nations Assistance Mission for Rwandaduring theRwandan genocide.Dallaire arrived in Uganda in early October 1993, where the liaison officer from theNational Resistance Army(NRA) informed him he must be informed of all UNOMUR patrols at least twelve hours in advance and that all patrols would have NRA escorts. When Dallaire protested that the whole point of the Mission was to discover suspicious activity through the element of surprise, the NRA officer insisted. Also despite the fact that Uganda had agreed that the area of verification would range 100 km inside the Ugandan border, which included the transport hub ofMbarara,the NRA insisted on a 20 km limit, putting Mbarara off limits.^[2]

Dallaire noted,

The border was a sieve, riddled with little mountain trails that had been there for millennia. Given my tiny force of eighty-one observers and the fact that we had no helicopters with night-vision capability, the task of keeping the border under surveillance was at best symbolic.^[3]

Dallaire was soon appointed head of the new mission in Rwanda and left Uganda on October 21. His replacement as chief military observer was former second-in-command ColonelBen MatiwazaofZimbabwe,and later ColonelAsrarul HaqueofBangladesh.

UNOMUR would later be placed under the command of UNAMIR. Following the genocide and outbreak of theRwandan Civil War,its mandate ended on September 21, 1994.