Rwanda: Genocide And A Hero

by hilzoy

Thirteen years ago today, a plane carrying Juvénal Habyarimana, the President of Rwanda, and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the Hutu president of Burundi, was shot down. This event started the Rwandan genocide, which lasted for about three months. During that time, about eight hundred thousand people were killed, many hacked to death with machetes. To commemorate this, I want to repost something I wrote two years ago.

***

Instead of writing about the genocide, I want to focus on Mbaye Diagne, a Senegalese military observer who was profiled in the excellent Frontline program Ghosts of Rwanda. His background was unremarkable: according to the profile on the Frontline site, "Capt. Mbaye, a devout Muslim, was one of nine children from a poor family on the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal's capital. He was the first in his family to go to college. After graduating from the University of Dakar, he joined the army and worked his way up through the ranks."

But what he did during the Rwandan genocide was extraordinary. Again, from Frontline:

""A real-life Cool Hand Luke…"

"The bravest of the brave…"

"...the greatest man I have ever known..."

These are the words of those who knew Capt. Mbaye Diagne, a young Senegalese army officer who served in Rwanda as an unarmed U.N. military observer. I have never heard another human being described in the way that those who knew Mbaye describe him: he was, as one of his colleagues told me, "the kind of guy you meet once in a lifetime."

He was a hero.

From literally the first hours of the genocide, Capt. Mbaye simply ignored the U.N.'s standing orders not to intervene, and single-handedly began saving lives. He rescued the children of the moderate Prime Minster Agathe Uwilingiyimana, after 25 well-armed Belgian and Ghanaian U.N. peacekeepers surrendered their weapons to Rwandan troops. The Rwandan troops killed Madame Agathe (and, later, ten Belgian peacekeepers), while the unarmed Capt. Mbaye -- acting on his own initiative -- hid the Prime Minister's children in a closet.

In the days and weeks that followed, Capt. Mbaye became a legend among U.N. forces in Kigali. He continued his solo rescue missions, and had an uncanny ability to charm his way past checkpoints full of killers. On one occasion he found a group of 25 Tutsis hiding in a house in Nyamirambo, a Kigali neighborhood that was particularly dangerous. Capt. Mbaye ferried the Tutsis to the U.N. headquarters in groups of five -- on each trip passing through 23 militia checkpoints with a Jeep-load of Tutsis. Somehow, he convinced the killers to let these Tutsis live."

Here's an interview with Gromo Alex, the head of the U.N. Humanitarian Assistance Team in Rwanda:

" -- "Who was Mbaye Diagne and what was he doing?

He had access to most of the areas … the military or gendarme or presidential guard. He covered all the territory, knew most of the people in the command structure. But fairly early on, we could see in this back room in the Amahoro hotel [that] large groups of people all of a sudden appeared and [the] next day were gone. We began to put together that Mbaye was bringing people from all over to the headquarters and then evacuating them or having them picked up and taken to safety elsewhere. And I don't even know the numbers of the people that he saved. But a lot of people know who he is. A lot of people were saved by him, and not just Rwandans but famous journalists. I think they were put in positions where their lives were pretty close to an end, and he stepped in and saved them. (...)

-- But wasn't it against orders to go out and start saving people?

Yeah, it was against orders, and the orders were not to intervene in the conflict. Mbaye ignored those orders, and at the same time his general [Gen. Dallaire] knew what he was doing, never stopped him.

… I would think that the general saw him as some expression of what we were supposed to be doing. … But here's someone who stepped out of line and [the general is] not going to discipline him because he's doing the right thing. And he saved at least hundreds of people. And we're talking about saving hundreds of people three or four at a time. So you imagine y'know, when we talk about the 23 checkpoints. And you take even 200 people, you divide it by the maximum 5 -- that would mean he [would] have 5 people in a vehicle, which is too conspicuous too. So he would do it in smaller numbers so that he wouldn't draw so much attention to people. But he'd go through all these checkpoints. And at every checkpoint you have to explain yourself. ...

-- How would he get through?

