W2I Report News Summary

Table of Contents / Table des matières
Inaction in the face of genocide....................................................................................................................1/59
Genocide tests our will...................................................................................................................................3/59
PREVENTING GENOCIDE Readiness to act...........................................................................................4/59
Genocide lurks in the dark............................................................................................................................6/59
Genocide lesson..............................................................................................................................................7/59
‘New era' of genocide a threat......................................................................................................................8/59
Canada must do more to end genocide: report; Human Rights; Dallaire supports bigger
Canadian effort abroad..............................................................................................................................10/59
Genocide, however distant, still a threat: report......................................................................................12/59
Canada must do more to stop genocide, report says; Human Rights; Dallaire supports bigger
Canadian effort abroad..............................................................................................................................13/59
A ‘new era' of genocide...............................................................................................................................15/59
Genocide is still a threat: report; Intervention Canada and U.S. should be prepared to act
against such atrocities.................................................................................................................................17/59
Genocide still a threat: report; Panel finds Canada needs to recognize it should be prepared to
act against such atrocities...........................................................................................................................20/59
Genocide, however distant, still a threat says report................................................................................24/59
Pour mettre fin aux génocides....................................................................................................................25/59
La prévention des génocides doit devenir une priorité nationale, disent des experts...........................27/59
Dallaire plaide la cause des droits de l'homme; Le général à la retraite suggère la création d'un
superministère de la Sécurité internationale............................................................................................29/59
Finding the will to act; Report: step up fight against genocide...............................................................31/59
Genocide: "Never Again"...........................................................................................................................33/59
Genocide, however distant, still a threat....................................................................................................35/59
i
Table of Contents / Table des matières
Focus on genocide vital: report...................................................................................................................39/59
Haunted by a genocide Canada ignored; Panel urges intervention plan to ensure horrors, like
those in Rwanda, are never again overlooked..........................................................................................40/59
Far−away genocides have impact on our shores GENOCIDES: A report calls on Canada to act......42/59
Canada urged to act against genocides; Rwandan atrocities cited as western failure..........................43/59
'Horrendous' genocidal situations in foreign lands should bring intervention from Canada,
report says; Former diplomat who was held hostage for four months calls for stronger response....45/59
Act on genocides, Ottawa told; Report urges early intervention; Canada, other nations must
consider military action to halt atrocities, it says....................................................................................47/59
MASS ATROCITIES Will to halt genocide lacking: panel Report urges Canada to build
diplomatic corps in 'fragile' nations, challenges media...........................................................................49/59
Ending genocide a priority: report; Calls for rewrite of policy to halt horrors like Rwanda..............51/59
WHEN THE WEST INTERVENES Do we have the means to match our will? Before shipping
out for distant interests, consider our limitations....................................................................................53/59
MASS KILLINGS Distant genocides demand intervention, report urges.............................................55/59
Hope for future: senator; Humanity Man who witnessed horrors of Rwanda has faith young
people will change things............................................................................................................................57/59
Genocidal disasters pose threats to Canadian interests, says professor.................................................59/59
ii
Inaction in the face of genocide
IDNUMBER 200909260092
PUBLICATION: The Toronto Star
DATE: 2009.09.26
EDITION: Ont
SECTION: Editorial
PAGE: IN06
BYLINE: John Honderich
SOURCE: Special to The Star
COPYRIGHT: © 2009 Torstar Corporation
WORD COUNT: 698
Ultimately, civilized countries, their leaders and institutions, must be judged in history by their response to a
genocide.
One of the most poignant examples is surely the Rwandan genocide of 1994 that saw more than 800,000
massacred in a 100−day frenzy of racial bloodletting.
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton has consistently called America's collective failure to intervene "the
greatest regret of his presidency." The reputation of former UN secretary general Kofi Annan has been
permanently tarred by his refusal to heed warnings from Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire that a genocide was
about to unfold.
And the international journalism community has been forced to engage in serious soul searching as to why it
missed reporting the genocide until very late.
Now it has been revealed that the Canadian government was formally warned early on by a respected senior
diplomat that a genocide was underway. Yet it did nothing.
The diplomat? None other than Robert Fowler, recently held hostage for four months by Al Qaeda while on a
UN mission in Niger.
Fowler was deputy minister of national defence when he visited Rwanda halfway through the genocide in
1994 and then authored a searing five−page report on the atrocities.
He estimated at least 400,000 had already been killed and argued that Canada's reasons for inaction would be
"irrelevant to the historians who chronicle the near elimination of a tribe while the white world's accountants
count and the foreign policy specialists machinate."
What did Canada do? Virtually nothing. Indeed, the lore within Foreign Affairs is that one bureaucrat even
scrawled "not in Canada's interest" on the report.
For a country that prides itself on its commitment to human rights, with its history of peacekeeping and its
cherished record of speaking out where injustice or killing prevails, this failure to shout, let alone act, stands
as an abject failure. This country's media must also share the same verdict.
One might well ask: What could Canada have done, particularly given the distance between us?
2009/09/30 1/59
Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, who also visited Rwanda just before the genocide, provided three concrete
examples.
As one of Rwanda's key providers of foreign aid, Canada easily could have shut off the tap. We also could
have denied student visas and even access to the children of pro−genocide Rwandans wishing to study in
Canada.
However, it is his third example that is the most compelling. Canada could have funded or help set up a rival
radio network to counter the vicious incitation to genocide that was being propagated by the state radio
station, Radio Mille Collines.
A broadcaster from that station was eventually convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the new
international crime of incitation to genocide. It is hard to underestimate the lethal impact of this station
constantly and incessantly urging "kill the cockroaches" − referring to the Tutsi minority.
The U.S. was asked by human rights groups to jam the signal from Radio Mille Collines. But the U.S., citing
freedom of expression, refused to act. Parenthetically, then−president Clinton subsequently changed the U.S.
regulations on such jamming − but well after the killing had subsided.
What difference might a rival radio network or jamming have made? One cannot say.
Yet Broadbent is surely right when he observed: "We were in a position to take so−called soft power (actions)
that would have made a real difference. But we did nothing."
