Luc Marchal
Background
Marchal had, by 1994, accumulated thirty years of experience in the
Service in Rwanda 1993/94
Marchal landed in Rwanda on 9 December 1993.[1] He was the most senior officer in the 440-troop strong Belgian contribution to UNAMIR. As the best trained and equipped contingent in the force, the Belgians formed the backbone of the force. Marchal had been given the command in October and, before leaving, had complained that the contingent did not have enough firepower if he needed to evacuate. He was reassured, "You're going to Club Med." Belgium was eager to send a contingent to UNAMIR to protect the large number of Belgian citizens in the Rwanda and offer an excuse for their withdrawal from the United Nations mission in Somalia. On several occasions, Marchal asked Brussels for guidance to direct his operations. He was never provided with directives, or even rules of engagement to govern what the Belgian peacekeepers could and could not do.[3]
Dallaire became increasingly frustrated that UNAMIR was expected to operate in a total lack of information about the country and current events. When his request to
Marchal was also given command of UNAMIR's
On 10 January, Faustin Twagiramungu, who was chosen as the transitional prime minister, informed Dallaire that he had made contact with an informant within the Interahamwe militia. Dallaire sent Marchal to the meeting the next day with the informant, codenamed "Jean-Pierre." "Jean-Pierre" described a complex process of training, organizing and arming militias in preparation for the extermination of Tutsi.[7][8] Dallaire would describe his reaction: "Finally it looked like we could identify the third force, grab hold of it and wrestle it down. After months of being forced to act after the fact, we had a chance to seize the initiative."[9] Marchal was ordered to plan for four simultaneous raids on the arms caches reported by "Jean-Pierre." Both Dallaire and Marchal perceived the intended raids as being well within their mandate, the caches themselves being a violation of the KWSA and the arming of militias being a violation of the Arusha Accords and threat to the safety of UNAMIR itself.[9]
Aftermath
Marchal was accused of negligence contributing to the death of the ten Belgian peacekeepers in a
Publications
- Marchal, Luc (2001). Rwanda: la descente aux enfers. Témoignage d'un peacekeeper: Décembre 1993-Avril 1994. Paris: Éditions Labor. ISBN 978-2-8040-1632-6. (in French)
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Dallaire 2005, pp. 119–120.
- ^ Melvern, p. 81
- ^ Melvern, pp. 82 & 84
- ^ Melvern, p. 84
- ^ Melvern, pp. 82-83
- ^ Melvern, pp. 92-93
- ^ Dallaire, pp. 141-144
- ^ Melvern, pp. 95-96
- ^ a b Dallaire, p. 144
- ^ "Military court clears Belgian U.N. commander in Rwanda massacre". Associated Press News. 4 June 1996. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
- ^ "Former Rwandan major gets 20 years in genocide trial". The Guardian. 5 July 2007. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
References
- Barnett, Michael (2002). Eyewitness to a Genocide: The United Nations and Rwanda. ISBN 0-8014-8867-2.
- Dallaire, Roméo (2005). Shake Hands With The Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. London: Arrow. ISBN 978-0-09-947893-5.
- ISBN 978-1564321718.
- ISBN 0-312-30486-2.
External links
- "Interview: Colonel Luc Marchal". The Triumph of Evil. Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
- Belgian Senate (6 December 1997). ""L'attitude du colonel Marchal"". Commission d'enquête parlementaire concernant les événements du Rwanda. Retrieved 23 December 2009. (in French)