Response to Peter Worthington's Column

Last week, Toronto Sun columnist Peter Worthington, in criticizing Senator Roméo Dallaire's support for the return of Omar Khadr, attacked the record of Roméo Dallaire in his handling of the Rwandan genocide.

Worthington did himself a great disservice by dishonouring and misrepresenting the record of (Ret.) General Roméo Dallaire, as well as grossly over-simplifying the plight of child soldiers in war zones.

His personal and below-the-belt attacks on Roméo Dallaire also contribute to the overall weakness of his arguments in the case of Omar Khadr.

His first error is in characterizing Dallaire's contributions to human rights as an "abysmal failure" in reference to his time in Rwanda. As someone who has spent time working in Rwanda side-by-side youth who have been affected by the genocide, I have spoken at great length with Rwandese people who fittingly hold Roméo Dallaire in high regard. They do so because he was one of the few strong voices for intervention during the genocide. Worthington needs to do his homework and see that it was General Dallaire who cabled the United Nations informing them of his plans to raid the weapons caches in Kigali that were to be used in the forthcoming genocide.

It was UN bureaucrats who vetoed his attempts time and time again. Rather than beef up their presence as General Dallaire requested, the UN reduced the number of soldiers they were given.

As a professional soldier, Dallaire was faced with the limited mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), which only permitted his troops to observe the situation in Rwanda. Dallaire, in Shake Hands with the Devil, noted that his troops were not even properly armed to defend themselves.

Dallaire was a soldier with orders that he disobeyed at his own peril. What would Worthington have had General Dallaire do? Violate his orders and attack the Rwandan military and extremist militias who vastly outnumbered them 740 to 1?

Instead, he kept up as much pressure as he could and gave media unprecedented access to his compound in order to tell the world what was happening.

No single man did more to raise attention to the human rights violations occurring in Rwanda and he continues to exemplify the voice of humanity by spreading the message about the responsibility of the international community to protect human rights globally and to eradicate the use of child soldiers.

Every loss of life during the genocide was a tragedy, including that of the 10 Belgian peacekeepers, but it was not one that Dallaire ignored – it was quite the opposite. If Worthington had dug deeper, he would have discovered that Dallaire initially discovered the bodies of his peacekeepers in a Rwandan military-controlled area and could not act immediately because of the volatile situation. Again, as a professional soldier, Dallaire would have acted inappropriately if he risked more deaths by acting rashly.

Worthington also disrespects Roméo Dallaire's pain by referring to him as a "poster boy for post-traumatic stress disorder." Worthington further rubs salt in the wound by then implying that this has brought Roméo Dallaire "wealth and status." Perhaps Worthington never considered that Dallaire was forever marked by his experiences and that he has something very important to tell the world - words that should not be belittled or mocked.

Whatever one thinks about Roméo Dallaire's ideas about Omar Khadr, it is undeniable that he is experienced in dealing with child soldiers. The Interahamwe that participated in the Rwandan genocide included a large number of young people, mainly indoctrinated by adults. Looking at the example of post-genocide Rwanda where many of these youth are being successfully re-integrated into society, Dallaire hopes to introduce useful lessons into the case of Omar Khadr. Senator Roméo Dallaire never denied that Khadr did serious things, but only suggested that his age and impressionability may reduce his culpability.

Worthington himself admits that "Khadr had little choice but become what his father and family made him." When it comes to the issue of human rights, and global humanitarianism, we have a moral obligation and we should indeed be bending over backward to bring Omar Khadr to Canada. Dallaire makes a great point in arguing that once we disregard universal standard of human dignity, we can often become no worse than our enemies.

Melanie Tomsons

GOOD NEWS!!!!

This link is related to my article "Never Again, all over again: Darfur"

http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/action/events/2008_contest/winners.php

