In 1954, Luc de Heush filmed the traditional harmonious relationship between…
Chronicle Of A Genocide Foretold - Part 2
- Description
- Reviews
- Citation
- Cataloging
- Transcript
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Part 2: 'We were cowards'
Fifty years after the Holocaust, the world allowed another genocide to take place, this time in Rwanda. In April, 1994 the international community, including the U.S., sat by and watched as 800,000 Tutsi men, women and children were massacred. The killings took place under the eyes of UN peacekeepers. Today, Rwanda remains torn by ethnic killings.
Shot over three years, CHRONICLE OF A GENOCIDE FORETOLD follows several Rwandans before, during, and after the genocide.
'A powerful film... rich in both narrative and imaginative photography. The almost lyrical quality of the cinematography, backed by Rwandan music, captures some of the beauty and culture of Rwanda against which the unfolding atrocities stand out sharply...CHRONICLE OF A GENOCIDE FORETOLD contributes to our understanding of Rwandan history and politics and the wider context of genocide studies, and the role of international organizations and non-intervention. This film will repay use by academics, students, and Africanists in general, as well as policy makers and all concerned to study the tragedy of Rwanda and to ensure that similar events do not recur.' - Peter Limb, University of Western Australia, for H-AfriLitCine
'The most powerful thing I have seen on television in ages.' - Yves Rousseau, 24 Images
'Highly recommended! Powerful and gripping... the accounts are rendered with a sad yet controlled dignity. An excellent tool for teaching social justice and making the public aware of contemporary human rights issues and violations.' - Catholic Library World
'A vast, moving mural of outrage and horror; never underestimating the enduring power of human hatred, CHRONICLE still leaves room for justice, even reconciliation.' - Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Citation
Main credits
Lacourse, Daniéle (screenwriter)
Lacourse, Daniéle (film director)
Patry, Yvan (screenwriter)
Patry, Yvan (film director)
Grana, Sam (film producer)
Other credits
Camera, William Turnley [and 6 others]; editing, Nick Hector; original music by René Lussier; English voices, Christian Allard [and 5 others].
Distributor subjects
Africa; Conflict Resolution; History (World); Human Rights; Politics; RwandaKeywords
WEBVTT
00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.000
[music]
00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:10.000
[music]
00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.999
[music]
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.999
It looked like a winner. It was
a classic peacekeeping mission,
00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:29.999
because we were there to assist
the Rwandans both sides,
00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:34.999
and establishing an atmosphere of security.
00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.999
Remember, I\'m not there to impose peace.
I\'m not there to be
00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.999
a force between belligerence. I\'m there
because both of them said, \"We are at peace,
00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:49.999
we want peace, we just need a neutral force
to make sure that everybody is playing
00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:54.999
with uh… the rules.\"
00:01:55.000 --> 00:02:03.000
[sil.]
00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.999
The diplomats thought this one
is going to be a piece of cake.
00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.999
Here, we are finally going
to have the conditions
00:02:15.000 --> 00:02:19.999
which will show what a UN peacekeeping
operation can accomplish.
00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:24.999
[sil.]
00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:29.999
Security Council was very anxious to have
a success but they have a cheap success.
00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.999
[sil.]
00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:39.999
The agreement had specified
that UN would actually
00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:44.999
disarm the militia, but actually
go out and take arms away,
00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:49.999
and would help to restore order.
00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:54.999
[sil.]
00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.999
It had called for a very active
role for a UN police force.
00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:04.999
These things were cut back in the
mandate as it was finally established.
00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:09.999
The authorization to act
00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:14.999
was cut back uh… and weakened
to a considerable extent.
00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:19.999
Simply because to have
given a larger mandate
00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.999
would have required a larger force, and a
larger force would have required more money.
00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:30.000
[non-English narration]
00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:40.000
[sil.]
00:03:45.000 --> 00:03:53.000
[sil.]
00:04:15.000 --> 00:04:19.999
[sil.]
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:24.999
From the start we realized
that the mission would be
00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:29.999
much harder than expected. We concluded the police
were not really referees as was the intent,
00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:34.999
but we are actually very negative
force in this situation.
00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:40.000
[sil.]
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[non-English narration]
00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:54.999
We also realized something big was being
prepared, but we didn\'t know exactly what.
00:04:55.000 --> 00:05:00.040
But we learned quickly through informance that arms were hidden
in the area, and distributed in anticipation of the massacres.
00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.999
[sil.]
00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:19.999
Later on the day of January 10th,
00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:24.999
I had a visit from someone who
asked to be called Jontier.
