Previously , he acted as Assistant Secretary-General in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations starting March 1993 . During this time , from 1996 to 1997 , he also concurrently served as Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief of the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina ( UNMIBH ) . Earlier , from 1991 to 1993 , he was Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Chief of the United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador ( ONUSAL ) . In addition , he served in various capacities within the United Nations , including Chief of Mission of the United Nations Transition Team in El Salvador ( March-August 1990 ) , Chief of the United Nations Observer Mission for verification of the electoral process in Nicaragua ( ONUVEN ) ( August 1989 - February 1990 ) , Director of the Division for Political and General Assembly Affairs ( 1988 – 1989 ) , Director of the Office for Special Political Affairs ( 1983 – 1988 ) , Principal Officer in the United Nations Department of Public Information ( 1980 – 1982 ) , and Secretary of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People ( 1978 – 1980 ) . Briefly before the genocide in Rwanda , in January and February 1994 , Riza played a controversial role as he and Kofi Annan ( who directed the UN peacekeeping operations ) rejected or ignored continuous requests of the Canadian commander of UNAMIR , Roméo Dallaire , for a more active role of the UN peacekeeping troops UNAMIR in order to prevent a bloodshed . In Rwanda , approximately 800,000 people have been killed within 100 days . Prior to joining the United Nations , Riza received a graduate degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and served with Pakistan 's Foreign Service from 1958 to 1977 .
the genocide
Rwandan genocide
Iqbal Riza