For Canada's media − along with virtually all other world media − to miss such a huge story is still hard to
fathom. The machete−wielding government of Rwanda consistently characterized the conflict as a civil war, a
description that held sway for weeks.
By way of excuse, much has been made of the fact that the election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa was
taking place at the same time.
Yet surely Canadians should expect that its media was capable of providing both coverage and commentary
on two major stories out of Africa. (Coincidentally, the Star's Paul Watson, now covering the Arctic, was one
of the first foreign correspondents to enter Rwanda and eventually get the story of the genocide.)
Like virtually all others, however, we were too late to provide the necessary stories and prompt the necessary
outrage that might have forced the international community to intervene.
As a country, Canadians have been haunted by Rwanda. The story of Gen. Dallaire and his personal travails
are etched in our consciousness. Now it turns out our government was warned, yet we did nothing.
Inevitably Canada cannot help but be judged harshly for our inaction. One might hope we would learn from
this experience and be able to promise it would never happen again.
Somehow that feels like wishful thinking.
John Honderich is chair of the Torstar board and sponsors programs to help improve journalism in Rwanda.
2009/09/30 2/59
Genocide tests our will
IDNUMBER 200909250028
DATE: 2009.09.25
EDITION: Ont
SECTION: Editorial
PAGE: A22
WORD COUNT: 427
The hillsides of Rwanda were so covered with corpses that Venuste Karasira, his hand hacked off, had to
"swim in their blood" to escape. "The cries of the people in agony were everywhere," he would recall years
later. "We died because we were left by United Nations soldiers," and because the United States, Canada and
others lacked the will to prevent the 1994 genocide, though they were warned a year before.
A Canadian peacekeeper, Gen. Romeo Dallaire, now a senator, was left powerless to thwart the murder of as
many as a million people.
Politicians vowed "never again." Yet 15 years later Canada, like the U.S., still has no focused approach to
forecasting mass murder, and marshalling action to avert it. As we know from Kosovo to Darfur to Sri Lanka,
genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes persist to this day.
And no one − not even safe, sheltered North Americans − can fully escape the ugly spillover: broken societies
that destabilize regions and produce mass refugee migrations, pandemic disease that threatens our health, and
international crime that undermines our security.
For good reasons, moral and practical, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government should welcome a
groundbreaking report this week that urges Canada to make genocide prevention a key focus of foreign
policy. Mobilizing the Will to Intervene, by Frank Chalk from the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human
Rights Studies at Concordia University, challenges government to think big, for once.
Sensibly, it urges Ottawa to develop a strategic partnership with the U.S. and other allies to confront genocide.
Ottawa should beef up the foreign affairs and defence ministries so they can better keep track of crumbling
societies, emerging humanitarian crises and ethnic violence. It must be willing and able to bring speedy
diplomatic and other pressure to bear to defuse tensions. And it must have troops trained and ready to
intervene as a last resort.
The report's specific proposals include naming a minister for international security, setting up a Parliamentary
committee to hold authorities to account, putting more diplomats in troubled zones, and establishing a civilian
corps of experts.
But debate over the details must not obscure the big picture: the Canadian government needs to recognize "the
moral imperative of engaging when truly appalling, unspeakable and unacceptable things are occurring," as
veteran diplomat Robert Fowler aptly puts it.
Canada's national interest dictates that thwarting mass murder be a foreign policy priority, not an afterthought.
We can't be everywhere, all the time. But we can and should try to prevent the very worst.
2009/09/30 3/59
PREVENTING GENOCIDE Readiness to act
PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL
IDN: 092670080
DATE: 2009.09.24
PAGE: A16
BYLINE:
SECTION: Editorial
EDITION: Metro
DATELINE:
WORDS: 441
WORD COUNT: 435
A Canadian report on ways and means of preventing genocide and other mass atrocities is at its best in some
solid practical proposals.
Some of its other recommendations, however, such as a new cabinet portfolio of international security, are
less likely to be effective.
The report is the work of the Will to Intervene Project, co−directed by Senator Romeo Dallaire and Frank
Chalk, a Concordia University historian, at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. It
is addressed to the governments and politicians of both Canada and the United States, with different
recommendations tailored to the two countries' different institutions.
The most convincing passages come under the heading of "building capacity" − both civilian and military.
The report proposes that Canada should have a stronger diplomatic and development presence in fragile,
failing or failed states, where there is a risk of mass atrocities.
Raymond Chretien, a former Canadian ambassador to the U.S., is strikingly quoted as saying that some of the
Scandinavian countries, though much smaller than Canada, are much more deft at responding to international
crises. Accordingly, the report recommends a permanent Canadian Prevention Corps of experts and civil
servants from a range of disciplines and departments, who would not have to be assembled in a panic, to deal
with a crisis when it might already be too late.
The report calls for the Armed Forces to have a greater orientation toward the protection of civilians in
intrastate conflicts, in contrast to most of the peacekeeping missions of the past, which were mostly intended
to secure ceasefire lines between armies. This reasoning has much in common with that of General Stanley
McChrystal, the commander of ISAF in Afghanistan, in his report that was leaked earlier this week.
The Will to Intervene report also has sensible recommendations about greater heavy−lift capacity, so that
troops and equipment can be moved more quickly to where they are needed.
On the other hand, some of this report seems to be written in a civil−service version of management−speak.
There is too much about declarations of priorities, which could turn out to be empty gestures.
Canada already has too large and unwieldy a cabinet. If, as is proposed, there were a separate minister of
international security, who would be "a senior figure within cabinet," that problem would be exacerbated, and
the authority of the foreign affairs minister would be undermined.
2009/09/30 4/59
But the report is prudent in not assuming that any and all humanitarian disasters require military intervention.
It does not try to widen the responsibility−to−protect doctrine, but makes a real contribution on how to apply
it.
