Rwanda 1994 and The Failure Of The United Nations Mission.: The Whole Truth

It has been said that the United Nations received prior warning of the Rwandan catastrophe: an informant met UN Officers and led one of them to a weapons cache. That officer was Captain Amadou Deme. Was it a weapons cache? Who was the informant? Deme´s account contains surprising information. Rwanda´s tragedy was triggered by the assassination of two African presidents. The first UN official to reach the scene was Captain Deme, Intelligence Office of the Force Commander General Romeo Dallaire. Later Deme was a member of the UN investigation into the assassination. The captain reflects on the abrupt shutdown of the investigation. At the Mille Collines hotel (known widely as the Hotel Rwanda, from the film) were hundreds of refugees. During the fighting, a hurried attempt was made to transport them across the battle lines. At a roadblock, the convoy was stopped and Deme found himself standing in the open, negotiating with angry militiamen. A disaster was averted. He got help from a man now sitting in a UN prison. On April 6, 1994 there was peace in Rwanda and a political process offering hope to all sides. The story of Amadou Deme allows to see how that peace was allowed to slip away.