Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire
October 29, 2004
Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Mr. Dallaire was speaking here in Barrie today (October 29th, 2004). He spoke of the need to protect people around the world from genocide and crimes against humanity. Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire is a true Canadian hero and an outspoken leader for the 21st century.
Roméo Dallaire (born June 25, 1946 in Denekamp, The Netherlands) is a Canadian general, humanitarian, and author. Dallaire is best known for having served as Force Commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force in Rwanda in 1994 when a war of genocide was waged by Hutu extremists against Hutu moderates and Tutsis.
The 1994 Rwandan genocide introduced a whole new level of horror to the international community. Since its inception, the United Nations had never faced a humanitarian tragedy of such magnitude. The speed of the killing was five times greater than that of the Nazis at the height of the Holocaust.
Prior to this atrocity General Dallaire was leading a UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR). He was acutely aware that the signs emerging in early 1994 threatened impending genocide. He swiftly informed his command at the UN, alerting decision-makers to the gravity of the situation. However, the resources required to halt the genocide were never provided.
Despite the lack of support and the limitations of his force, General Dallaire exerted untiring personal and professional efforts to protect and save those he could. General Dallaire was asked to leave Rwanda on three occasions and chose to stay along with a volunteer force formally under UN command in order to preserve human life. His personal actions, and those of the men he led, stand out as a powerful illustration of human courage and moral conviction. Had General Dallaire fulfilled his military commitment he could have chosen to leave the country, understandably blaming circumstances for the lack of results.
His actions are credited with directly saving the lives of 20,000 Tutsis. There is speculation that Dallaire's forces deliberately sabotaged equipment to slow their UN-mandated withdrawal from the combat zone.
To read more about Mr. Dallaire, there is an excellent article written about him by Carol Off from the CBC. You can find it HERE.
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