The international community appears set to repeat the mistakes of Rwanda in Darfur, says the man who presided over one of the greatest failures in U.N. peacekeeping history.
“The current atrocities in Darfur are not any different from the genocide in Rwanda,” retired Canadian army Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire told The News. “It’s another Rwanda. We’re going down the same road of standing by and not doing enough. It’s extremely demoralizing because it’s obvious we haven’t learned anything much from Rwanda.”
Dallaire was in Mississauga tonight to deliver the keynote speech at a gala fundraiser for Rapport Youth & Family Services.
Dallaire was the head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Rwanda when extremist Hutus massacred more than 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates in the space of a few days in 1994. Dallaire did everything he could, pleading for more peacekeepers to be added to his inadequate 3,000-man force. If the U.N. had answered his pleas, Dallaire contends, it could have stemmed the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Rwandans. Instead, following the deaths of 10 Belgian soldiers, his forces were cut down to a mere 500 men, who were forced to stand by helplessly as one of the most horrible genocides in human history took place before their very eyes.
Blaming himself for the failures of the mission, Dallaire began a spiral into a depression upon his return to Canada, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He tried to kill himself on several occasions. Retired from the Canadian Forces in 2000, he has been using his experiences to prevent another Rwanda.
The world’s silence over the crisis in Darfur, which has been dragging on since 2003, bears haunting resemblance to what he remembers before the massacre in Rwanda, says Dallaire. According to U.N. estimates, more than 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict, with millions displaced. Dallaire blames the lack of political will and institutional mechanisms — and racism.
“It’s as if the world believes that Africans don’t count. They don’t come because some humans are (considered) less human than others,” he said, noting that conflicts in Africa never get the attention they merit until they reached a crisis point.
Dallaire has his own ideas of what should be done. He says if the U.N. cannot get its act together and come up with a resolution, then middle powers, like Canada, Germany and Japan, should join forces with the African Union. But that isn’t happening, he said, noting that the U.N. recently authorized 26,000 troops for Darfur, but so far only 9,000 are on the ground.
In an open letter to the commander of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Dallaire urged him to insist “in the most practical terms, and as fast as possible, the chain of command and reporting for the mission.” To succeed in the task “it is evident that you must exercise, and insist on, the broadest reading of the mandate given,” he counselled.
But Dallaire isn’t totally pessimistic of the future. He has high hopes for the next generation of leaders, such as youth served by Rapport.
“It’s very fertile ground. The Y generation is very dynamic and keen ... they want to get involved internationally. They’re prepared to go beyond their borders and make sacrifices.
“I think we’re into a renaissance of our youth and their commitment to taking on responsibility to protect the vulnerable,” said Dallaire.
jchin@mississauga.net
