Shake Hands with the Devil - Romeo Dallaire - part 4 of 10

2020 Reading Challenge - Day 195

July 14, 2020

Book 55 - Shake Hands with the Devil
Roméo Dallaire
 Part 4 - pages 152-209 (e-book)
Reading Time - 60 minutes

Everytime a new chapter in this book starts, I keep expecting it will be a horrific story. And it is, but it's not. We haven't gotten to the genocide yet but... it's still horrific how the disaster unfolded in the weeks before April 1994.

Chapter 7 - The Shadow Force

Dallaire opens this chapter in early 1994 and we learn that, even after several months in Rwanda, the UN mission still had very little office equipment, no defensive stores, no spare parts, no night vision equipment as well as a severe shortage of radios and vehicles. Not an auspicious start to the new year.

In early January, the swearing in of the BBTG (Broad-Based Tranisitional Government) was to take place. Unfortunately, there was a bit of a power sturggle going on. Most of the important portfolios had gone to the moderates and the former regime and president feared that when the new government was sworn in, that they would be sent to jail for their crimes. In negotiating the Arusha Accord, the leaders of the former regime had wanted amnesty from prosecution but they didn't get it... the new government could impeach the former president with a two-thirds majority.

When the day for the swearing in arrived, only the President was sworn in... it turns out that the document outlining the portfolios had been changed at the last minute. The moderates had been eliminated and the Hutu Power wings had been put on. Not surprisingly, the RPF stormed out of the proceedings.

Several other attempts at a swearing-in were made but there were violent demonstrations against the moderates, often egged on by Presidential Guards in civilian clothing. Dallaire got a tip that the demonstrations had one goal, to incite the Belgian soldiers into firing their weapons, at which point ten Belgian soldiers would be killed and... they would then withdraw from the mission. They knew that the Belgians were the backbone of the mission and if they withdrew, then the mission would collapse.

At the same time, Dallaire got a tip from an extremist youth group that militia cells were being told to make lists of Tutsis living in their area. When the time came, the Tutsis were to be rounded up and killed. The militia were being trained at army bases by army instructors and were armed with machetes, AK47s and grenades. Dallaire also learned that there were four separate arms caches in Kigali and wired the UN about his intention to go after them. He received a reply to stop immediately. The UN was reeling from what had happened to American soldiers in Somalia and thought Dallaire was being to aggressive. He was instructed to inform the President of his information but... the president's wife and her family were associated with Hutu Power, so all that would really happen was that word would get back to them.

By late January, machete-carrying mobs began attacking innocent civilians, partly out of frustration due to the failure of the BBTG installation. Moderate government officials were getting death threats and wanted UN soldiers as guards but there weren't enough to cover everyone. Dallaire felt that the installation of the BBTG needed to be sped up but the political liaison said it needed to slow down.

Chapter 8 - Assassination and Ambush

By February, Rwanda was still stuck in a political impasse and the World Bank was threatening to cut off funding. Dallaire again asked for permission to address public security issues in Kigali but, again, was denied by the UN. More soldiers had arrived from Tunisia and Ghana and were quite well-trained and disciplined. This stood in stark contrast to the Belgian troops who had numerous disciplinary infractions. Some Belgian soldiers had forced their way into the home of the head of the extremist CDR party and assaulted him in front of his family. They had then threatened to come back and kill him. Such aggressive and destructive attitudes did nothing to help the UN mission. On top of that, some Belgian soldiers, accompanying a convoy back into Kigali were told to hold the convoy as the roads into Kigali were dangerous. They disobeyed orders and when the convoy came under attack, abandoned it.

Again... it's hard to see how this mission was ever expected to succeed. And yes, there were issues with infighting within the different Rwandan parties but... still... rather than receiving all the support requested, the UN mission was essentially a second-rate shoe-string mission. And why? Because, again, the country had no strategic, geographic or human significance, at least not in the eyes of the Western powers...