Roméo Dallaire

Roméo Dallaire went through a horrific experience that changed his

life and almost destroyed it; but since that time, he has been a tireless

international advocate for a number of critical global causes.

In 1983, the African nation of Rwanda was in bad shape. The two main tribes, the Hutus
and the Tutsis, were arguing over how to share power, and people were afraid there
would be a civil war.
In fact, something even worse was about to happen - genocide. Genocide is the attempt
by one group of people to completely wipe out another group, as the Nazis tried to do to
the Jews in World War II.
The United Nations had troops in Rwanda to try to keep the peace, and Canadian General
Roméo Dallaire was put in charge of the troops. He didn’t have many soldiers and his
orders were to supervise a peace, not fight a war.
But Dallaire and other observers could see the situation was getting worse. Radical Hutu
leaders were talking about killing every Tutsi - even the children - and anyone else who
got in their way. Dallaire asked for more troops to prevent a bloodbath, but the United
Nations argued and debated instead of acting. The general still had a terrible shortage of
troops when the killings began.
It was a horrific time, with gangs of armed Hutus massacring whole Tutsi villages.
General Dallaire used his troops as best as he could to guard areas where there were
Tutsis hiding. He often bluffed the Hutu militias into thinking he had more soldiers or
authority than he really did.