00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:30.000
He was the leader of the MRND
militia, the famous \"Interahamwe\".
00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:39.999
His task was to give paramilitary training
to the militia and spread propaganda.
00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:45.000
He played a very important role.
00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:54.999
[sil.]
00:05:55.000 --> 00:05:59.999
He explained he was struggling
with his conscience (ph).
00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:04.999
He was in the process of systematically
arming all cells of the capital.
00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:09.999
He\'d received orders several days earlier
00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:14.999
to identify every Tutsi in each cell.
And when the word came to assassinate
00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.999
all of them, point blank (ph).
00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:24.999
[non-English narration]
00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:29.999
From what he told me,
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they were capable of killing
1,000 Tutsi every 20 minutes.
00:06:35.000 --> 00:06:39.999
So this was an extensive organization
00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:44.999
and that was our undoing. We were aware of the arms
caches of the movement of munitions and so on,
00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:49.999
since grenades were sold
openly on the market.
00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:54.999
So that was no real surprise to us.
But the extent of
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Jean-Pierre\'s revelations
completely stunned us.
00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:04.999
[music]
00:07:05.000 --> 00:07:09.999
Jean-Pierre also located various
arms caches throughout the galley.
00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:14.999
A UN officer accompanied
him to MRND headquarters
00:07:15.000 --> 00:07:19.999
in the basement. There was indeed a
stockpile of arms and ammunition.
00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.999
So we immediately sent a request
00:07:25.000 --> 00:07:29.999
to New York office for permission
to carry out search operations.
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The response was negative.
00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:39.999
We weren\'t able to proceed with this
type of operation, because New York said
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that wasn\'t UNAMIR\'s mandate.
00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:53.000
[sil.]
00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:09.999
Consequently, we weren\'t allowed to check the
arms caches and UNAMIR lost a great deal of
00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:14.999
credibility in the field.
00:08:15.000 --> 00:08:19.999
[non-English narration]
00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.999
Around that time, people
began to make fun of UNAMIR.
00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:29.999
They distorted its acronym \"Minuar\", to
\"Minua\", which is as far as I know means
00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.999
moving the mouth in the Kinyarwanda language,
which meant that UNAMIR talked big,
00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.999
but didn\'t act.
00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:48.000
[sil.]
00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:54.999
We had to take covert action,
00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:59.999
we had to stop those arms,
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.999
but I could not conduct solitary operations
to mission alone, because I was there
00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:09.999
to assist the Rwandans. It had to be done
with the Rwandan authorities being involved.
00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:14.999
[sil.]
00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:19.999
We were in a time of post Somalia,
where there had been attempts
00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:24.999
to conduct these types of operations in Somalia, and the
Americans had lost people, other people had lost people,
00:09:25.000 --> 00:09:29.999
they had a lot of intelligence, a lot
of equipment, a lot of fire power,
00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.999
and a lot of desire to sort the place out. Well, I
didn\'t have the equipment, I didn\'t have the fire power,
00:09:35.000 --> 00:09:39.999
I had troops over there, and a pure
peacekeeping all as Cyprus scenario,
00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:45.000
and not necessarily oriented to take
offensive operations to start with.
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.999
I\'ve compiled the 10 page
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.999
list of warning signals
from the month of November
00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.999
up until the time of the launching
of genocide in the April.
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:24.999
For example, there was a group
of military who sent a letter
00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:29.999
in early December of 93, saying,
\"Barbaric acts are being prepared.\"
00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.999
There are going to be massive slaughters
here, and we don\'t wanna be assesive
00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:39.999
here with this. There was a study done
00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.999
by an expert of US CIA predicting that
00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.999
in case of renewed violence in Rwanda, there
could be around half a million victims,
00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.999
this was in January. I\'m convinced that
had there been of vigorous reaction
00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:59.999
on the part of peacekeepers
at that point that uh…
00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.999
the organizers of genocide
would have umm… thought twice
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.999
about launching this kind of violence.
But, in fact there was no response.
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:18.000
[music]
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:43.000
[music]
00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.999
The killings began within a
few hours of plane crash.
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.999
And it\'s remarkable \'cause
it\'s, it\'s very important
00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.999
to look at the pattern of these killings.
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
The very first people killed were not Tutsi but
rather Hutu. They were the Hutu moderates,
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
who were in a position of
power, who should have been
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.999
part of this government if it were to
have been a legitimate government.
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.999
And who would, in fact have resisted any effort at
the genocide and that was why they had to be killed.