ADDED SEARCH TERMS:
GEOGRAPHIC NAME: Canada; World
SUBJECT TERM:foreign policy; foreign relations; human rights; peacekeeping forces; political
2009/09/30 5/59
Genocide lurks in the dark
IDNUMBER 200909240076
PUBLICATION: Prince George Citizen
DATE: 2009.09.24
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: 29
DATELINE: OTTAWA
BYLINE: John Ward
SOURCE: The Canadian Press
COPYRIGHT: © 2009 Prince George Citizen
WORD COUNT: 238
Canada and the United States should recognize that genocidal disasters such as that in Rwanda threaten their
national interest and they should be prepared to act against such atrocities, says a new report.
While the United Nations has made much of its new "responsibility to protect" doctrine, the new report says
what's now needed is "the will to intervene."
The first step to creating that will is the recognition that the fallout from humanitarian disasters can reach
across oceans, says the report from a panel of experts including Sen. Romeo Dallaire, the retired general who
commanded the hopeless UN mission in Rwanda 15 years ago.
"The chaos resulting from these atrocities poses credible danger to Canadian and American national interests
at home and abroad," the report warns.
Frank Chalk, a Concordia University professor, recognized authority on genocide and co−director of the
project that produced the report, said the threats are obvious.
"Displacement and the creation of refugee flows denies people pure water, inoculation, vaccination, treatment,
etc., and creates a vast Petri dish for the development of future pandemics," he said.
In a world linked by jets, contagion can leap halfway around the world in hours.
"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."
The old idea that only a palpable, direct threat requires action, must be discarded, the 160−page report argues.
"We need to redefine our national interest more broadly, not only to help failing states, but also to help and
protect ourselves."
Other panel members include retired diplomat Robert Fowler, who was kidnapped in Niger last December and
Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader and founding president of the International Centre for Human Rights and
Democratic Development.
2009/09/30 6/59
Genocide lesson
IDNUMBER 200909240130
PUBLICATION: National Post
DATE: 2009.09.24
EDITION: National
SECTION: Letters
PAGE: A17
BYLINE: Jeff Gardiner
SOURCE: National Post
WORD COUNT: 99
Re: Canada Must Do More To Stop Genocide, Report Says, Sept. 23.
Good on Romeo Dallaire for wanting to combat the problem of genocide. I would like to add that in almost
every case of genocide there has been in the last 100 years, the government first tried to disarm the
population. These are the very same policies that Senator Dallaire's Liberal party has been in favour of for
decades. Maybe it would be a good idea to stop backing UN policies that lead to the disarmament of innocent
civilians.
Jeff Gardiner, Wellesley, Ont.
2009/09/30 7/59
‘New era' of genocide a threat
IDNUMBER 200909230050
PUBLICATION: Guelph Mercury
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A10
Senator Romeo Dallaire, (left), Dr. Frank Chalk, director ofMontreal Institute
for Genocide and Human Rights Studies and Robert Fowler unveil the Will to
ILLUSTRATION:
Intervene (W2I) Project report during a press conference at the National Press
Theatre in Ottawa, Tuesday. Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press ;
KEYWORDS: GENOCIDE−REPORT
DATELINE: OTTAWA
BYLINE: John Ward
WORD COUNT: 477
across oceans, says the report from a panel of experts including Senator Romeo Dallaire, the retired general
who commanded the UN mission in Rwanda 15 years ago.
etc., and creates a vast petri dish for the development of future pandemics and infectious disease," he said.
protect ourselves."
2009/09/30 8/59
held for four months by an al−Qaida offshoot; Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader and founding president of
the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development; Tory Senator Hugh Segal; and an
assembly of experts in international affairs.
The report said Canada has to recognize that when all else fails, force may have to be used to combat crimes
against humanity.
It recommends that Canada make prevention of mass atrocities a national priority by appointing a senior
cabinet minister to monitor such catastrophes and keep government and Canadians informed as disasters
unfold.
This ministry would work with departments and agencies to co−ordinate the flow of information and the
development of a response.
The Canadian Forces should be beefed up and given the doctrine and training for interventions to protect
civilians in times of genocide.
It also says the House of Commons should have a standing committee on genocide prevention.
"This is a new era, you need new tools," said Dallaire.
He said acting before a crisis explodes to unmanageable proportions will save blood and money in the long
run, because cleaning up the wreckage afterward costs billions of dollars and takes years.
Chalk said the Liberals and NDP have accepted the report's recommendations.
The UN has been reluctant to order interventions, but the report's authors point out that the UN has been
sidestepped in places such as Afghanistan and East Timor in favour of other international bodies.
The report closely looks at disasters such as Rwanda, where the world looked on as hundreds of thousands of
people were massacred, and Kosovo, where NATO intervened to protect people from ethnic cleansing.
Broadbent said the Canadian government knew terrible things were brewing in Rwanda, but did little. Fowler
said senior bureaucrats in Ottawa were told of the horrors unfolding, but saw no Canadian interests at stake.
2009/09/30 9/59
Canada must do more to end genocide: report;
Human Rights; Dallaire supports bigger Canadian
effort abroad
IDNUMBER 200909230125
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: National
SECTION: Canada
PAGE: A9
Color Photo: Canwest News Service / Senator Romeo Dallaire; Color Photo: Finbarr
ILLUSTRATION: O'Reilly, Reuters / Canadian soldiers scan with their weapons during a patrol in the
Panjwaii district of Kandahar province. ;
DATELINE: OTTAWA
BYLINE: Norma Greenaway
SOURCE: Canwest News Service
WORD COUNT: 503
OTTAWA − At a time when Canadians are increasingly questioning the country's involvement in
Afghanistan, a new report says Canada should pour more diplomatic and military resources into preventing or
stopping genocides in far−off places.
The report says the refusal by Canada, the United States and other countries to intervene in atrocities such as
the Rwandan genocide in the early 1990s must be turned into a "will to intervene" diplomatically as early as
possible to prevent catastrophes.
If the genocide is already in progress, it says, Canadian, U. S. and other world leaders must be prepared to
intervene militarily to stop the slaughter of human beings.
"By continuing to drag our feet when prevention is required, we risk watching more crises turn into
catastrophes," said the report, which was issued by the Will to Intervene Project at the Montreal Institute for
Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University.