Once upon a dream: Spring Break in D.C

All of us have dreams. From winning the million dollar lottery to a honeymoon in Paris, we want our dreams to come true. One of my many dreams was to go to Washington D.C. and be where history’s heart beats loud and proud. It’s a history lover’s dream to go there, and in this Spring Break I made that dream come true. In early March when my mom was vacationing in Nicaragua, I heard about a conference being held at the Holocaust Museum about the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since I wanted to learn more about the Congo and see Washington D.C. with my own two eyes, I jumped on the chance to go. With a lot of support from my dad (who himself went with a friend in the sixties and actually saw Kennedy in a bathrobe) mom agreed to go with me as my “Babysitter” And so we set off the bus (plane tickets were too expensive and I’m not too fond of flying 30,000 feet) driving passed Georgia, North and South Carolina, and to our final stop Arlington, Virginia. Along the way, we stopped by gas stations and food joints meeting a plethora of folks. In Georgia mom and I experienced the talked about “Southern Hospitality” with some friendly store clerks striking up a conversation while getting some grub for our journey. When we reached Arlington, I found out that our hotel was a long way off the Holocaust Museum: Maryland! Mom wasn’t too happy with my act of utter stupidity. This was one of many lessons I learned about traveling and getting ready, but more about that later. We took the metro rail to Maryland and while there I asked some students how to get to our hotel and suggested we go to the visitor’s center at the University of Maryland. The campus was absolutely beautiful! The pink spring blossoms fell softly as groups of students walked without a care in the world. Despite the fact that the hotel (which they looked up the address on their computers) was a 40 min walk, they were so kind and helpful. Ok, I may be boring you so I’ll skip this and go to my first visit to the Holocaust Museum. When I first laid eyes on the grey building, I felt such a pure joy. I know I may sound morbid; of course the subject matter is a tragedy. A tragedy beyond description! Anyway, the permanent exhibition they had outlines the whole history of the Holocaust. Before entering, each person gets a passport and it tells the true story of someone who either survived or died during the Holocaust. My passport tells the story of Eva, who was born in Romania and went into hiding with her family until the end of World War II. All the different artifacts-a Hitler Youth uniform, a anti-Semitic children’s book, documents, letters, photos-seeing them was like breathing in another reality. Something that’s so close to the touch, but yet far away. After the exhibition, I went to one for children called “Daniel’s Story” who tells the story of Daniel and his family before and during the Holocaust. It’s an interactive exhibit that the kids are allowed to touch things from Daniel’s home and room. Then afterwards, mom and I went to the Hall of Remembrance where there were a section of each of the death camps and it had candles to light in memory of those who died. It felt very nice to walk in procession with other people, but it was also a time for personal reflection. Now let me go straight to what happened at the conference. It was a cold and raining Monday and I cursed at the rain for wetting my straight (semi-poofy) hair along with ruining my business attire. But all that was forgotten when I walked into the conference. Most of the speakers were from the DRC (sadly I wouldn’t have a chance to meet Romeo Dallaire since I was informed that he had to cancel. Bummer) The atmosphere was very friendly and diverse since most of the speakers came from the Congo, donned beautiful dresses bursting with color. During the introduction to speakers, a man came to sit next to mom and I knew he looked familiar to me and then read his name tag “Jimmie Briggs” He is a journalist and author of one of my favorite books “Innocents Lost: When Child Soldiers go to War” When I met him he was such a gentleman and took a picture with him!!!(I guess this was compensation for not being able to meet Sen. Dallaire) I learned so many things about the dire situation in the DRC. Millions of people have died since the 1990’s making it one of the worst humanitarian disasters since WWII. One of the speakers described the Congo as “the trigger of a gun” and how now even after Mobutu’s iron grip over the country still remains in chaos. It was a bit overwhelming to hear all of this so I needed to go outside and see the cherry blossoms. Being surrounded by thousands of tiny blossoms was absolutely breathtaking. For someone who appreciates nature, I think D.C. is very environmentally friendly. On our last day in D.C., I decided to have a last hurrah and see even more. Mom and I went to the Smithsonian, U.S. Capital, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial, and more cherry blossoms. It kind of sucked that we had to leave, I felt so at home in D.C. But of course, my heart cried for home and I missed my dad a lot. I would like to think now that I had left a piece of myself when I left Washington D.C. I look forward to returning to the place so rich with history, kindness, and a place to find your true calling in life.

Darfur, untamed

It has now been almost six years since the Sudanese government has wreaked havoc and mayhem in Darfur. To date, an estimated 400,000 or more civilians have been killed by the Arab militia known as the “Janjaweed” They have also been accused of raping thousands of women, torture, and murder in what has been called by the U.S. government as “genocide” It is of no surprise that when genocide or an crime against humanity occurs anywhere, the world really can’t bring itself to do something. A good example of this is the genocide in Rwanda, when as the world and the UN stood back for 100 days and watched over 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis murdered by the Hutu extremist. Not only did the UN Security Council (along with the U.S.) knew full well what was happening, but refused to do anything to put an end to the genocide (which the U.S. government refused to use the “G” word). Today, Rwanda is a painful legacy of shame and inaction that makes some wonder, how could this have happened on our watch? Don’t we recognize that every single person in this world is human and deserves dignity and respect no matter where they live or who they are? If world leaders have learned their lesson from Rwanda, why is it that six years later, Darfur still is untamed and people keep dying everyday? But the true heroes of Darfur are the ordinary citizens, especially the youth whom are carrying the initiative to make sure Darfur goes unnoticed. All over the world, people are making there voices heard for those who can’t speak and holding their governments accountable for the continuing disregard of blood being spilled. In any case, Darfur could once again become inducted in the “Hall of Shame” for the whole world and we only have the gods of history to judge us.

