Rwanda Genocide: “Shake Hands with the Devil” by Dallaire Romeo

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Body Paragraph
Rebuttal Paragraph
Conclusion
Works Cited

Romeo Dallaire was correct in asserting that there were many flaws with the United Nations and its mission in Rwanda. His book Shake Hands with the Devil demonstrated the limitations of the largest international organization. The world has now come to grips with the nightmares that occurred in Rwanda. The nasty civil war in Rwanda that involved the Hutu majority and the Tutsi minorities had escalated into a hundred days of carnage and violence in which over 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu moderates were massacred by Hutu extremists. There is so far no account that has surpassed Romeo Dallaire’s Shake Hands with the Devil in narrating the epic tragedy in Rwanda. This paper will examine the issue in highlighting that the main purpose of the book was to let the world know of its blindness and lack of caution while the horrible and immoral situation developed unabated.

Introduction

The Rwandan Civil War began in October 1990 after rebel groups of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) attacked northern Rwanda through Uganda’s southern borders. Rwandan Patriotic Front comprised of over 4000 soldiers, mostly the offspring of Tutsi refugees that had escaped from Rwanda after ethnic clashes between 1959 and 1963. The RPF had depicted itself as a multi-ethnic and democratic group that wanted to put an end to the ethnic discrimination and economic plunder of the state by government agents. They wanted to prevent the security forces from taking destructive actions that were resulting in a constant flow of refugees into neighboring countries. The movement was entirely supported by the Ugandan government which was at the time under the leadership of Yoweri Museveni who came to power after winning the Ugandan Bush Wars with the support of these very insurgents. Fortunately for Rwanda, reinforcements arrived soon from France and Zaire that supported the Rwandan government (Barnett, 2002). This paper will examine the issue in highlighting the theme that the main purpose of the book was to let the world know of its callousness and lack of precaution while the horrible and immoral situation developed unabated.

Body Paragraph

While the conflict continued, on 22 June 1993, the United Nations Observer Mission Uganda-Rwanda (UNOMUR) was approved to be deployed by the UNSC along the Ugandan border with Rwanda. A week later, UN Secretary-General Boutros Ghali appointed Brigadier General Dallaire as the Chief Military Observer for UNOMUR. The Arusha Accords were signed on 16 March 1993 which made way for an all-inclusive accord to establish a power-sharing government and accordingly an UN-led peacekeeping mission was established in the region. The UN Security Council established The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) on 5th October 1993 and its mandate was to ensure “the security of the capital city of Kigali; monitoring the ceasefire agreement, including the establishment of an expanded demilitarized zone and demobilization procedures; monitoring the security situation during the final period of the transitional Government’s mandate leading up to elections; assisting with mine-clearance; and assisting in the coordination of humanitarian assistance activities in conjunction with relief operations” (Rwanda Mandate, UNAMIR, 2009). Jacques Roger of Cameroon was the mission’s head while Lieutenant-General Romeo Dallaire was its Force Commander and the troops numbered 400, mainly from Belgium although Rwanda had once been a Belgian colony and the UN usually does not allow former colonies to assist in such peacekeeping efforts. Other nations that contributed to the efforts were Canada, Bangladesh, Tunisia, and Ghana. Both sides remained committed to the Arusha Accords for the entire year and it appeared that a broad-based government would be created shortly. However, squabbles developed amongst them which prevented the formation of a transitional government after Habyarimana became President on 5th January 1994. Violent clashes soon followed in which two prominent political leaders were assassinated and a UNAMIR convoy was ambushed (Atlee, 2003). The UN efforts became more strong in impressing upon the two sides to act as per the ideas put forth in the Arusha Accords. The UN extended the UNAMIR mandate up to 29th July 1994 because of the delay in establishing a broad-based transitional government. On 6th April 1994, a plane that carried President Habyarimana and President Cyprien of Burundi was shot down which led to a total collapse of the Rwanda peace process which was further carried forward in resulting in the Rwandan Genocide whereby over 800,000 Tutsi and Hutu people were massacred for 100 days. The first targets of the genocide were Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana along with some Belgian commandos and soldiers of the Paracommando Regiments that were participating with the UNAMIR.

