Ghosts of Rwanda
When the United Nations sent peacekeepers to this small, Central African nation -- with the full support of the U.S. government -- most of the policy-makers involved believed it would be a straightforward mission that would help restore the U.N.'s battered reputation after failures in Bosnia and Somalia. Few could imagine that, a decade later, Rwanda would be the crisis that still haunts their souls.
Ghosts of Rwanda, a special two-hour documentary to mark the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide -- a state-sponsored massacre in which some 800,000 Rwandans were methodically hunted down and murdered by Hutu extremists as the U.S. and international community refused to intervene -- examines the social, political, and diplomatic failures that converged to enable the genocide to occur.
"With the perspective of time, the Rwandan crisis can be seen as a crucial test of the international system and its values -- a clash between the ideals of humanitarianism and the cold logic of realism and national interest," says FRONTLINE producer Greg Barker.
Through interviews with key government officials, diplomats, soldiers, and survivors of the slaughter, Ghosts of Rwanda presents groundbreaking, first-hand accounts of the genocide from those who lived it: the diplomats on the scene who thought they were building peace only to see their colleagues murdered; the Tutsi survivors who recount the horror of seeing their friends and family slaughtered by Hutu friends and co-workers; and the U.N. peacekeepers in Rwanda who were ordered not to intervene in the massacre happening all around them.
The documentary features interviews with Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and former National Security Adviser Anthony Lake as well as haunting interviews with the Hutu killers themselves, and a powerful interview with BBC journalist Fergal Keane who traveled through Rwanda as the genocide was drawing to a close.
I lived in Rwanda with my husband and daugther for 7 years, we left in 1990.... already the tense in Rwanda, was already there. It is a very good documentary. Feel ashame that 'never again'is not true. The world is watching Syria... and DONING NOTHING!! Feel sad, feel ashame...
I'm not a politician, and I admit I can be quite ignorant about things, and I admit the United States if flawed, but we're not the only ones. When us from the United States defend our country we're ignorant and selfish and horribly labeled, Americans are often seen as biased and ignorant but believe it or not there are plenty of Americans who try to learn about things from other perspectives, and know not to listen to our biased media sources, but from what I can see when others defend their county their patriotism is alright. There are plenty of other genocides that have gone in Europe itself that have nothing to do with the United States. Here in Rwanda we were not the only ones to blame, we are not the only ones who pulled out the support, we are not the only ones who left Rwandans to die. So stop pointing fingers. The United States may only have "interests" but can you support the fact that the other governments in Europe or Asia or Africa aren't the same way? No our government isn't perfect and I disagree with a lot of things that our government does, but you could be just as ignorant of our country as we are of yours.
You hear over and over again that the US Gov't didn't realized how bad and fast this genocide occurred, and that when they finally did realized how bad it was, it was too late to do anything. Let's hope the speed of the internet and cell phones will prevent these atrocities from ever happening again. "Never again"!
When the world turned their backs, Canada stayed. That is why I'm proud to be a Canadian.
"The U.S has no friends...Only interests"=a perfect quote from this documentary that applies to the decisions made during this situation and others such as the oil focussed INVASION of Iraq!
Well said Savage Henry. I too am sick of seeing the mindless, knee-jerk anti-US
rhetoric. European nations have done far more mercenary colonialization over the centuries and they deserve most of the blame for the horrors happening in places like Rwanda. I hate it when the US goes in to clean up messes created by other nations such as the Japanese mess in Korea and the French mess in Vietnam and winds up looking like the bad guy.We have made a lot of mistakes but we have yet to produce a Hitler, Stalin, Hirohito, Pol Pot or Mussolini and I hope we never do. The rest of the world should hope so too.
It is the world community not just United State at fault. For situations like Rwanda Darfur or even in Europe in the 80s 90s and now in 21st. The point is just because this kind of things r happening in far away land does not mean it’s not going to happen in America. We need stop promoting hatred and bias. Most of all we need to educate our self. One day the table might turn and America might be the one asking the rest of the world for help. So one child die here in America another child died in Africa or Middle East it should hold the same value. We r in no position to say American lives are more valuable.
After returning from Rwanda, I had a totally different perspective. I found the people to be friendly and kind and very interested in reconciliation.
As for the genocide, I have come to refer to it as the Rwandans do; as a war.
Further, it is easy from the other side of the world to condemn the killers, but after being there, getting to know them and taking in the situation they live in I couldn't help but realize, or think, that what happened in a natural result of tyranny.
If you have a minority that has all the opportunities, the power, the hope and the prosperity and you have a minority that is being told they are subservient, that their children have no opportunity, then such a thing as the genocide is much more understandable.