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
And they were killed systematically
from the very early hours of April 7th.
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:30.000
[sil.]
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:43.000
[sil.]
00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
The figure who controls the
launching of the actual violence
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
was colonel Bagosora.
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
Bagosora was one of those old barred
northwestern military leaders.
00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.999
He exercised his power largely
through the presidential guard.
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
The guard was small elite force that was
particularly attached to Habyarimana
00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:44.999
and most of whose members were also from
the northwest. They were the shock troops
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
that began the killing. And remained
the central element for Bagosora
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
and be able to make this happen.
It was through Bagosora
00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
that we got the militias.
He made them available.
00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:04.999
Bagosora was the Kingpin player. I mean,
there is no doubt in my military mind.
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
What do you do with it?
What do you do with it?
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.999
Do you go to Bagosora and say I\'m arresting you now because
Colonel Roméo Dallaire told me that you are planning,
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.999
you are the mastermind behind. Prove it.
I couldn\'t even prove
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
a stupid little altercation in the DMZ.
With no legal, no legal capability,
00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
no mandate to a political will to be able
to, you think I can go out there and stop
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
uh… (inaudible) or
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
uh… government army senior officer
on the word of another one?
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
I mean, we still had a government
that was recognized by the UN.
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
Hey, it had a representative
in the Security Council.
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:58.000
[sil.]
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:43.000
[sil.]
00:15:55.000 --> 00:16:03.000
[sil.]
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
[sil.]
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
The morning of the 7th,
things deteriorated rapidly.
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
We realized we were no longer
refereeing two football teams.
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
They put away the ball and
brought out their machetes.
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
[sil.]
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
We heard gun fire, then refugees
started descending on the school.
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
[sil.]
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
Luckily, we were a large
group, about a hundred men.
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
It was a secure environment
for people in such danger.
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
[sil.]
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
[non-English narration]
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
The line of fire was in our direction, when they returned
from a massacre, they would pass close to the school
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
and fire a hell of bullets at us. The
pressure was enormous. Everyone felt that
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
their life was in serious danger.
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:30.000
[sil.]
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:40.000
[sil.]
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:55.000
[non-English narration]
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:45.000
[non-English narration]
00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:00.000
[non-English narration]
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:28.000
[sil.]
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:13.000
[sil.]
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:33.000
[sil.]
00:20:55.000 --> 00:21:00.000
[sil.]
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
The organized to the genocide
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
is much as the diplomats
around the world were aware of
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
the Somali President and
they understood how quickly
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
uh… western European or north
Atlantic nation could be provoked
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
into withdrawing its troops by
killing some of its soldiers.
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
And they were quite ready to, to use
that tactic to, to get the Belgians out.
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
I\'m sure that had they not
killed the 10 whom they,
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
they captured around the home of the Prime
Minister that morning, they would have killed
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:50.000
uh… another number that they
had found some other place.
00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:03.000
[music]
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:18.000
[music]
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
Unfortunately,
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
once the Belgians decided to withdraw their
contingent I had no choice but to follow orders.
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:43.000
[sil.]
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
[non-English narration]
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
The UN special representative Mr. Volbo
was completely dismayed since he knew
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
the Belgian detachment was pretty well
the corner stone of the whole mission.
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
[non-English narration]
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
His political advisor, Mr. Khan
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
didn\'t mince words. His reply was explicit.
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
10 Belgians are dead so you don\'t give a damn that
thousands of Africans are about to be slaughtered.
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
[non-English narration]
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
That was Mr. Khan\'s response
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
which didn\'t make things easier for us.
Furthermore I must agree
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
I totally agreed with him, because we were
perfectly aware of what was about to happen.
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
[non-English narration]
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:50.000
[sil.]
00:23:55.000 --> 00:24:00.000
[sil.]
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.000
[sil.]
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:35.000
[non-English narration]
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:53.000
[non-English narration]
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:08.000
[sil.]
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:28.000
[non-English narration]
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
For me it was a very difficult moment.
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
We\'ve been there all this time. We
knew exactly what was about to happen.
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
We realized that if there was still
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
a chance to prevent the worst before the
situation degenerated into an enormous disaster.
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
Leaving was definitely not the solution.
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
[non-English narration]
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
I was personally convinced that bloodbath
was eminent. There was no turning back.
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:10.000
[non-English narration]
00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:25.000
[non-English narration]
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:48.000
[sil.]
00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:03.000
[sil.]
