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