2008 Woodie Awards
Shake Hands with the Devil
member of the Rwandan peacekeeping force relives experience of genocide
Laura Pedro
Issue date: 4/18/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 2 next >
It was like "going back into hell," confessed Major General Romeo Dallaire, United Nations Force Commander of the Rwandan peacekeeping mission. The Generals' journey back to Rwanda ten years after the genocide was depicted in the Thinktank Film: "Shake Hands with the Devil."
Dallaire explains the horror of "witnessing the mass slaughter of human beings," and describes the profound effects the experience had on his life. He is still haunted by 'slow-motion' images to this day, and cites his return to Rwanda as a "crucial part of his therapy."
Romeo Dallaire was "very excited" to be chosen as the first Canadian commander of an African peacekeeping mission in late 1993. He was given minimal briefing by the UN on the political and ethnic problems in Rwanda.
"The UN at the time was working like it was held together with string and tape," Dallaire later claimed.
Upon arrival, Dallaire realized that the newly signed Arusha Peace Agreement between the Hutu government and Tutsi rebels did not guarantee peace. Rwandan citizens knew the bloody civil war was going to continue.
"I was scared shitless," Dallaire remembered of his initial days in Rwanda. Though earlier Belgian and French reports "predicted an apocalypse" the UN was confident that it would be a straightforward peacekeeping mission.
On January 11, 1994, an informant told Dallaire to "prepare for an extermination." From there, everything went downhill.
Dallaire and his troops made plans to stop the Hutu's actions, but the UN told him no. "I felt chopped at the knees" Dallaire commented. If they weren't going allow us to take action, "those bastards should have pulled us out."
The Rwandan Presidents' plane was shot down in early April, which led to total government collapse. Hell broke loose in the capital, Kigali.
"It was an extremely well planned and well executed attack on Hutu Moderates and Tutsis" notes the film.
Over the next 100 days, Hutu extremists murdered over 800,000 people.
Dallaire explains the horror of "witnessing the mass slaughter of human beings," and describes the profound effects the experience had on his life. He is still haunted by 'slow-motion' images to this day, and cites his return to Rwanda as a "crucial part of his therapy."
Romeo Dallaire was "very excited" to be chosen as the first Canadian commander of an African peacekeeping mission in late 1993. He was given minimal briefing by the UN on the political and ethnic problems in Rwanda.
"The UN at the time was working like it was held together with string and tape," Dallaire later claimed.
Upon arrival, Dallaire realized that the newly signed Arusha Peace Agreement between the Hutu government and Tutsi rebels did not guarantee peace. Rwandan citizens knew the bloody civil war was going to continue.
"I was scared shitless," Dallaire remembered of his initial days in Rwanda. Though earlier Belgian and French reports "predicted an apocalypse" the UN was confident that it would be a straightforward peacekeeping mission.
On January 11, 1994, an informant told Dallaire to "prepare for an extermination." From there, everything went downhill.
Dallaire and his troops made plans to stop the Hutu's actions, but the UN told him no. "I felt chopped at the knees" Dallaire commented. If they weren't going allow us to take action, "those bastards should have pulled us out."
The Rwandan Presidents' plane was shot down in early April, which led to total government collapse. Hell broke loose in the capital, Kigali.
"It was an extremely well planned and well executed attack on Hutu Moderates and Tutsis" notes the film.
Over the next 100 days, Hutu extremists murdered over 800,000 people.
Be the first to comment on this story