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:13.000
[music]
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
We need to remember
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
that at first weekend, when it was
becoming quite clear to everyone
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
that this was a genocide. The UN
troops were not the only ones
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
from outside, they were in the country.
There work uh… approximately
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
a thousand to umm… Belgian and
French troops that depends on them.
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
There were several hundred more Belgian
troops on standby in east Africa.
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
There were 250 American Marines
on standby in Buchunbora,
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
20 minutes away. There was an Italian
company that landed for several days.
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
So there were, uh… it wasn\'t just
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
the Peacekeepers who were there, it was
also uh… other foreign national forces
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
that were there.
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
Had there been the political
will to make an arrangement to
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
uh… give a special mandate to these forces,
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
it is uh… very likely
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
that they could have stopped
the genocide at that point.
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
What they were dealing
with was a few hundred,
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
a few hundred extremists at the top
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
who had control of the levers of power.
And if they had dealt
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
with those few hundred, there
would have been no genocide.
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:05.000
[sil.]
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:18.000
[music]
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:53.000
[music]
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:33.000
[sil.]
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:48.000
[non-English narration]
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
This was the nearest place
under UNAMIR protection.
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
We thought they could be trusted.
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
[sil.]
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
[non-English narration]
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
When I arrived, I went to
directly to talk to UN commander.
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
He said, \"I\'m happy you came
because I have a problem here,
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
people keep arriving.\"
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
\"There are nearly 3,000 here, but I
have orders to prepare to leave.
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
[non-English narration]
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
So I\'m wondering who to put
in charge of the camp?\"
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
The camp was surrounded by militia, ready
to attack after UNAMIR\'s departure.
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:53.000
[non-English narration]
00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:03.000
[music]
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
That same day I called the meeting
with the refugees and the burgomaster.
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
I told them be careful UNAMIR will
probably leave in a few days.
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
Refugees reacted violently.
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
Some said don\'t leave, better shoot us all than
abandon us here. We knew there were people
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
whose lives were in danger. But we didn\'t
think the whole group would be killed.
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:50.000
[sil.]
00:32:55.000 --> 00:33:00.000
[sil.]
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:13.000
[sil.]
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:35.000
[sil.]
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:18.000
[music]
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
It was clear to me that
people were in danger,
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
they had to be saved at any cost.
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
Many members of my family were there,
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
they are all dead now. But that wasn\'t
all, when I think back to the chaos
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
and despair after the UN departure,
men, women, and children,
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
running helter schelter under
grenade and bullet fire.
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
It was a horrific experience. It\'s only
natural to feel bitter in the aftermath.
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
[non-English narration]
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:23.000
[sil.]
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
For 50 years, we\'ve been talking
about the Jewish problem
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
with our hearts and our sleeves. And
here was the chance to do something,
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
and we did nothing.
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
I think the moment I decided to leave was the hardest. I
knew that many of those I was leaving were bound to die.
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
That\'s was so tragic and I
blame those who sent us there
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
for putting us in such a terrible situation.
The people at the desk making their decisions
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
don\'t see what people in the
field have to go through.
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:13.000
[sil.]
00:36:55.000 --> 00:37:00.000
[music]
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:23.000
[music]
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:38.000
[sil.]
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:15.000
[sil.]
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:43.000
[sil.]
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:18.000
[sil.]
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
Our mission was a tragic failure.
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
Everyone considered it a form of desertion.
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
Everyone was aware that
presence of all UNAMIR forces
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
was essential in Rwanda. And that
pulling out under such circumstances
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
was an act of total cowardice.
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
When you are perfectly aware that
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
you are sending thousands to their death,
you can never justify such an action.
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
[sil.]
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
Once the killing had begun,
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
once 20,000 people had been killed,
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
these authorities could very well
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
have looked back at their
accumulated materials,
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
one hopes they did that. And
if they had looked back
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
and seen all of these signs of
militia, the distribution of arms,
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
uh… the planning of lists
of Tutsi, there\'s no way
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
that they could have failed to
recognize that this was a genocide.
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
[sil.]
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
They did not wish to acknowledge this because they did
not wish to pay the price of stopping the genocide.
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
To acknowledge it would have
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
required acting on the knowledge
and no one wanted to do that,
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
it would have been too expensive.
And Rwanda was simply
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
too remote, too far, too poor, too little,
and probably too black to be worthwhile.
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:18.000
[music]
00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:58.000
[music]
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:13.000
[music]
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 44 minutes
Date: 1996
Genre: Expository
Language: English; French; Kinyarwanda
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Color/BW:
Closed Captioning: Available
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