They were actually the victims of mockery and misconceived legal protocols that were carried out after being asked by their commander to hand over their weapons to the government soldiers. The chaos escalated and the UN mission was unclear about the extent of force to be used, especially in view of the safety of civilians. By the time the genocide happened, the UNAMIR had become entirely helpless and powerless (Linda, 2004). In getting scared at the intensity of the massacres and the international embarrassment that the US suffered in Somalia, the country soon withdrew its troops and so did the Belgian government. The UNAMIR was now left with less than 270 soldiers with minimal local support. Lieutenant-General Dallaire had been given instructions to withdraw from the site of the genocide but he did not abandon his position and continued to face the genocide in leading whatever forces remained at his command. Despite being understaffed the UNAMIR forces did whatever was possible in saving the lives of thousands of people. Lieutenant-General Dallaire requisitioned for additional troops but they were not sent and the UNAMIR had to continue in coordinating peace talks between the RPF and the Hutu government but did not succeed in bringing about an agreement. The legendry Canadian general wrote in his book Shake Hands with the Devil, how he “watched as the devil took control of paradise on earth and fed on the blood of the people we were supposed to protect”. General Dallaire reminisced in his book that when he received the message to serve as the Commander of the UNAMIR in Rwanda, he assumed the assignment was to assist the two aggressive parties to achieve peace through negotiations. But he had to face the most unruly and barbarous acts of genocide and civil war and saw in just a hundred days what he had not seen in his entire career. He was shocked to witness the death of over 800,000 Rwandans but was unable to rescue people because of lack of manpower despite his repeated requests to the UN which had fallen on deaf ears. In his book, General Dallaire has recreated the dreadful history that the UN and the world community had chosen to ignore. He has also chronicled how he himself progressed from a confident Cold Warrior to an overwhelmed UN commander, to be eventually retired to struggle in pain and post-traumatic stress disorders. He is on record to have been the highest-ranking defense officer to have shared his experiences with readers.

The book is written as a first-person narration and records the complete tenure of General Dallaire as the UN Force Commander in Rwanda. The book gives exhaustive details as also the inner feelings that the general had about the way things were happening consequently to the ignorant attitude adopted by the UN and the superpowers at a time when thousands of people were being killed mercilessly without any reason. The book gives a detailed account of the events that happened despite the hectic efforts made by Dallaire. His book is very informative in terms of the narratives and the facts about the actual happenings during the Rwanda carnage. He gives a day-by-day account of the role played by the UNAMIR in attempts to resolve the crisis. The entire book is from the perspective of General Dallaire on what he went through in Rwanda. The diplomatic efforts were not undertaken in the right spirit and they only worsened the situation (Schell, 2003). The author writes how hate radio was responsible for creating the propaganda and motivation for the killings. The decision to ask UNIMAR to pull out of Rwanda was taken at a very inopportune time since there were hardly any forces left when the genocide began. General Dallaire and his men did not have the resources to do anything constructive in reducing the genocide problems. The General has been very tacit in expressing his experiences in Rwanda which is evident from the following excerpt from his book: “My story is not a strictly military account nor a clinical, academic study of the breakdown of Rwanda. It is not a simplistic indictment of the many failures of the UN as a force for peace in the world. It is not a story of heroes and villains, although such a work could easily be written. This book is a cri de coeur for the slaughtered thousands, a tribute to the souls hacked apart by machetes because of their supposed difference from those who sought to hang on to power…. This book is the account of a few humans who were entrusted with the role of helping others taste the fruits of peace. Instead, we watched as the devil took control of paradise on earth and fed on the blood of the people we were supposed to protect” (Dallaire, 2004). Painfully, the general describes that not a single country responded to his calls for help and all reinforcements were delayed while people continued to die in Rwanda. He has explicitly held the world community responded in just sitting and watching over the carnage that was destroying hundreds of thousands of human beings. Dallaire has highlighted the happenings that occurred right under the nose of the superpowers and he has asserted that if the same genocide were to happen again the superpowers will behave in a similar manner. The general has been very critical of the manner in which the procedures were undertaken by the UN in stark violation of a humanitarian approach towards a problem that clearly indicated that several lives were at stake. His concern in this regard is evident from the following quote from his book: “The future of UNAMIR’s participation in implementing the Arusha Peace Agreement was being decided by fifteen men sitting in a backroom beside the Security Council hall in New York, one of whom was a hardline Rwandan extremist. He found himself allied with the Americans, Russians, and Chinese, who all wanted the mission to end. On the morning of April 6, we received the Security Council’s Resolution 909, which extended our mandate for six weeks… The report sent the wrong message, and the consequences were truly devastating. It confirmed for all Rwandans-the moderates attempting to hang on to hope and the extremists plotting extermination-that the world didn’t give a damn about Rwanda” (Dallaire, 2004).

