Programme Number: 1
Week of: Monday 12 April 2004
Pilot Programme: “The Rwandan Genocide – Ten Years On”

Editor / Presenter: Ben Dotsei Malor
Producer: Derrick Mbatha

NARRATOR:
Hello … and Welcome to United Nations Radio from New York

This is:
… The United Nations and Africa, this week.
I’m Ben Dotsei Malor.

In this programme,
The tenth anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide – the world remembers the massacre of at least eight hundred thousand Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

*** SONG OF THE ORPHAN ***

CLIPS MONTAGE DURATION: 47”

JACQUELINE-3:
“The same Hutu neighbours had one day taken my mother and father and brothers and sisters, my uncles and aunts to the nearby river and they had proceeded to butcher them with machetes, clubs and other similar instruments.”

ROMEO-4:
“Are all humans human, or some more human than others? … That one nation even made a computation of how many dead Rwandans would worth one dead soldier from a developed world’s military.”

SG-1:
“The genocide in Rwanda should never, ever have happened.”

CHARLES-3:
“Our never again should be exactly that: Never Again.”

*** SONG OF THE ORPHAN ***

NARRATOR:
We hear from some survivors and from some of the key actors …

And we ask ….
• Why did it happen?
• Why was the UN unable to prevent or stop the killings?
• What lessons have been learned?

*** SONG OF THE ORPHAN ***

NARRATOR:
This song of lamentation by Rwandan singer Cecile Kayirebwa is about a child who regains consciousness after a dreadful event only to realise that his mother, father and all relatives were not around … And the child cries out: “I’m all alone!”

This was the somber tone set in the United Nations General Assembly as the UN observed a minute’s silence, and organised other events worldwide, to mark the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide.

*** SONG OF THE ORPHAN ***

One survivor, whose story is reflected in this song of lamentation, is 19-year-old Jacqueline Murekatete. She lost her entire family - father, mother, four brothers and two sisters – in the genocide. She says her nightmare began on the evening of April 6, when the Hutu President of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana and his counterpart from neighbouring Burundi were killed after their plane was shot down by unknown attackers over Kigali.

JACKIE-A: Jacqueline on role of radio DURATION: 18”
“I listened to radio sponsored announcements saying that Tutsis were cockroaches, they were snakes … Tutsis were our misfortunes and the final solution at that time was to kill all Tutsis and anyone else who sympathises with them.”

NARRATOR:
The role played by one particular radio station – Radio Television Milles Collines - in fuelling hatred against Tutsis was something that bothered the UN Force Commander in Kigali at the time, Canadian General Romeo Dallaire.

ROMEO-R: General Dallaire on Radio DURATION: 25”
“In a nation that is radio bound, that in some villages the radio or the voice of the radio is nearly the voice of God, the impact of that station is incalculable. It educated people on how to kill and how to disembowel and how to pull out foetuses and how to cut them in half and how to rape, how to mutilate.”

NARRATOR:
General Dallaire said his requests to the international community to jam the station or silence it were turned down by his superiors. As the hate propaganda continued so too did the killings … including the massacre of many of Jacqueline’s relatives.

JACQUELINE-4: Jacqueline on the killing of other relatives - 19”
“And every day I was told of uncles burnt inside their houses alive, of aunts who had been raped and mutilated before they were killed and of infants and toddlers who had been thrown alive in latrines.”

*** ACTUALITY OF ERIC IN FRENCH ***

NARRATOR:
Another genocide survivor Eric Nzabihimana spoke about valiant efforts he and other Tutsis made in the town of Bissesero to defend themselves against Hutu attackers. He said, at one point they saw French military personnel in their area and begged them for help but he said the French soldiers deceived them and abandoned the besieged Tutsis to be slaughtered by the extremist Hutus.

Indeed as the killings continued over a period of hundred days between April and July, troops from Western nations were sent into Kigali. General Dallaire.

ROMEO-2: General Dallaire on evacuations- DUR 32”
“Within 48 hours of the start of the slaughter, commenced a deployment of a 2,000 of the best trained troops of the world into Kigali and the general area. They came from the great nations of France, United States, Britain, Italy. They came in thousands to evacuate thousands, evacuate thousands of white expatriates.”

The UN Force Commander did not receive the support and assistance he requested. General Dallaire has blamed himself for the failure of his mission in Rwanda. This guilt has caused him to suffer from bouts alcoholism and depression. And he has tried to kill himself. General accuses the international community – especially the UN Security Council - of failing Rwandans.

ROMEO-3: General Dallaire on order from Security Council – 23”
“As millions were being internally displaced, refugeed, killed, injured, we were able to save 30,000. And at that, I had been ordered to abandon them. The orders came from the Security Council - and nobody objected.”

NARRATOR:
Well, there was an objection – a technical one taken in the field in Kigali - some Senegalese, Tunisian and Ghanaian soldiers, under the command of the UN Deputy Force Commander General Henry Anyidoho of Ghana decided not to pull out.

ANYIDOHO-1: General Anyidoho on no-retreat DUR: 16”
“Everyday that Ghanaian soldiers stayed in Rwanda in those days, I held myself accountable for every officer and man. I was worried about their families back at home especially after one of my soldiers was killed and we had to fly his body back home, Whatever the case was, my conscience told me again and again that it was a professional calling and we could not abandon Rwandese, at that critical moment of greatest need.”

