West ‘Criminally Liable’ For Rwandan Genocide

KIGALI – Western powers bear criminal responsibility for Rwanda’s 1994 genocide because they did not care enough to stop it, the Canadian commander of the UN peacekeeping force at the time said on Tuesday.

“The international community didn’t give one damn for Rwandans because Rwanda was a country of no strategic importance,” Romeo Dallaire told a conference in Kigali marking the 10th anniversary of the slaughter of some 800 000 Rwandans. “It’s up to Rwanda not to let others forget they are criminally responsible for the genocide,” said the retired general, singling out France, Britain and the United States.”The genocide was brutal, criminal and disgusting and continued for 100 days under the eyes of the international community,” said Dallaire, who battled for a more robust UN peacekeeping mission with a mandate to stop the killing.Security Council members voted instead to slash his force from 2 500 troops to 450 poorly trained and ill-equipped men.Dallaire said events in Somalia in 1993, when 18 US troops supporting a UN peace mission were killed in a clash, had created a “fear of casualties” in the West.He is visiting the tiny central African country for the first time since 1994 to present Rwandans with his memories of the bloodshed and make recommendations for future peacekeeping missions.The 57-year-old has been deeply traumatised by his mission’s failure to prevent the mass killings of Tutsis and Hutu moderates, butchered by Hutu extremists who often used machetes and spiked clubs.Almost alone among representatives of the international community at the time, Dallaire is popular among many in the devastated country today because he worked incessantly, albeit in vain, to prevent the killing.But Belgian delegates at the conference, called to discuss genocide prevention, said Dallaire and his troops could have done more to save Rwandans.”Dallaire and his soldiers became passive bystanders… who failed in their duty to protect the unarmed,” said Joel Kotek of the Free University of Brussels.Dallaire angrily dismissed Kotek’s remarks as “weak” because Belgium withdrew its contingent from the peacekeeping mission after 10 of its soldiers were beaten to death during the first hours of the genocide in the former Belgian colony.”The Belgian government convinced many other nations who had troops on the ground to withdraw,” Dallaire said.The genocide began on the night of April 6, 1994, after the shooting down of a plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, who both died in the crash near Kigali.Rwanda commemorates the start of the killings on Wednesday.Rwandan President Paul Kagame called Dallaire “a good man caught up in a mess” at the opening of the conference on Sunday, launching a week of memorial events.Kagame led the rebel army which ousted the extremist Hutu government that planned and carried out the three months of mass killings initially ignored by world leaders.Ordinary Rwandans also expressed admiration for Dallaire, who was so affected by his mission’s failure that he suffered post-traumatic stress and was once found passed out drunk on a park bench in Ottawa after trying to commit suicide.”Dallaire only failed Rwanda because he tried to save us.The world and the UN didn’t fail Rwanda because they never even tried,” said Beatha Uwazaninka, 24, who escaped death by hiding under a pile of dead bodies.”He is a good friend because he was in hell with us for three months,” Uwazaninka said, adding she knew a number of people Dallaire’s troops rescued from certain death.”I wish all UN soldiers were like him,” she said.- Nampa-Reuters”It’s up to Rwanda not to let others forget they are criminally responsible for the genocide,” said the retired general, singling out France, Britain and the United States.”The genocide was brutal, criminal and disgusting and continued for 100 days under the eyes of the international community,” said Dallaire, who battled for a more robust UN peacekeeping mission with a mandate to stop the killing.Security Council members voted instead to slash his force from 2 500 troops to 450 poorly trained and ill-equipped men.Dallaire said events in Somalia in 1993, when 18 US troops supporting a UN peace mission were killed in a clash, had created a “fear of casualties” in the West.He is visiting the tiny central African country for the first time since 1994 to present Rwandans with his memories of the bloodshed and make recommendations for future peacekeeping missions.The 57-year-old has been deeply traumatised by his mission’s failure to prevent the mass killings of Tutsis and Hutu moderates, butchered by Hutu extremists who often used machetes and spiked clubs.Almost alone among representatives of the international community at the time, Dallaire is popular among many in the devastated country today because he worked incessantly, albeit in vain, to prevent the killing.But Belgian delegates at the conference, called to discuss genocide prevention, said Dallaire and his troops could have done more to save Rwandans.”Dallaire and his soldiers became passive bystanders… who failed in their duty to protect the unarmed,” said Joel Kotek of the Free University of Brussels.Dallaire angrily dismissed Kotek’s remarks as “weak” because Belgium withdrew its contingent from the peacekeeping mission after 10 of its soldiers were beaten to death during the first hours of the genocide in the former Belgian colony.”The Belgian government convinced many other nations who had troops on the ground to withdraw,” Dallaire said.The genocide began on the night of April 6, 1994, after the shooting down of a plane carrying the Rwandan and Burundian presidents, who both died in the crash near Kigali.Rwanda commemorates the start of the killings on Wednesday.Rwandan President Paul Kagame called Dallaire “a good man caught up in a mess” at the opening of the conference on Sunday, launching a week of memorial events.Kagame led the rebel army which ousted the extremist Hutu government that planned and carried out the three months of mass killings initially ignored by world leaders.Ordinary Rwandans also expressed admiration for Dallaire, who was so affected by his mission’s failure that he suffered post-traumatic stress and was once found passed out drunk on a park bench in Ottawa after trying to commit suicide.”Dallaire only failed Rwanda because he tried to save us.The world and the UN didn’t fail Rwanda because they never even tried,” said Beatha Uwazaninka, 24, who escaped death by hiding under a pile of dead bodies.”He is a good friend because he was in hell with us for three months,” Uwazaninka said, adding she knew a number of people Dallaire’s troops rescued from certain death.”I wish all UN soldiers were like him,” she said.- Nampa-Reuters