That's just the way he was. People laughed. Even they have, or had, some attachment to a real world where there's real laughter. Even in all this gore, hatred; as long as you can have that brief glimpse of his smile, or laugh about something that's good, you'll grab onto it. And with Mbaye I think that's what everybody did. At all those checkpoints, they all knew him. …"

Unfortunately, he was killed at a checkpoint. Gromo Alex again:

"[Once] it was time to leave, the plan was that we were all just going to leave at the same time. … Then Mbaye said no, [because] he had some other things to do. It turned out that he was making arrangements to go get some other people. … But he had to go to headquarters first. So we went down the hill to ICRC. … We stopped there for a couple minutes. …

So we're coming up the hill and hear something on the radio. … We heard it was [Mbaye] had, I guess, pulled up a minute after we'd gone to the bridge, the last checkpoint. A mortar had landed behind his car and shrapnel came through the back window and [hit him] in the back of his head, and apparently killed him instantly. …

This was the day that General Dallaire had gone to Nairobi to meet with some U.S. congressmen to convince them of the gravity of the situation. [So] we're stunned, and we're trying to figure out what's happening, what we can do. People are talking about going [and] getting his dress uniform. They're calling around for a body bag. But there's no body bag. Not a body bag in the whole U.N. The ICRC doesn't have any body bags that they can spare. At this time, we're starting to put together and we're saying, you know, "Here's a guy who gave his ultimate, did everything, and we don't even have a body bag to show him some respect." So we're scrambling [and] people are asking us -- we're the humanitarians, we can get some plastic sheeting, we can make something. I can't even remember [the details]. It was kind of a daze. …

We had some UNICEF plastic sheeting, and we had some tape. Mbaye's body comes, and he's a big man, tall, big feet. He's on a stretcher now. Nobody knows exactly what to do, but we're going to make a body bag. … You want to do it right. You want to … zip it, [but] you got this U.N. light blue body bag, and we're going to make and fold the edges over. We're folding them up, and the creases aren't right, because his feet are so damn big. … You don't want that for him. You want it to be, like, just laid out perfectly, so that when people look at him, they know that he was something great."

While my government was devoting its energies to figuring out how to describe what was happening in Rwanda without using the word "genocide", Mbaye Diagne just saw what had to be done and did it, at the cost of his own life. He is one of my personal saints. I think that when you find a saint, you should reflect on his life, try to learn from it, and do him honor. If anyone agrees, link to this post: Mbaye Diagne and what he did deserve to be better known.

Comments

[Anarch]

Not really much to say to him except that the world was richer for his presence, and poorer for his absence.

[Jesurgislac]

Agreed, and done.

[OCSteve]

you got this U.N. light blue body bag

Somehow I am not surprised that the UN has body bags in their own color. I hope they are sending plenty to Darfur.

Thanks Hilzoy. I’d never heard this story before you posted it, never heard of this guy. The Oskar Schindler of Rwanda…

[Bril]

Wow, his story is incredible. Maybe you can post about all the American heros currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan next?

[John Thullen]

I was kind of hoping that Andrew Olmsted of the U.S. Army and valued OBWI front-pager, and all-around nice guy, once he was stationed in Iraq, would post at Obsidian Wings about all of the American heros now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, but apparently he would be disobeying orders, like Mbaye Diagne, if he if did so.

He might be writing some pieces for Denver's Rocky Mountain News. But I don't think he goes to Iraq until the middle of the summer.

Alternatively, Bril, you could do some research (embedded or not) on the heros in Iraq and Afghanistan and enthrall us with their stories inside these little comment boxes and thus add value to these threads.

As it is, you're infringing on DaveC.'s purview, which is to provide snarkalicious, but passionate counter-weight to Hilzoy's choice of subjects, and besides, he's funnier.

You remind me of the stuffy, bowler-hatted Brit whose luck it is to be assigned to the commuter train compartment with the young John, Paul, George, and Ringo in "A Hard Day's Night". He expresses his smug outrage at their smirky, Beatlely, Mocker point of view by reminding them that "I fought in the War" ...

....and Ringo replies "I'll bet you're sorry you won."

It's a shame when you defeat guys like Hitler and you come home and find out the girls are screaming for the guys with the suede boots and the hair in their eyes. Makes you wonder if you should have been on the side of the Blue Meanies, doesn't it lad?

[Erasmussimo]

Mr. Bril, I'd be fascinated to learn that there was an American as heroic as Mr. Mbaye: someone who defied orders to save hundreds of civilians in scores of actions, at the constant risk of his own life. Even leaving out the defiance of orders, I find it hard to imagine an American engaging in direct, high-risk confrontations with armed soldiers (while himself unarmed) scores or even hundreds of times. But if you have such an example to offer, by all means present it. Heroes of any nationality are always an inspiration.

I'd also like to note that Mr. Mbaye was Muslim. How's that for a slap in the face of all those Americans who like to dismiss Islam as a barbaric religion?

[John Thullen]

There's an extra "if" in my first paragraph, which I guess personifies my iffiness.

[john miller]

I really don't think bril's commen deserves any comment.

There are no doubt American soldiers who have been heroic, and some of them have been chronicled here. But please, let him get his digs in and then depart.

However, JT, it is still great to read your rejoinders.