NARRATOR:
This brave effort by the African soldiers must be recognised, according to the UN Special Adviser on Africa, Ibrahim Gambari.

GAMBARI-A: Mr Gambari on the role of Ghanaians and others. DUR: 20”
“In contrast, the Ghanaian battalion of less than 500, which stayed back, demonstrated clearly …. In terms of saving human life in the situation.”

NARRATOR:
Reflecting on his role, UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has been speaking about his own bitter regret and abiding sorrow.

SG-2: Mr Annan’s personal sorrow … DURATION: 23”
“I myself, as head of the UN’s peacekeeping department at the time, pressed dozens of countries for troops. I believed at that time that I was doing my best. But I realised after the genocide that there was more that I could and should have done to sound the alarm and rally support.”

NARRATOR:
The lack of support from the international community seems to be the of the horror felt months earlier - in the USA in particular - after American peacekeepers were killed in the Somali capital Mogadishu and dragged through the streets. At the same the attention of the world media was also focussed on South Africa where the country’s first non-racial elections were taking place to end apartheid. But Rwandan Foreign Minister, Charles Murigande, says another key factor was the world’s refusal to use the word “genocide.”

CHARLES-2: Mr. Murigande on the word “genocide” DUR: 22”
“There was reluctance by the international community to call what was taking place in the country by its true name, “genocide”. Calling it genocide would have made it an obligation for the international community to intervene, which they were unwilling to do.”

NARRATOR:
Mr Murigande says the world owes Rwanda an apology.

CHARLES-4: Mr. Murigande on apology. DUR: 22”
“The United Nations and the international community should apologize to the people of Rwanda for having failed them when they should have taken action, either to prevent the genocide or to stop it once it had started. With a few exceptions, this apology has not been forthcoming. ”

*** ACTUALITY OF SPECIOZE IN FRENCH ***

NARRATOR:
Apart from the demand for apology, some people, like survivor, Specioze Kanyabugoyi, want the world to pay reparations for the Rwanda genocide.

But Professor Ramesh Thakur of the UN University, though acknowledging the failure of the international community, cautions that some fingers of blame and responsibility should be pointing inwards.

THAKUR: Professor Thakur on personal responsibility. DUR: 29”
“As you might guess … much more for acts of omission. ”

And on the issue of reparations UN Special Adviser on Africa Ibrahim Gambari also warns that everyone could get bogged down on the issue and thereby neglect the more immediate needs of Rwandans.

GAMBARI-BB: USG Gambari on reparations & UN work. DUR: 26”
“We cannot wait for this debate … all its dimensions.”

NARRATOR:
So, if an apology and reparations are not the solution then what measures or actions need to be taken to ensure that genocide never happens again? General Anyidoho of Ghana suggests that African nations should take the lead.

ANYIDOHO-2: General Anyidoho on African self-reliance DUR: 15”
“This is why I have tried to impress upon Africans at every gathering since Rwanda that we as a people of a continent, we should begin to take some concrete steps ourselves, even as we wait for help to come from somewhere.”

NARRATOR:
But, General Romeo Dallaire remains sceptical.

ROMEO-5: General Dallaire on gorilla’s being more important. DUR: 31”
“I still believe, however, that if some organization in the world decided to wipe out the 320 mountain gorillas, and endangered species … if some outfit wanted to wipe out those 320 gorillas, there would be still more of reaction by the international community, led by environmentalists, probably to curtail or to stop that than there would be still today in attempting to protect thousands of human beings being slaughtered in the same country.”

NARRATOR:
The former Force Commander’s scepticism is not shared by the UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette.

DSG LOUISE FRECHETTE on progress. DUR: 13”
“In the last ten years, we have made some progress – more robust and timely peacekeeping, improved early warning and human rights mechanisms, the establishment of the International Criminal Court.”

NARRATOR:
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan also highlights what the UN is doing to help Rwandans recover and reconcile. He mentions mine clearing work, the repatriation of refugees, the rehabilitation of clinics and schools and assistance in building a viable judicial system.
But he acknowledges that more needs to be done.

SG-3: Mr Annan on measures being taken now DUR: 20”
“I have suggested a number of measures that would better equip the United Nations and its Member States to meet genocide with resolve, including a special Rapporteur or adviser on the subject. More can and must be done.

** SEGUE **

JACQUELINE-1: Jacqueline on a world without genocide DUR: 19”
“A world without genocide is not a dream but a reality that can be brought about provided of course that each of us can work for it and each of us must be willing to work for it for the sake of ourselves and the sake of our children.”

*** SONG OF THE ORPHAN ***
(Please, play briefly, dip upon hand wave, and hold under narration.)

NARRATOR:
For genocide survivors like Jacqueline Murekatete, the slaughter of her entire family would not have been in vain if another genocide could be prevented anywhere in the world. Everyone acknowledges that the international community failed Rwandans in 1994. And though some may disagree over the reasons why the genocide could not be prevented it’s clear there’s no argument over the determination of many people, like Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Charles Murigande, to ensure that this the last case of genocide in our world.

CHARLES-3: Mr Murigande on ‘Never Again’ DURATION: 11”
“Our never again should be exactly that: Never Again. No other nation or people should be allowed to suffer what we suffered in Rwanda.”

*** SONG OF THE ORPHAN ***

NARRATOR:
For United Nations Radio, this has been Ben Dotsei Malor with a special edition of The United Nations and Africa This Week. Bye bye.

*** SONG OF THE ORPHAN ***