The report's conclusions were passionately embraced yesterday by retired diplomat Robert Fowler, the author
of a hard−hitting memorandum to Liberal Cabinet ministers in 1994 about the mass slaughter going on in
Rwanda that in the end, he says, was ignored.
Making a rare public speaking appearance since being held hostage for four months by al−Qaeda militants in
Africa, Mr. Fowler said, in effect, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when outside intervention is
warranted.
"The things I am talking about are not debatable," he told a news conference. "They are simply so horrendous
that they require engagement."
He said the situation in Afghanistan doesn't qualify as genocide.
2009/09/30 10/59
"It's a miserable situation. Certainly people's lives are being diminished, are being ruined in many cases," he
said, "but unfortunately there are other places in the world where that is the case as well."
Mr. Fowler was joined at the news conference promoting the report by Senator Romeo Dallaire, who
commanded the small UN force in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and
Tory Senator Hugh Segal.
All stressed the report was in no way suggesting turning Canada or the United States into the "world's
policeman," bent on setting everything right around the globe.
Mr. Fowler said the failure of Western governments to intervene in Rwanda −− where, his 1994 memo
estimated, up to one million people had been killed−− was morally offensive.
In the still−secret memo, parts of which were quoted for the first time in the report, Mr. Fowler warned the
Cabinet of Jean Chretien that reasons for inaction would be "irrelevant to the historians who chronicle the
near−elimination of a tribe while the white world's accountants count and foreign policy specialists
machinate."
Mr. Fowler acknowledged Canada doesn't have the military, diplomatic or development assistance capacity at
this time to implement the report's recommendations.
But he said he hopes the report will spur the government to restore the capacity lost in recent years with the
hollowing out of Foreign Affairs and other government departments and agencies.
The findings were based on a sweeping exploration of the lessons learned from the Rwanda genocide and
Kosovo crisis of 1999.
Among other things, it urges the Prime Minister to make preventing mass atrocities a national policy priority
and to appoint a super minister to co−ordinate defence, diplomacy and developmental policy aimed at that
goal.
It also says there should be a joint committee of the House of Commons and the Senate on preventing
genocide.
2009/09/30 11/59
Genocide, however distant, still a threat: report
PUBLICATION: The Telegram (St. John's)
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: National
PAGE: A15
BYLINE: John Ward
DATELINE: OTTAWA
WORD COUNT: 282
etc., and creates a vast Petri dish for the development of future pandemics and infectious disease," he said.
The old idea that only a palpable, direct threat requires action must be discarded, the 160−page report argues.
protect ourselves."
held for four months by an Al−Qaida offshoot; Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader and founding president of
the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Develop−ment; Tory Sen. Hugh Segal; and an
against humanity.
2009/09/30 12/59
Canada must do more to stop genocide, report says;
Human Rights; Dallaire supports bigger Canadian
effort abroad
IDNUMBER 200909230087
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: All But Toronto
SECTION: News
PAGE: A8
Color Photo: Finbarr O'Reilly, Reuters / Canadian soldiersduring a patrol in the
ILLUSTRATION: Panjwaii district of Kandahar province. ; Color Photo: Canwest News Service /
Senator Romeo Dallaire ;
DATELINE: OTTAWA
WORD COUNT: 503
OTTAWA − At a time when Canadians are increasingly questioning the country's involvement in
Afghanistan, a new report says Canada should pour more diplomatic and military resources into preventing or
stopping genocides in far−off places.
If the genocide is already in progress, it says, Canadian, U.S. and other world leaders must be prepared to
The report's conclusions were passionately embraced yesterday by retired diplomat Robert Fowler, the author
of a hard−hitting memorandum to Liberal cabinet ministers in 1994 about the mass slaughter going on in
Making a rare public speaking appearance since being held hostage for four months by al−Qaeda militants in
Africa, Mr. Fowler said, in effect, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when outside intervention is
warranted.
2009/09/30 13/59
Mr. Fowler was joined at the news conference promoting the report by Senator Romeo Dallaire, who
commanded the small UN force in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and
Tory Senator Hugh Segal.
Mr. Fowler said the failure of western governments to intervene in Rwanda−− where, his 1994 memo
estimated, up to one million people had been killed−− was morally offensive.
In the still−secret memo, parts of which were quoted for the first time in the report,
Mr. Fowler warned the cabinet of Jean Chretien that reasons for inaction would be "irrelevant to the historians
who chronicle the near−elimination of a tribe while the white world's accountants count and foreign policy
specialists machinate."
Mr. Fowler acknowledged Canada doesn't have the military, diplomatic or development assistance capacity at
this time to implement the report's recommendations.
Among other things, it urges the prime minister to make preventing mass atrocities a national policy priority
goal. It also says there should be a joint committee of the House of Commons and the Senate on preventing
genocide.
2009/09/30 14/59
A ‘new era' of genocide
IDNUMBER 200909230053
PUBLICATION: Waterloo Region Record
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A3
Sen. Romeo Dallaire (from left), Dr. Frank Chalk, and RobertFowler unveil a report on
ILLUSTRATION:
genocide. Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press ;
KEYWORDS: GENOCIDE−REPORT
DATELINE: OTTAWA
WORD COUNT: 309
held for four months by an al−Qaida offshoot; Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader and founding president of
the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development; Tory Senator Hugh Segal; and an
2009/09/30 15/59
against humanity.
unfold. "This is a new era, you need new tools," said Dallaire.
2009/09/30 16/59
Genocide is still a threat: report; Intervention Canada
and U.S. should be prepared to act against such
atrocities
IDNUMBER 200909230010
PUBLICATION: New Brunswick Telegraph−Journal
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: News;News
PAGE: A10
BYLINE: John Ward THE CANADIAN PRESS
COPYRIGHT: © 2009 Telegraph−Journal (New Brunswick)
WORD COUNT: 610
Canada and the United States should recognize that genocidal disasters such as Rwanda threaten their national
interest and they should be prepared to act against such atrocities, says a new report.
across oceans.
at home and abroad," the report says.
project which produced the report, said the threats are obvious.
protect ourselves."