Excellent Column in the Toronto Star by Roméo Dallaire

A great column published in the Toronto Star today by Roméo Dallaire emphasised Canada's responsibility to protect:


A leading middle power goes AWOL from Darfur: Canada championed the `responsibility to protect' but has been virtually absent from the scene
Canada championed the `responsibility to protect' but has been virtually absent from the scene
We Canadians should be mad as hell that the genocide in Darfur, now entering its sixth year, rages on unimpeded while our leaders stand by and do nothing. It's not as if we don't hear daily about this ongoing crisis. If we plead ignorance, then it is willful ignorance.
Detailed UN and media reports from the ravaged area tell of more massacres and more violence against inhabitants and 2.2 million displaced persons. Systemic rape as a weapon of war has become a major feature of the conflict. Darfuri boys between the ages of 12 and 18 are singled out and murdered. Non-governmental organizations seeking to bring desperately needed relief to the population are looted and attacked. Darfuris fleeing to Chad suffer in squalid, unsupplied camps while cross-border attacks by the janjaweed militias occur unabated.
Why does the slaughter, which has already claimed 200,000 to 300,000 lives, continue? The brave but beleaguered African Union peacekeeping force (AMIS) attempted unsuccessfully for several years to stem the tide of violence and human rights violations. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1769 six months ago to relieve the AMIS forces and create a combined UN-AU force, dubbed UNAMID, to stop the killing and ensure distribution of humanitarian aid.
On Feb. 18, UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes summed up one offensive in west Darfur that illustrates UNAMID's daunting challenge. He said their assessments have revealed the extent of the violence inflicted on 160,000 civilians in the northern corridor connecting El Geneina and Kulbus, including the 20,000 currently at risk in Jebel Moun. "The civilian population has experienced widespread displacement, property damage and significant trauma and loss of life. Approximately 57,000 civilians have been displaced due to the offensive." Compounding their plight, the Khartoum government has grounded all humanitarian aid flights to these besieged people.
So why is UNAMID still not fully deployed? Bluntly speaking, it's because Sudan is obstructionist, China is complacent, and Canada and the rest of the international community are AWOL.
The Sudan government is a major obstacle to peace efforts in Darfur. It has foot-dragged, niggled and pontificated against UNAMID every step of the way, even in the face of Resolution 1769. The reason is clear enough: Khartoum and the janjaweed militias want to buy time to torture, drive out and kill as many Darfuris as possible before the combined UNAMID becomes fully effective.
Standing solidly behind Khartoum is China, a Security Council member and the major supplier of weaponry and engineering support enabling Sudan to carry out its bloody agenda in Darfur.
The Chinese deny this, of course, but it was China that watered down Resolution 1769 to create loopholes permitting delay and weakening the resolution. Chinese officials have recently made soothing statements about their eagerness to stop the bloodshed, but no meaningful action has ensued. China's weapons still clatter into Sudan while Sudanese oil flows back to China – it's the perfect genocidal storm.
As the 2008 Olympic Games approach and China squirms in the international spotlight about its role in the genocide, every country should bear down on China to act resolutely to end the Darfur tragedy.
For Canadians, the big question must be: What is Canada doing to help Darfuris? They are under attack by their own vicious government. Whatever happened to the "responsibility to protect" (R2P) principle that Canada championed so stridently at the UN in 2005? Aren't we morally obliged, after all the arm-twisting by our diplomats at the UN to adopt R2P, to be a model state when it comes to applying R2P measures in Darfur?
Canada has been virtually absent from efforts to resolve the Darfur crisis. Now is the time to lead by example by committing serious resources to the UN, which is in desperate need of our high-quality troops and leadership.
It is not acceptable for Canada to point to Afghanistan and say that mission precludes a leading role in Darfur. The military told the Martin and Harper governments that it could handle two major international operations.
To his credit, former prime minister Paul Martin appointed an advisory group and had begun contributing real resources, but Stephen Harper promptly fired the group and contributions stalled. As a leading middle power, are we incapable of handling two problems at once? If we are capable, why aren't we moving on Darfur?
Canada has become hypocritical. Instead of demanding a meaningful, robust military presence, Canadians and their elected officials throw aid money at the problem to buy peace for our consciences.
Maybe we should stop prattling about our country's greatness and accept that we are no better than any other world power, middle or otherwise, where unbridled self-interest and fear of casualties dominate debate.
To prove otherwise, Canada should set aside its economic interests and show its mettle by expressing to oil-thirsty China our willingness to cut PetroChina out of the Alberta oil-sands project if it continues to arm the Sudanese.
More than ever, we need to find the statesmanship in Canada to intervene in this massive human rights tragedy. We said great things after the Rwandan genocide, but we have done nothing. And Darfur is not our only failure: We did not intervene to stop the slaughter in the Congo and we are leaving Sierra Leone too soon.
Speaking to the Conference of Defence Associations recently, Harper said there are times when political will must use force to bring peace and security to besieged peoples.
Canadians must ask themselves: If not Darfur, where? If not now, when?Senator Roméo Dallaire is the author of Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.