[Jesurgislac]

john miller: I really don't think bril's comment deserves any comment.

I was thinking of responding with something like this:

Dear Bril, I sometimes hang out on blogs where the general political zeitgeist is not one I share. I get into a lot of arguments this way. So, when one of the front page posters on these blogs posts something that I can just agree with or appreciate without qualification or argument, I make a point of doing so. "That's a nice photograph." - "I agree, he was a hero." - "I'm so sorry you lost your pet." That kind of thing. I might do it anyway on blogs where I agreed with the front page poster more often - but I think fairly essential on blogs where I otherwise agree with nothing to be agreeable where I can. I'm sorry you haven't yet figured out this strategy for yourself, but I advise you to adopt it forthwith. Best wishes, Jesurgislac

but I prefer John Thullen's comment.

[Slartibartfast]

I tend to judge hilzoy based on what she does say, rather than on what she doesn't say, and am grateful when she has anything to say at all, even if I don't particularly agree with it, and even if I'm unsure as to its merits.

Bril as handicapper general...what freaky thing does the future have in store for us next?

[moe99]

Thank you for this, hilzoy. I am humbled by this man's caring and courage.

[Anarch]

Bril as handicapper general...what freaky thing does the future have in store for us next?

Hopefully not Andrew as Handicapped General...

[Stay safe! I mean it!]

[CaseyL]

Once, years ago, while waiting in traffic for the light to change, I saw in the car ahead of me what seemed to be a man hitting a small child in the passenger seat. Repeatedly, raising his arm and swinging it down.

It was a long light, so I had time to wonder if I was seeing correctly, time to wonder what I should and could do about it, and time to think about what - if I was right - the guy could do to me, if I confronted him about it. I was nauseated, horrified, and terrified.

I got out of my car, went to his, tapped on his window, and said "What're you doing in there?"

It turned out he was playing - the child was fine, even laughing - so I could add intense mortification to all the other stuff churning my guts.

The point is, it took just about everything I had to get out of my car.

I plain cannot even imagine having the kind of courage Mbaye Diagne acted on, all day, every day, for days and weeks on end.

[double-plus-ungood]

From Romeo Dallaire's account of the Rwandan genocide, Shake Hands With the Devil:

Major Diagne attended nearly every meeting with me after the war started, taking detailed notes and then rewriting the minutes so they would be legible. One evening as he sat at his desk transcribing, he felt the sudden need for prayer and slid off his chair to his knees on his prayer carpet, his head toward Mecca, as required by his Islamic faith. At that exact moment, a huge piece of shrapnel smashed through his window from a mortar explosion, flying through the space he had just vacated, bouncing off the walls and landing still red-hot at his feet. He came within a hair's breadth of certain death. Always dignified and composed, Daigne reported the damage to his window and then returned to his desk to complete his tedious but essential transcribing.

Regarding Bril's asinine remark, I've added him to the Obsidian Wings "I like pie" script so that I will no longer have to see excellent posts like this fouled with his peevish comments, and will instead enjoy his praise of pie. If anyone else needs the Greasemonkey script, I believe that it's available on Cleek's blog.

[Claude Muncey]

Done, gladly.

[gurnemanz]

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall find peace. Extra-blessed are those who step up to snatch life from the jaws of death - just because they know right from wrong and refuse to stand safely by.

I wish I'd known Mbaye Diagne. I'll do my best to honor his memory in my life. I know I could do better.

Thank you for this story.

[Xanthippas]

What an incredible, and sad, story.

[Mugabo Patrick]

Why Mbaye initiaive didn't become a good example to other UN peacekeepers to save rwandans even though there wasn't a UN Willingness to be involved actively in stopping that worst genocide of the century?
For me ,this name is so famous,!

[Lara]

I linked. This man must not be forgotten - doing the right thing, despite the rules, shouldn't be so rare.

[opal]

This was a great man. Reading and watching clips from this whole genocide bring tears to my eyes. Its very unfortunate that he lost his life and didnt live to realise the true HERO he is. May his soul rest in peace.

[Susana]

Tragically, Rwanda is best known for the horrific genocide that occurred in 1994. Nearly a million people, or about 10% of Rwanda's population, were killed. Females represent 70% of Rwanda's population since so many men had been killed. They are now making a living by selling their homemade peace baskets to provide food and shelter for their family. Art is a wonderful thing, especially when made with blood, sweat and tears.

The sale of these beautiful, handmade baskets plays an important role in Rwanda's evolution. These beautiful peace baskets are a great conversation piece for your home and at the same time you can help others help themselves.
See the peace baskets at link below.
http://naturalsupply.blogspot.com/2007/06/help-others-help-themselves.html