The report comes from a panel including Senator Romeo Dallaire, the retired general who led the ill−fated
UN force in Rwanda in 1994; retired diplomat Robert Fowler; Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader and
founding president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development; Tory Senator
Hugh Segal and an assembly of experts in international affairs.
It said Canada has to recognize that when all else fails, force may have to be used in the last resort to combat
2009/09/30 17/59
crimes against humanity.
unfold.
This ministry would work with departments and agencies from IDA to National Defence to co−ordinate the
flow of information and the development of a response.
It also says the Commons should have a standing committee on genocide prevention.
He said acting before a crisis explodes to unmanageable proportions will save blood and treasure in the long
The report is the product of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies based at Concordia
University.
"This is not a partisan issue, this is an issue of protecting victims of genocide," he said.
The United Nations has been reluctant to order interventions, but the report's authors point out that the UN has
been sidestepped in places such as Afghanistan and East Timor in favour of other international bodies.
"It's about what I would call coalitions of the relevant . . . acting when there is no other choice," said Segal.
The report takes a close look at disasters such as Rwanda, where the world looked on as hundreds of
thousands of people were massacred, and Kosovo, where NATO intervened to protect people against the
threat of ethnic cleansing.
The Rwanda response stands as a grim example of the consequences of inaction, the authors said.
Chalk said Canada could have brought pressure on the Rwandan government, from freezing bank accounts to
expelling Rwandan students − often the children of officials who would later fan the genocide − from
Canadian universities.
These sorts of soft power reactions should be the first resort in future crises, the report said. But if persuasion
and arm−twisting don't work, countries must be prepared to use force.
"After you have exhausted diplomatic capability and sanctions capability to arrest it then the use of force is, of
course, recognized," Dallaire said. "But the use of force that we propose is not to go in and blow the place
apart in the classic sense.
2009/09/30 18/59
"We're talking about a new doctrinal base in which the use of force is there to protect civilians."
2009/09/30 19/59
Genocide still a threat: report; Panel finds Canada
needs to recognize it should be prepared to act
against such atrocities
IDNUMBER 200909230045
PUBLICATION: Times &Transcript (Moncton)
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: News
PAGE: C11
COPYRIGHT: © 2009 Times &Transcript (Moncton)
WORD COUNT: 325
Canada and the United States should recognize that genocidal disasters such as Rwanda threaten their national
interest and they should be prepared to act against such atrocities, says a new report.
across oceans.
protect ourselves."
The report comes from a panel including Senator Romeo Dallaire, the retired general who led the ill−fated
UN force in Rwanda in 1994; retired diplomat Robert Fowler; Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader and
founding president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development; Tory Senator
Hugh Segal and an assembly of experts in international affairs.
It said Canada has to recognize that when all else fails, force may have to be used in the last resort to combat
crimes against humanity.
2009/09/30 20/59
unfold.
This ministry would work with departments and agencies from IDA to National Defence to co−ordinate the
flow of information and the development of a response.
2009/09/30 21/59
PUBLICATION: Cape Breton Post
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: National
PAGE: A9
SOURCE: Canadian Press
BYLINE: John Ward
DATELINE: OTTAWA
Sen. Romeo Dallaire helps to unveil the Will to InterveneProject report during a press
ILLUSTRATION:
conference at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Ont., Tuesday. The Canadian Press
WORD COUNT: 344
protect ourselves."
the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development; Tory Sen. Hugh Segal; and an
against humanity.
2009/09/30 22/59
unfold.
2009/09/30 23/59
Genocide, however distant, still a threat says report
PUBLICATION: The Daily News (Truro)
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: Canada
PAGE: 8
DATELINE: OTTAWA −
WORD COUNT: 176
Canada and the United States should recognize genocidal disasters such as that in Rwanda threaten their
2009/09/30 24/59
Pour mettre fin aux génocides
PUBLICATION: Le Devoir
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: IDÉES
PAGE: a9
BYLINE: Frank Chalk; Roméo A. Dallaire
WORD COUNT: 831
Depuis plus de 50 ans, le Canada est signataire de traités internationaux qui l'obligent à participer aux
interventions visant à prévenir et à arrêter les génocides et autres atrocités de masse. Cependant, ces
obligations et l'impératif moral d'agir n'ont pas suffi à arrêter le massacre systématique de civils innocents en
Indonésie, au Burundi, au Bangladesh, au Cambodge, au Timor oriental, au Rwanda, au Soudan et en
République démocratique du Congo.
En fait, il apparaît évident que l'on ne souhaite pas intervenir. Avant et pendant le génocide de 1994 au
Rwanda, les hautes sphères des gouvernements du Canada et des États−Unis ont ignoré des informations
cruciales sur l'ampleur du danger et des massacres, pour ensuite bloquer et rejeter les mesures préventives
judicieusement proposées.
Certains affirmeraient que c'est compréhensible. Les chefs politiques canadiens ont comme mandat de
protéger les intérêts du Canada et des Canadiens. Les atrocités de masse sont un problème complexe; en outre,
les interventions, dont l'issue est toujours incertaine, coûtent cher en argent et peut−être même en vies. Devant
les défis à relever au pays et à l'étranger, pourquoi les chefs politiques canadiens devraient−ils déployer nos
rares ressources à des idéaux aussi difficiles?
Raisons cruciales
Le rapport du Projet sur la volonté d'intervenir (Will to Intervene, W2I), que nous avons codirigé, traite de
cette question et fait état de nouvelles raisons cruciales de prévenir les génocides et les atrocités de masse et,
dans les pires cas, d'intervenir en pareille situation. Intitulé Mobiliser la volonté d'intervenir: leadership et
action pour la prévention des atrocités de masse, ce rapport, publié lundi, comprend une étude approfondie de
la réaction des gouvernements canadien et américain au génocide de 1994 au Rwanda et à la crise de 1999 au
Kosovo.