The oppressed will usually eventually rise up and demand equal opportunity. In Rwanda it was a brutal, savage, hand-to-hand affair. The Belgians created the environment by falsely assigning tribal status based on the amount of possessions one hand ( if you had more than ten cows you were a Tutsi, and if you had less you were a Hutu ).
Instead of realizing our own role in the carnage in Africa, the western white world just stands back and says " oh, what a bunch of animals. "
Pretty sad really. How many African or Middle East borders existed before world war one?
I feel like the Rwandans have been traumatized and jacked over by their interactions with white people in the past and that we have a responsibility to help them now to make up for it.
The Hutu/Tutsi division was encouraged by the Belgians who just saw an easy way to manipulate and exploit them. Divide and conquer. It seems like the attitude of the western worlds political and corporate class ( as if there is any difference ) has always been " the less Africans there are, the better. "
Those Rawandans are some sick fu(ks to do that to one another.
Very good. Sad statement about the world's and our country's view of the worth of human beings and how we decide whether to intervene in genocides or not. This is Clinton's worst mistake in my opinion.
If you watch this documentary and dont shed a tear,please consult your cardiologist because you might not have a heart.
Thats all there is to be said about this........
These coments are great!!
When the US intervened in Somalia (another country without oil) and killed civilians the haters of America all came out in force"Look what the evil americans have done". America then responded that they were pulling out of Africa and will no longer intervene where they have no interests due to Somalias internation condemnation. A few months later Rwanda happened and the same people that condemned America for their action in Somalia blamed them for their inaction in Rwanda.
When America intervenes they are accused of being oil thieving genocidal animals when they don't get involved they are accused of racism and not caring. The crazy thing is the Belgian (White) general who begged the UN for help was refused by Annan(black) and still the race card was pulled on the international comunity. When I visited Rwanda in 2008 the country seems normal but locals will freely tell you of their ordeal and they are in no way over what happened but they now live side by side in relative peace for any of you who care about them and are not just using them as a weapon for your anti American idealogy.
This is what happens when evil prevails!!!
RIP to all those in Rwanda, I will never forget the feeling of sorrow when I was there
Thankfully a few of you have already acknowledged that the US did not kill these innocent people. This took place quickly, in a foreign jungle. We (US) sent troops into a foreign jungle (a territory, situation and people we didn't understand) in the 60's and we finally accepted defeat following a brutal war; troops returned maimed, psychologically scarred and shunned by fellow US citizens. All of you blame-tossing keyboard activists, including you, Ms. Superior Genius Conqueror of Egypt, are very generous with American lives as if they are immune to the brutality and potential death they face when we send them on a mission, such as this. (You sound like a smart young woman SGCOE, too bad this is the best you're doing with your knowledge).
This documentary speculates that racism was a factor in evacuating Americans from this situation. Were we racist because we pulled our citizens out of Japan after the tsunami, or out of Egypt or Libya?? Or were we simply protecting our people, because, at the end of the day, OUR tax dollars prepaid for this service. We are not given this "luxury" for free and that includes all Americans - not just the whites! We lost 600,000 Americans during our cival war defending what we believe in - human rights, the rights of black people, specifically. Did we ask you to send your innocent young men to help us? Moreover, did anyone volunteer the young men of other nations to assist us and minimize our bloodshed?
Additionally, we Americans, as a whole, are NOT responsible for the misguided or intentional f***-ups that take place within our government. That is an elementary generalization. If you have a perfect government, then you should get off your a$$ and petition them to perform these jobs. Otherwise, perhaps you can understand that most of us are working our a$$es off just trying to make ends meet, too busy -keeping food on our tables and gas in our cars so we can get to work and school- to invest our days/nights micro-managing a government. Our government lies to us just as yours lies to you.. Do you think we voted on the invasion of Iraq? Do you think we knew we were making the lives of those people worse than Hussein? In the event your simple-minded response is "yes". I have a revelation for you: we didn't know! Yes. We need political and economic reform. And we are quickly realizing that more and more attention must be paid to who is in office and what they do there.Thankfully, the generation of conservative right wing idiots who have been outweighing our votes at the polls are dying off. But with the time you have to b**** and moan, you could surely invest some in making change yourself, instead of pointing your fingers and making Americans responsible for everything that goes wrong around the world.
OF COURSE we have "interests"! Without oil and other resources we secure through foreign policy, we wouldn't have come as far as we did in the 20th century! Without these resources, by the way, the US would NOT have an ice cube's chance in fictional hell to help other countries when they need it!
