Reflection on "Ghosts of Rwanda"

What can one think after watching Ghosts of Rwanda? This event is definitely a terrible genocide. 800,000 people, innocent men, women and children were slaughtered. It is crucial that the U.N. will prevent any other event like this. Where was the U.N. when this occurred? Where was the U.S.? Once the 10 Belgian soldiers were killed, Belgium pulled out and the U.N. began to pull out troops as well. So many lives could have been saved by the U.S and the U.N but they did not help out at all. The U.N. even gave orders for military observers to not help out at all. If it was not for heroes in Rwanda such as Mbaye Diagne and General Daillare, the lives of thousands of Rwandans would have been lost. Even in all terrible genocides, there have always been heroes who saved lives. In the future, the U.N. should intervene while the genocide problem starts to boil, and help out as much as possible. Genocide should we avoided at all costs. Hopefully, in the future we can prevent genocide from occurring. 

Reaction to “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Honors Captain Mbaye Diagne, Senegalese Hero” Online Article

Last month on April 6th, during the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Convention Related to the Status of Refugees, Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton included a passage in her talk honoring Captain Mbaye Diagne, as well as other heroes who helped refugees escape terrible situations. In her passage about Captain Diagne she talked about how he helped people in the genocide and she talked about his extreme bravery. I think it’s great that Mbaye Diagne was mentioned in this talk. I’m glad such a great hero was mentioned in this convention. Another hero of the Rwanda genocide featured in Hillary Clinton’s talk was Josephine Dusabimana, who sheltered 8 Tutsis in her home and then helped them get across to the Congo by canoes. I’m glad Mbaye Diagne was honored in this talk. He deserves to be an honored hero for the acts he committed in Rwanda. At the end of her talk she asked for a round of applause for him and his family who were present at the convention. I think it’s great that he was mentioned in this talk. A man of his efforts deserves to be praised at least once. I’m glad that 16 years after this genocide occurred, a hero like Captain Mbaye Diagne is still remembered and appreciated.

Sources:

1. http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/04/20110406144913su0.9494091.html#axzz1L9lvx0Ls
2. http://dakar.usembassy.gov/rescue_refuge.html

Reflection on the video: "The Forgotten angel of Rwanda: Capt Mbaye Diagne Vol2"

Mbaye Diagne’s death was heartbreaking to many people. In this video you can clearly see how much respect people had for Capt. Diagne. This was a many who gave his life just to save people he didn’t even know from being slaughtered. One can truly see from Daillare and Doyle’s interviews that this was a true hero. His death was a tragedy to all of his colleagues. As Doyle quoted from another U.N. peacekeeper: “‘You’re a journalist, I’m a soldier, now you’ve got to tell the world what Mbaye Diagne did.’”. His death had a great impact on the people he saved, the journalists he talked to, and all of his friends from the U.N. peacekeeping mission. Before watching Ghosts of Rwanda I had never really known much about the genocide. After watching the horrors that occurred a year before I was born astounded me. I could never imagine such a terrible thing happening. Yet it did. There have been many genocides throughout the world’s history such as the Rape of Nanking or the Holocaust. This video was really interesting to watch because it gave some light during this genocide. This part of Ghosts of Rwanda focuses primarily on one of the great heroes of the genocide. It’s amazing to view people’s views on this man, Mbaye Diagne. I think it’s just truly outstanding that one man could do so much and be so brave in a situation like that. 

Click to watch:

Captain Mbaye Diagne, Hero of the Rwanda

In all genocides, amidst the violence and killing, there have always been heroes who have risked everything to save lives. In the holocaust it was Oscar Schindler. In the Rape of Nanking it was John Rabe. One man who defied his duty in order to save hundreds of people from being slaughtered was Captain Mbaye Diagne, a soldier and a military observer of the United Nations. During the Rwandan genocide he saved Tutsis and moderate Hutus by keeping them safe in the Hotel Mile Collines and Hotel Amahoro and then helping them escape out of the country. Diagne also made small personal trips to houses where Tutsis could not escape the Hutu extremists. Mbaye would even save the lives of journalists who were trapped around Rwanda. Over the course of the terrible genocide he saved from 600-1000 lives.

Mbaye Diagne

Mbaye Diagne was an army officer of the Senegalese Army. His birth is unknown and he died in May, 1994. He lived in Dakar, Senegal. He enlisted himself in the Senegal Army after graduating from Dakar University. In 1993 he was sent to Rwanda by the United Nations as a part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Rwanda. He was stationed as a military observer at the Hotel Mille Collines, in downtown Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. He was ordered by the United Nations to stay put during the genocide and to be a military observer. This meant all he could do was stand around and be exposed the terrors of the genocide. He defied the U.N.’s orders and did the extraordinary. 