Selon le document, les génocides et les atrocités de masse non seulement choquent la conscience des
Canadiens, mais, dans le village mondial d'aujourd'hui, menacent indirectement notre sécurité et nos intérêts
nationaux. On peut d'ailleurs le constater clairement dans le domaine de la santé publique: à partir du moment
où il a été détecté, le virus de la grippe A(H1N1) a provoqué une pandémie mondiale en moins de six
semaines, frappant chaque province et territoire du Canada.
Dans des régions touchées par des génocides et des atrocités de masse, le fragile régime public de santé et les
infrastructures essentielles à la vie s'écroulent et les camps de réfugiés où s'entassent les populations déplacées
deviennent des terrains propices à l'éclosion de futures pandémies et maladies infectieuses résistantes aux
médicaments.
Notre intérêt en matière de sécurité internationale est plus que jamais lié à nos principes humanitaires. En
admettant que les génocides et les autres atrocités de masse menacent indirectement mais certainement la
2009/09/30 25/59
santé publique, la sécurité − ébranlée par le terrorisme et le piratage − et la prospérité économique des
Canadiens, les politiciens canadiens n'ont d'autre choix que de faire de la prévention des atrocités de masse
une question d'intérêt national.
Importance de la prévention
Pour être un leader responsable dans la décennie à venir, il faut mettre de l'avant des politiques et des
programmes qui vont en ce sens. Le rapport du Projet sur la volonté d'intervenir propose des
recommandations pratiques et concrètes sur la manière d'organiser le Parlement, le cabinet et la fonction
publique du Canada pour atteindre cet objectif.
Enfin, le président Obama a signifié, au cours de sa campagne, sa volonté de faire de la prévention des
atrocités de masse un aspect clé de l'intérêt national des Américains; après avoir été élu, il a nommé Samantha
Power, spécialiste des questions de génocide, au Conseil national de sécurité. Le projet W2I donne au
gouvernement du Canada une occasion en or d'agir non seulement pour l'intérêt national et de faire preuve de
leadership à l'échelle internationale, mais également de nouer des liens stratégiques avec l'administration du
président Obama.
De nouvelles indications montrent qu'il est dans l'intérêt du Canada de prévenir et d'arrêter les atrocités de
masse commises à l'étranger. La récession a démontré que le bien−être des Canadiens est lié aux événements
qui se produisent hors de nos frontières; de même, il est essentiel de sauver la vie de civils innocents dans de
futurs Rwanda et Kosovo pour protéger des vies au Canada. Des interventions qui paraissaient autrefois
altruistes assurent maintenant la santé, la prospérité et la sécurité des Canadiens. Cette constatation devrait
suffire à convaincre nos politiciens d'examiner ces questions dans le cadre des efforts qu'ils déploient pour
gagner la confiance des Canadiens.
Frank Chalk : Directeur et cofondateur de l'Institut montréalais d'études sur le génocide et les droits de la
personne et codirecteur du Projet sur la volonté d'intervenir
Roméo A. Dallaire : Ancien commandant de la Force de la mission d'assistance des Nations unies au Rwanda
et codirecteur du Projet sur la volonté d'intervenir
2009/09/30 26/59
La prévention des génocides doit devenir une priorité
nationale, disent des experts
PUBLICATION: Le Devoir
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: LES ACTUALITÉS
PAGE: a7
BYLINE: Bourgault−Côté, Guillaume
WORD COUNT: 529
Ottawa − Dire «jamais plus» est une chose, agir réellement en est une autre. Selon un comité d'experts présidé
par le sénateur Roméo Dallaire, le Canada doit élever au rang de priorité nationale la prévention des génocides
et nommer un ministre de la Sécurité internationale pour veiller au grain.
Gros comité pour un gros changement de mentalité souhaité, hier matin, à Ottawa: l'ancien chef néodémocrate
Ed Broadbent, le diplomate canadien Robert Fowler (enlevé au Niger en 2008) et l'ex−lieutenant−général
Roméo Dallaire − entre autres − étaient réunis pour dévoiler un rapport demandant au gouvernement de
redéfinir sa conception de la notion «d'intérêt national», de manière à ce qu'elle fasse désormais une place à la
prévention du génocide.
Intérêt national, un génocide à l'autre bout du monde? Oui, répondent sans détour les nombreux auteurs (au
total, une centaine d'experts ont participé au projet, dont Michael Ignatieff) du document de 160 pages publié
par l'Institut montréalais d'étude sur le génocide et les droits de la personne (IMEGDP). Ne pas se soucier de
leur prévention fait selon eux courir des risques aux Canadiens en matière de santé (les maladies infectieuses
apportées par les réfugiés déplacés) et de sécurité, affirment−ils.
Le document − soutenu par le Parti libéral et le NPD − recommande au gouvernement de nommer un ministre
de la Sécurité internationale, présent au cabinet, pour éviter le syndrome du «si tout le monde est responsable,
c'est que personne ne l'est vraiment». A l'écoute du moindre signe avant−coureur d'un risque de génocide, ce
ministre aurait la responsabilité de forcer le gouvernement à intervenir rapidement (en gelant les avoirs
financiers des dirigeants concernés ou en menaçant de renvoyer les étudiants originaires de ce pays, par
exemple).
Le comité recommande aussi qu'une force civile canadienne de prévention des génocides soit créée et que le
gouvernement augmente sa présence diplomatique dans les pays fragiles. Il s'adresse également aux médias,
coupables de désintérêt à l'égard de ces crises démesurées mais souvent lointaines.
Rwanda
Des mesures, donc, pour éviter d'autres Rwanda ou Kosovo. Ed Broadbent a rappelé hier qu'il avait averti dès
mars 1993 le gouvernement canadien et les médias du risque imminent d'un génocide au Rwanda. Il était alors
président du Centre international des droits de la personne et du développement démocratique: ses mises en
garde n'ont pas été entendues. Même chose pour Robert Fowler, qui avait remis un rapport alarmant au
gouvernement en 1994.
«Notre étude sur la réaction des gouvernements canadien et américain au génocide de 1994 montre clairement
qu'il y avait une volonté de ne pas intervenir», a lancé l'historien Frank Chalk, directeur de l'IMEGDP. «Nous
avions les outils pour peut−être éviter ce massacre», estime M. Broadbent.