Furthermore, most of us, who do not make up the 1-3% of the wealthy elite are very generous with our money and our time to help people when we can. America is not the best country in the world.. but I ask, which one is?? This is the one I call home and I'm thankful to be here. Certainly we are shamed and feel deep sadness when our leaders dupe us into a war we don't belong in or commit a ponzi scheme crippling the global economy. But among my few fortunes, I was fortunate enough to be born here. Do I wish we could help every single person here and around the world who needs it? Of course I do, and I think most rational Americans would agree. But it's impossible. And, I reiterate what has already been said here: we're damned if we do and damned if we don't it's so damn easy for the world to look at us with disdain, as if we don't, never have nor never will perform humanitarian missions that have saved the lives of many.
One final revelation: 99% of Americans were not born into wealth... we work for what we have, we earn it, we dedicate great portions of our lives to create a "sense of security" and opportunity for ourselves and our families. American citizenship is not a golden ticket to a life of luxury and we're not sitting on fortunes, living in palaces, turning a blind-eye to the unfortunate souls around us.
The sad truth is that hundreds of thousands of innocent lives were taken by sick people who believed they had a worthy mission to carry out in Rwanda. The US didn't conceive nor carry out this mission. This didn't happen over a period of 10 years, it happened in a matter of mere days. It's unthinkable that we could have known the magnitude of this massacre and how to resolve it without a potential loss of American troops on an equally massive scale in such a short time. We do learn from our mistakes, again using Vietnam as an example. The lives of American troops should not be viewed as expendable to the rest of the world because we are a "super-power". And again, it's an elementary concept to believe we are ready to tackle any mission, anywhere at anytime, on a moments notice. This type of remiss use of "super-power" should be blamed on Superman, Batman (and Robin, of course), Wonder Woman, Spider Man and Rambo.
Curious tha in the backdrop against sebernica no one intervened. It was clear that the Tutsi's suffered becasue of the cowardice of the world's powerful leaders in the face of evil. If you want to be a superpower that comes with a price of intervention even when there are no oil, nuclear arms or power at stake. This was a failure not of a people but of humanity..
In the end,3 words in french= LE GROS BONSENS !
BRAVO USA,No oil no weapons,gold,goverment interests and so on...... = inactions !! At least Canada and some others tried to do the difference.F&?%$ USA,im Canadian and proud that wee really seems to have ampathie....1 000 000 peoples dies there.I know its not comparable to the WTC 3000 or 4000 death made there.The september horror is a for sure tragedie,but it seems like all the world have to found a solution for them,but 1 million killed in a foreing ''BLACK'' country can wait.US GOV wouldnt send help,they need there mans for other most important missions...GOD bless you ARMOREDRICA.
Connie-please get your fact straight. The US did not pull out of Rwanda-they were never there. There was a UN peacekeeping force led by General Romeo D'Allaire. He had a small number of troops from Canada, Belgium, Pakistan and other small countries. Despite repeated requests, the UN would not change the mission mandate. If they had, General D'Allaire and the UN force could have confiscated weapons caches before the slaughter began. More troops would have helped as well as equipment. The US chose to send neither. To this day, it is one of Bill Clinton's greatest regrets that he did not act to help stop the genocide in Rwanda.
6 million jews? what about the other 44 million people who died in WWII...? Talk about the squeeky wheel getting the oil.
And after watching Black Hawk Down I'm glad the US pulled out of Rwanda. War and genocide are the horrible realities of what every person is capable of. Face it peoples, the human race is not nice. The only reason we are all here is because our ancestors somewhere along the line were the stronger.
DG, you pontificating i@#$%. Why dont you join the red cross or red crescent and do something about it. You have all that time to write that drivel. Use it in a better way.
Excuse me. I did not proof read before posting. What I meant to say is this was really appalling to watch in regard to the politicians who were involved and the inaction of all of the governments that had requested aid and did not get the support that was asked of them. The terror that the people of Rwandans suffered, reminded me of the Holocost. To me a human is a human weter white, black or any color, relegion. It daddens me so insofar as te past atrocities seemed to be forgotten. Five hundred thousand plus people murdered.Tutsis cried for help from them only for their cries to fall on deaf ears as all that was “black” was not entitled to be rescued. It is disturbing!!!Propaganda from Hutu leaders was a big catalyst in this genocide and the leaders should face justice for their crimes.
I hope these crimes will not be forgotten or repeated in the 21st century, by Gods grace. RIP to all who died needlessly. Genocide is a crime,lest we forget and is dehumanizing to the killers and its victims. Six million dead Jewish people should have taught the world that.But unfortunately it didn't.
his was appaling to watch inreguards to the politics. What was the whole point of this genocidal slaughter. Why did not any other governments help. The whites were evacuated. This sickens me. Humans are humans white, black ,yellow, brown.
