Rwanda
Former head of UN peacekeepers in Rwanda attacks UN negligence 

afrol.com, 18 September - Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian general who headed the UN peacekeeping forces in Rwanda during the genocide there, on Thursday lambasted the UN for its inaction in that war-torn country. 

As the situation in Rwanda became tense in Rwanda in 1994, most international agencies, including the UN, pulled out of Rwanda, leaving the civilian population to their faith. The UN has later been heavily criticized for this, as it is believed that a quick and firm reaction could have prevented much of the genocide.

Romeo Dallaire, once tipped to be the his country’s chief of national defence before he was invalided out of the army because of the psychological trauma he had suffered in Rwanda, came to Rwanda as a private citizen to address the International Conference on War-Affected Children. 

The former general complained bitterly at the low priority given to the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered, compared with other hotspots in the world. In general, the UN has been more willing to intervene in Europe than in for example Africa.

At a brief press conference, after addressing a closed door meeting of voluntary agency workers, Dallaire pointed out that some 800,000 people were slaughtered in the tiny Central African nation. 

“There were more people killed, displaced and injured in four months in Rwanda than in the last five years in Yugoslavia,” said Dallaire, who appeared to be close to tears. 

“I could not keep 2,000 troops in the field at the height of the genocide, and yet in Yugoslavia we are pouring tens of thousands of troops and capability there.” 

Source: Press Office of the President of Rwanda 

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