2009/09/30 27/59
Pour Roméo Dallaire, témoin impuissant du génocide, il est aujourd'hui temps de changer de mentalité, de
faire en sorte que le gouvernement soit proactif en matière de prévention. «Nos intérêts personnels doivent
être élargis», dit−il. «Ça prend un changement d'orientation», estime l'ancien militaire, qui aimerait voir la
notion d'intérêt national redéfinie sans vision partisane.
2009/09/30 28/59
Dallaire plaide la cause des droits de l'homme; Le
général à la retraite suggère la création d'un
superministère de la Sécurité internationale
PUBLICATION: La Presse
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: Monde
PAGE: A23
BYLINE: Perreault, Laura−Julie
PHOTO: PHOTO ARCHIVES AFP
Le génocide au Rwanda a fait 800 000 morts. La réponsetardive de la communauté
ILLUSTRATION:
internationale a marqué à jamais le général à la retraite Roméo Dallaire.
WORD COUNT: 543
Il y a 15 ans, le général Roméo Dallaire a regardé, impuissant, le génocide rwandais se dérouler sous ses yeux
alors qu'il dirigeait la mission de paix des Nations unies. Pour que l'histoire ne se repète pas, il a proposé hier
un plan d'action que les gouvernements canadien et américain devraient adopter au plus vite, croit−il.
Dans un rapport de 184 pages qu'il a cosigné avec le professeur Frank Chalk, de l'Université Concordia,
l'ancien officier de haut rang de l'armée canadienne, devenu depuis sénateur libéral, suggère notamment au
Canada de créer un "super" ministre de la Sécurité internationale qui aurait comme mandat de sonner l'alarme
en cas de signes précurseurs de génocide et de superviser la réponse du gouvernement canadien.
Selon les auteurs, ce nouveau poste, combiné avec une diplomatie plus musclée et une meilleure coordination
des forces vives de divers ministères canadiens, permettrait d'éviter les pires violations des droits de l'homme.
"L'idée, ce n'est pas d'envoyer notre armée dans un pays en conflit pour tout détruire, mais bien de développer
des outils qui nous permettraient d'agir dès qu'on voit des points de friction pour les désamorcer", explique
Roméo Dallaire, estimant qu'à ce jour les gouvernements canadien et américain n'ont pas réussi à s'acquitter
de cette mission. Idem pour les organisations internationales qui sont dépendantes des décisions prises dans
les capitales d'États souverains.
C'est d'ailleurs pour comprendre la faible réaction des gouvernements au génocide du Rwanda, qui a fait 800
000 morts, ainsi que la réponse tardive de la communauté internationale aux massacres du Kosovo, que MM.
Dallaire et Chalk se sont lancés dans un projet de recherche qu'ils ont intitulé "La volonté d'intervenir". En un
an et demi, ils ont interrogé 80 individus qui tenaient des rôles−clés lors de ces deux crises qui ont marqué les
années 90.
"Nous avons constaté qu'il y avait beaucoup de bons renseignements qui étaient fournis par les gens sur le
terrain, mais que cette information était enterrée sous une pile et n'était pas acheminée dans les machines
gouvernementales canadienne et américaine", a dit Frank Chalk, qui dirige l'Institut montréalais d'études sur
les génocides et les droits humains.
Les deux auteurs du rapport croient qu'il est de l'intérêt national du Canada et des États−Unis de se lancer
dans la lutte contre le génocide, en ayant d'abord recours au développement et à la diplomatie, puis à
l'intervention militaire en cas d'échecs des mesures persuasives. Ils notent que les zones de conflit sont
2009/09/30 29/59
souvent des terreaux fertiles pour la création de groupes terroristes, la propagation de maladies infectieuses ou
la déstabilisation d'économies régionales qui peuvent affecter le Canada.
Le Bloc québécois et le Nouveau Parti démocratique ont approuvé le rapport de MM. Dallaire et Chalk, qui
espèrent que les autres partis politiques, dont le Parti conservateur au pouvoir, leur emboîteront le pas.
"La prévention du génocide n'est pas une question de partisanerie", a dit à ce sujet M. Chalk lors du lancement
du rapport, hier, à Ottawa. Parmi les partisans du rapport, on retrouve aussi Robert Fowler, l'ancien diplomate
canadien fait captif par un groupe d'insurgés au Niger, l'hiver dernier et relâché en avril.
2009/09/30 30/59
Finding the will to act; Report: step up fight against
genocide
PUBLICATION: The Chronicle−Herald
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: Canada
PAGE: B2
BYLINE: John Ward
Robert Fowler, right to left, Frank Chalk, director of theMontreal Institute for Genocide
ILLUSTRATION: and Human Rights Studies, Sen. Romeo Dallaire, Ed Broadbent, and Sen. Hugh Segal
unveil the Will to Intervene Project report in Ottawa on Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick / CP)
WORD COUNT: 412
OTTAWA − Canada and the United States should recognize that genocidal disasters such as that in Rwanda
threaten their national interest and they should be prepared to act against such atrocities, says a new report.
project that produced the report, said the threats are obvious. "Displacement and the creation of refugee flows
denies people pure water, inoculation, vaccination, treatment, etc., and creates a vast Petri dish for the
development of future pandemics and infectious disease," he said.
protect ourselves."
2009/09/30 31/59
against humanity.
unfold.
civilians in times of genocide. It also says the House of Commons should have a standing committee on
genocide prevention.
The report is the product of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, based at
Concordia University.
2009/09/30 32/59
Genocide: "Never Again"
PUBLICATION: CTV − Canada AM
DATE: 2009.09.23
TIME: 07:12:00 ET
END: 07:18:00 ET
WORD COUNT: 1086
THOMSON: Fifteen years ago, Canadian Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire was the commander of the
United Nations assistance mission in Rwanda. As he saw tensions increase in the region, he tried to warn the
world that something terrible was going to happen, but there was no international response, and he was left to
witness a genocide that would leave more than 800,000 people dead. Today, General Dallaire is a senator in
Ottawa and he has helped write a plan for world governments to prevent such atrocities from happening again.
