Shake Hands with the Devil

Kouchner returned to Kigali with news that France would launch a joint French and Franco-African force into Rwanda to stop the genocide, which would have a “chapter seven” mandate from the UN. Dallaire strongly opposed the plan: Since the French historically supported the RGF, he feared that a French intervention would rally the extremist forces. The French mission was to be called “Operation Turquoise.”

Dallaire struggled to work with the RPF, who became more suspicious of UNAMIR as a result of the news of a French intervention. The RPF detained a group of wounded MILOBs who had hit a mine, preventing them from receiving immediate medical care. The RPF also started attacking peacekeepers as an indirect result of the RGF using UN vehicles that had been abandoned after breaking down. Dallaire assured Kagame that he would try to leave Kigali in his control.

By June 19, UNAMIR should have had 4,600 soldiers, but only had 503 (432). In addition, Dallaire was asked to assume political duties previously handled by Booh-Booh. Dallaire proposed to the UN the following options: that UNAMIR either withdraw and allow the French to handle the entire situation; get the RGF and RPF to agree to a French military presence while keeping UNAMIR as a go-between; or redeploy UNAMIR into Rwanda after the French completed Operation Turquoise. Dallaire recommended that the French only come if the RPF consented, and if not, then to make UNAMIR withdraw and come back at a later date.

The RPF became hostile to Franco-African soldiers after the announcement of Operation Turquoise, forcing their withdrawal. Despite this setback, the French forces promised to avoid Kigali and the war zone between the RPF and RGF. The citizens of Rwanda excitedly welcomed the French. Dallaire was afraid, though, that the operation would cause a “resurgence of the genocide” (437) since RTLM promoted the view that the French would fight the RPF.

On behalf of officers and staff evacuating to Nairobi, Dallaire hosted a medals ceremony. Later, Dallaire met the French officers. “Some of these officers came from the colonial tradition of military intervention in the domestic affairs of former client states; they saw no reason to change their views over what they billed as one more interethnic squabble” while others did seem “genuinely motivated by humanitarianism” (451). Many of the soldiers from France were misinformed and mistakenly believed that the RPF was responsible for the genocide, not the RGF. In one incident, a French battalion rescued hundreds of Tutsis. While they were finding transport, the Tutsis were slaughtered by the Interahamwe, leading to disillusionment: “As Opération Turquoise continued, more and more French soldiers experienced similar incidents and became disgusted with their role in Rwanda” (451-452).

Dallaire became the intermediary between the RPF and the French. The French would prevent the genocide in the Humanitarian Protection Zone (HPZ), the area of Rwanda secured by the French military. It was agreed the French would not go outside the HPZ. Dallaire asked the French to use their resources to get the message out that Operation Turquoise was not working to reinforce the RGF.

Meanwhile, the Security Council passed Resolution 935, which established a committee to investigate “’possible acts of genocide in Rwanda” (454). There were problems with Operation Turquoise, however. The RPF ambushed a French convoy carrying refugees, although luckily the incident ended peacefully. In another situation, a French officer, Colonel Thibault, who had been a military adviser to the TGF, announced he would attack the RPF if they came near the HGZ, which was a public relations coup. Still, by July 4th, the RGF had completely withdrawn from Kigali and retreated to western Rwanda.

A ward in King Faisal Hospital was locked to contain those who participated in the genocide and the RPF “wanted them to live to face the courts instead of lynch mobs” (462), which Dallaire saw as a victory for humanitarianism. The RPF became prepared to work toward a ceasefire and help UNAMIR move the French out of the HPZ. The RPF agreed to set up a new government founded on the Arusha Accords, but with the added provision that anyone found guilty of participating in genocide would not be allowed to hold political office. By July 12th, the RPF formally accepted the Arusha Agreement, but with “no amnesty for members of the old regime or the military implicated in the genocide—they would face the full penalty of the law” (467). Faustin Twagiramungu would become the new Prime Minister, and the new President was Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu who had once been tortured under President Habyarimana’s regime.

Still, the damage caused by the genocide and the war festered. At one point, Dallaire saw a group of children clearly marked by trauma: “Many of the kids were so psychologically damaged that they were immobile, sitting here, there and everywhere and reacting to nothing, even the hundreds of flies that clustered at every orifice of their bruised, dirty and frail bodies” (467).

The U.S. government finally acted to remove representatives of the old extremist interim government from the UN. However, Dallaire notes that U.S. President Bill Clinton lied with his claim that the U.S. had taken a “leading role” in helping Rwanda (472). Dallaire found that Tutsi refugees from Uganda began to occupy the city, even taking over the homes of Hutus, which led him to “dire thoughts” such as “whether the campaign and the genocide had been orchestrated to clear the way for Rwanda’s return to the pre-1959 status quo in which Tutsis had called all the shots” (476).

Slowly, the refugee sites emptied out and the damage began to be calculated: “With almost ten percent of the pre-war population murdered in a hundred days, there were very few families who did not lose at least one member” (478). Dallaire could not help but resent how dignitaries and celebrities began to flood into Rwanda, horrified by their insensitivity towards what had taken place. He describes “the photo ops they arranged of themselves beside mass graves” and how they were “able to step over bodies without seeming to notice those people had once had names” (491). He admits he took delight in making UNAMIR’s guests eat the same expired German rations they had had to depend on for months.

The U.S. began to send massive amounts of aid into the country. Violence continued against refugees coming into the country, while relief efforts were still hampered by the reluctance of foreign governments to risk the lives of personnel. Dallaire decided to leave his command earlier than planned after a certain incident. He decided to buy a few goats and keep them as pets. When a group of wild dogs attacked the goats, he fired wildly at the dogs, driving them off. The staff was worried: “They said nothing but the message was clear: ‘The General is losing it’” (501). After saying his goodbyes, he returned to Canada: “Just like other casualties, I needed to be evacuated. There was no guilt in that” (509).