@ matt
Look Mr. matt I would have spelled your name with a capital "m"
but since you made that disrespectful comment on the mighty continent of Africa (motherland of all people) I decided not to. And by the way based on your judgment I can tell that you are one of those republicans who think Africa is a country like sarah pallin did. You need to stop reading Non-euro-centric books or unbiased history books before posting any comments on here. Then maybe you'll start making educated judgments.
This site is made for intelligent and well mannered civilized people with culture. You mentioned civilization where the hell do you think you got your whatsoever civilization from. Again if you had read non Euro centric books like "Black Athena" by Martin Bernal then may be you will hopefully start understanding what civilization actually means.
I wonder how you will feel if after your DNA results came out and discovered that your ancestor was indeed from Rwanda then maybe you would have a different perspective on this topic. Hint Hint...
Well mr. whatever your name is first of all you got to understand that the west ows EVERYTHING not only to the whole African continent but to the rest of the post colonial world as well as African Americans in the U.S. And yes the U.S. did participate in the Berlin Conference of 1884 which led to the mischievous partitioning of the African Continent strictly for EXPLOITATION PURPOSES.
I hope this will future on here soon. Once again if you read books like "Scramble of Africa" or "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" then you would understand why the west has keeps pouring money to resolve these ongoing conflicts. Don't come on this website with your narrow minded philosophies and make backward comments like this.
Imagine if the U.S. was a direct neighbor to middle eastern countries do you think these ongoing conflicts shall be resolved overnight?!?! Do you think you will be leaving in peace in your so called peaceful country and making comments such as these?? I don't think so.
Do you know that the greedy Belgian king, leopold II who raped and seized the vast colony of Congo as his private fiefdom in 1885 can account alone for about 10 million murders?? Now that's what you call holocaust or genocide.
King Leopold II used his mercenary army under the name of christian-ism and civilization to force slaves into mines and rubber plantations. He burned entire kingdoms and carried out sadistic punishments including dismemberment and mass murder which resulted to almost 10 million deaths and robbery of vast resources which largely surpasses what ever the so called Aid or help the UN or the West throws at Congo or Rwanda.
That's why Authors such as Adam Hochschild (King Leopold's Ghost) became an investigative journalist and initiated an international Congo Reform Movement. Hochschild (The Unquiet Ghost) documents the machinations of Leopold, who won over President Chester A. Arthur and bribed a U.S. senator to derail Congo protest resolutions.
Again mr. matt i'm so amazed how individuals like you seem to lack information and common sense of foreign policy, yet you are surrounded by vast resources of honest and non biased information which could help purge out your brainwashed euro-centric way of reasoning.
It is not always about pouring money to the problem. It goes far beyond that mr. matt. I feel like I can open a special curriculum in various Universities all over the U.S. to re-educate backward, retarded and racist people like you. Don't think you can just make any undereducated comments on the African Continent. African topics are way beyond your intellectual assessments and capabilities.
Hopefully one day you will come back from your delusional world and educate your kids the right and unbiased way for a better tomorrow!!
Not enough said
Keep up the good work Vlatko!!!
Taharqa (Conqueror of Egypt and last Pharaoh of African lineage of Pharaohs)
Peace
Shame on the white west! I bow down!
@ matt just for the record I completely blame the people who committed these atrocities, all I blame the UN for is lying about their intentions. ghosts of Sudan should be an interesting watch in a few years time.
@ EJ
What abou the people (He created) who were crazy and violent enough to do all the killing? If God did exist would these people exist?
Its all semantics in this case though, what it comes down to is:
"We are people and one of our greatest features is that we can make choices. U and I have made a choice to love humankind, some have chosen otherwise and some have chosen to do nothing"
true facts there buddy
DG, Stop crying. Don't blame the genocide on God. That is a cop out and completely unrealistic. The crimes that happened in rawanda were the actions of men, and men only. It is the very human race that you describe that commit crimes of this magnitude on a regular basis, only to have people turn the other cheek and curse God, the UN or America while the real criminals wake up the next day to do the same thing again. I just don't understand this way of thinking. God leaves mankind responsible for world affairs as he gave them dominion over the earth. It means exactly that. An order of laws were made clear, and it is on us to obey. He does not swoop down and referee, or bail out humankind from every problem they create. Our quality of life and our saftey on this planet are only as good as we make it, and we will be judged for our actions accordingly by God, while the innocent are spared. If you believe in God, then you must believe that there is a life after death that is much happier than our earthly existance. It is the only life that matters because it is eternal, where the wicked will be punished and the rightous rewarded. Evil and evil people should be blamed for the genocide in rawanda, but they always seem to get away with it all, while God is blamed for everyone's screw-ups. Have you noticed, because I have for sure, that people publically blame God for all the evil in the world, but never thank him when the good things happen? Sorry for the biblical cliche', but Africa has reaped what it has sown.