His first acts of saving innocent lives was when he saved the lives of the Prime Minister of Rwanda, Madame Agathe Uwilingiyimana’s children. He hid them in a closet and then when the coast was clear he took them into his car to safety. At first he saved lives through small missions. He would smuggle people into his car and then bribe Hutus guarding the checkpoints to get out of the country. He charmed the Hutu guards by using money, cigarettes, or even his own personal charm to let him and the innocent Tutsis go by. He would then take the Tutsis to safe havens such as the Hotel Mile Collines and the Hotel Amahoro in or around Kigali. His idea of saving people was similar Romeo Daillares’, which involved helping people evacuate to football stadiums. Throughout the time in which he saved people, his general, Romeo Daillare did not stop him at all. 

Click to watch Mbaye Diagne’s part of Ghosts of Rwanda:

This video talks about Mbaye’s role in saving people in Rwanda and reflections on his actions.

In one interview with Mark Doyle, a reporter for BBC who went to Rwanda, talked about how Mbaye Diagne saved both of their lives when they went to rescue children at an orphanage. At the militia checkpoint their car was stopped by Hutu guards holding weapons and they began to threaten them because they thought Doyle was a Belgian. After the 10 Belgians had been killed and all support from Belgian was removed, Belgians were not highly favored among the Hutu extemists. Diagne quoted: “No, no -- I'm the Belgian. I'm the Belgian here, look -- a black Belgian." Diagne used a joke to lighten the mood. Doyle stated that this broke the tension and that the Hutus reason to kill them suddenly faded. This is an example of Mbaye Diagne’s suave personality. He was able to persuade Hutus extremists to let them pass just with a couple of smiles and jokes. He used his warm personality to his advantage. His soft manner and light mood were traits that he used to his advantage. 

Mbaye Diagne had a lot of charm to him. Gregory Alex, the head of the U.N. Humanitarian Assistance team in Rwanda described Diagne as a tall guy with a big toothy smile. Gregory Alex quoted: “However long of an encounter you have with him, you come away with a smile, somehow”. One extraordinary trip he took to save lives was when he saved the lives of 25 Tutsis who were in a dangerous neighborhood in Nyamirambo. He took five trips throughout the day and traveled back to Kigali through 23 Hutu guarded areas. 

Click to watch another video clip from Ghosts of Rwanda on Mbaye Diagne. 

This video contains more reflections on his actions and reflections on his death.

Diagne’s actions gave inspiration for those who helped saved lives in Rwanda. Daillare witnessed his actions and did not stop him even though he was under order of the U.N. Captain Mbaye Diagne died in 1994 on May 31st. Witnesses say he was hit by a mortar shell while he was driving back to the U.N. headquarters in Rwanda. He was killed instantly. Fortunately he was the only one in the car and no one else around him was killed. U.N. members tried to get a tarp for his body but there were none. Amidst the genocide there was not even one body bag to cover the hero’s corpse. The following day a parade at the Rwandan airport was held in his honor and he was then buried in Senegal. He received many military honors for his bravery and his courage in Rwanda. His widow, Yassine Mar Diop quoted: “I am a believer in God. My husband died saving people he was not even related to and this legacy will stay with us, his family.”

Mbaye Diagne's procession at the Rwandan Airport

Captain Mbaye Diagne is remembered as one of the heroes of the Rwandan genocide. He sacrificed his life to help innocent Tutsis escape being slaughtered by the Hutu extremists. With his tender smile he persuaded extremists to let him get past militia checkpoints and successfully saved at least 600 people. Diagne also filmed videos of peacekeeper’s and those who gave aid during the genocide. Mbaye Diagne gave hope for the peacekeepers in Rwanda. He saved hundreds of families including the children of the prime minister, Agathe. Mbaye’s presence represented a humane presence amidst the terrors of the Rwandan genocide. Gregory Alex quoted him as: “This man was a hero to people he didn't know and people he did know, to people who didn't have a clue and didn't understand why he was doing it.”

His laughter and smiles gave people hope and courage during the bloodshed and hate. This was a man who risked everything to save the lives of random people who were in need off of the neighborhoods in Rwanda. He ignored his orders by the United Nations to sit around, unable to do anything, and went out of his way to save hundreds of lives. His acts were those of a hero. His two children quoted him as having: “(a) big smile, tenderness and generosity.” Hopefully in any future event similar to Rwanda, there will always be a hero, willing to risk all he or she has to save those in need.

Websites Used:

1. http://africanlegends.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/the-forgotten-angel-of-rwanda-capt-mbaye-diagne/
2. http://www.cafeafricana.com/Capt.%20Mbaye%20Diagne.html
3. http://www.millecollines.net/Home.aspx
4. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/video/capt.html
5. http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/04/20110406144913su0.9494091.html?distid=ucs#axzz1KXnSmVsk
6. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/video/mbaye.html
7. http://www.state.gov/img/11/43071/4_600_1.jpg
8. http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/forgotten-senegal-honoured-us

Convention on Genocide

Article 2.

Genocide is defined as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

A. Killing members of the group.

B. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group

C. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part

D. Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group

E. Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group

Article 3.

The following acts shall be punishable:

A. Genocide

B. Conspiracy to commit genocide

C. Direct and public incitement to commit genocide

D. Attempt to commit genocide

E. Complicity in genocide

Every UN member nation has promised to intervene and stop genocide wherever and whenever it occurs. This was passed in 1948.