The book reveals the failures of the United Nations in not taking timely action in stopping the genocide. All the writings were on the wall in regard to the happening of such a catastrophe, yet the world community did not act in providing the required security personnel to curb the massacre. Dallaire has provided in his book, details of the proposals he had forwarded to the UN before the start of the genocide and subsequent examination of the proposals by experts has revealed that they would have certainly worked in reducing the number of lost lives. Dallaire had asked for just 5500 troops that were well-armed but he had to have the number cut down from 2000 that he had started with (Dallaire, 2004). The book is a real eye-opener about the effectiveness and working of the United Nations (Sageman, 2004). The world is convinced that what happened in Rwanda could have been averted by the superpowers. They are simply seen as blowing their horns in spreading and talking about the advantages of democracy but are not ready to act as per the moral duties provided for in a democracy. A democratic setup is all about giving freedom to people, protecting them, and encouraging peace throughout the world. It was a pity that the world watched as over 800,000 people lost their lives in a genocide that could have been averted had timely action been taken by entities that go around espousing the cause for peace and human rights. General Dallaire has given a rather emotional touch in writing that, “What I have come to realize as the root of it all, however, is the fundamental indifference of the world community to the plight of seven to eight million black Africans in a tiny country that had no strategic or resource value to any world power. An overpopulated little country that turned in on itself and destroyed its people, as the world watched and yet could not manage to find the political will to intervene. Engraved still in my brain is the judgment of a small group of bureaucrats who came to “assess” the situation in the first weeks of the genocide: “We will recommend to our governments not to intervene as the risks are high and all that is here are human” (Dallaire, 2004).

Rebuttal Paragraph

General Dallaire’s narration has not been well received by the United Nations in terming it as more of a personal opinion from an individual perspective. He has not considered the limitations faced by the international organization in terms of the bureaucratic procedures that render several of its functions to be adversely impacted often at the cost of considerable economic losses and human sufferings. Thinking from a realistic perspective and given that the UN has to requisition support from its member countries, the organization too was helpless in the face of minimal support being received from the superpowers. Countries such as the USA, France, and Belgium had withdrawn their forces at the last moment thus rendering the UN forces without any backup and support in terms of logistics and soldiers. The domestic security forces were of no use for General Dallaire and in having ignored the UN advice to leave Rwanda immediately, he was himself responsible for the difficulties that he faced. In being a hard-core defense services officer he should have known that orders of the high command have to be obeyed immediately.

Conclusion

The main purpose of the book was to let the world know of its own callousness and lack of precaution while the horrible and immoral situation developed unabated. Shake Hands with the Devil ought to be viewed from a different angle in being a substantial indictment of the United Nations practice of moving along gently. It is a compelling account of the ignorant attitude adopted by the UN primarily because of its persistence in refusing to establish an intelligence secretariat on the lines as suggested by the Brahmi Report. It is a case study about the failure of western countries in failing to establish rational global strategies and intelligence procedures that are necessary to make the strategies relevant and up to date (Linda, 2003).

Works Cited

Atlee Tom, The Tao of Democracy, Writers Collective, 2003.

Barnett, Michael. Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda. Cornell University Press, 2002.

Dallaire Romeo, Shake Hands with the Devil, Da Capo Press, 2004.

Melvern Linda, Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide, Verso, New York, 2004, Melvern Linda, A People Betrayed: The role of the West in Rwanda’s genocide Zed Books, 2000.

Linda Wies & Jones Dame Pauline, Peacekeeping Intelligence: Emerging Concepts for the Future, International Press, 2003.

Sageman Marc, Understanding Terror Networks, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004.

Schell Jonathan, The Unconquerable World, Metropolitan Books, 2003.

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Rwanda Genocide: “Shake Hands with the Devil” by Dallaire Romeo

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