He joins us from Ottawa. Good morning to you. ROMEO DALLAIRE (Commander of the UN Assistance
Mission in Rwanda): Good morning.
THOMSON: Well, tell me, I guess, to begin with, when we're talking about, you know, the genocide of
fifteen years ago, one that you've spoken out, you've been vociferous on, you've written about, you've, you've
tried to get anybody and everybody to listen. What has changed in the fifteen years since that happened that
would, you know, measure in part steps toward preventing it in the future?
DALLAIRE: Well, in fact, if you look at Darfur, and you look at what's going on in the Congo, you, you, you,
you sort of are taken aback by the fact that with all that writing and all that advocacy, we've done very little.
And so, what we've been attempting, although all the regulations and all the conventions are there, all the
moral desires to meet the human rights standards that have been established, we just have seen a dearth of
political leadership and will to take the risks to go in and not just stop these massive crimes against humanity
and genocide, but actually try to prevent them in a, in a concrete way. And so the three premises that the
politicians used to use, which is: why should I go in?
THOMSON: Right.
DALLAIRE: It's going to bring me great risks to my political future, potentially. Secondly, what's our
self−interest? What are we going to get out of that? And if you remember in Rwanda, people were telling me,
hey, there's nothing here except human beings, and human beings seem to have been, particularly
black−Africans, were considered to be lower than resource base that they might be. And the third criteria was
casualties. And look at even the debate on Afghanistan. It's far more on casualties rather on the positive
effects that we might be able to achieve. And so what we've done is we've dissected Kosovo and Rwanda,
United States, Canada, and why did we go into one and not into the other, and in so doing, with globalization
and the new era of communication, mobility of population and, of course, the higher threats of not only
terrorism coming out of those places that are falling apart but also the pandemics that are very easily
transferable, we're saying that self−interest has now got a whole new definition and that's why we think
politicians should get engaged because I think, and to be crass about it, they can sell it a lot better here for
why we should be preventing things over there.
THOMSON: But, but, okay, but moving, and I guess getting down to brass tacks, when you talk about, and I
know that the report you've co−authored, been a part of is directed at world leaders. I mean, this is a global
problem so it needs to have a global solution, but bringing it right back to this country and Canada, when we
look at...
2009/09/30 33/59
DALLAIRE: Right.
THOMSON: ...and you brought up Afghanistan, how thinly we are stretched in terms of our military, how
then do we become part of a, a, a greater world police, if you will?
DALLAIRE: Yeah, well, in fact, that, that's a, a term that we probably should not be using, and I certainly am
horrified when we want the Americans to be the world police, we want them to be the world power behind all
this sort of process and not being in there in the first place and then sometimes creating more problems than
solving. What we're looking at is a world insurance policy. What we're seeing in the future is, is that the youth
of the nations and their mobility, they're looking at the (inaudible) inside of countries like ours who feel that
we have a responsibility to go in there, to protect and to assist. And we created that concept. If you remember
the R2P, responsibility to protect in 2001, and the whole of the UN accepted it in 2005. Well, we're
operationalizing that, and we're saying we can operationalize that by the fact that it is also in our self−interest.
Now, Afghanistan is an essential mission for a nation state like ours, a middle power, to go and help a nascent
democracy, and it's a long−term exercise. The question is, is why can we only do Afghanistan? There have
been deliberate decisions over the years to limit our capabilities. Doing Afghanistan, not doing anything else,
disseminating our diplomatic corps so they can bring innovative solutions for prevention, taking apart our, and
reducing significant our international development that will assist in preventing conflicts by the frictions of
the differences in education and resource base and, and wealth in those countries and so we're saying we've
got to build up the soft power and hold whatever military needs in a role of pure protection of innocence
should that soft power not achieve the aim.
THOMSON: Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire, the name of the report, Mobilizing the Will to Intervene,
Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities. Thank you for coming on this morning.
DALLAIRE: Yes, and I want, and as a senator, I think I should get that phone number from the Maritimes so I
can sort it out, too.
THOMSON: And there still won't be any complaints, okay! Thank you so much for your time. Have a good
day.
DALLAIRE: Thank you.
THOMSON: We'll be right back on "Canada AM".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Seamus O'Regan, Bev Thomson Romeo Dallaire, Commander of the UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda
2009/09/30 34/59
Genocide, however distant, still a threat
PUBLICATION: The Guardian (Charlottetown)
DATE: 2009.09.23
SECTION: Canada
PAGE: A12
SOURCE: THE CANADIAN PRESS
BYLINE: John Ward
DATELINE: OTTAWA
Robert Fowler, from right, Dr. Frank Chalk, director ofMontreal Institute for Genocide
and Human Rights Studies, Sen. Romeo Dallaire, Ed Broadbent and Sen. Hugh Segal
ILLUSTRATION: unveil the Will to Intervene (W2I) Project report entitled Mobilizing the Will to
Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities during a press conference
Tuesday. Canadian Press photo
WORD COUNT: 351
protect ourselves."
2009/09/30 35/59
against humanity.
unfold.
2009/09/30 36/59
DATE: 2009.09.22
KEYWORDS: DEFENCE INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
PUBLICATION: cpw
WORD COUNT: 660
OTTAWA _ Canada and the United States should recognize that genocidal disasters such as that in Rwanda
threaten their national interest and they should be prepared to act against such atrocities, says a new report.
While the United Nations has made much of its new ``responsibility to protect'' doctrine, the new report says
what's now needed is ``the will to intervene.''
``The chaos resulting from these atrocities poses credible danger to Canadian and American national interests
at home and abroad,'' the report warns.
``Displacement and the creation of refugee flows denies people pure water, inoculation, vaccination,
treatment, etc., and creates a vast Petri dish for the development of future pandemics and infectious disease,''
he said.
``There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events.''
``We need to redefine our national interest more broadly, not only to help failing states, but also to help and
protect ourselves.''
against humanity.
unfold.
2009/09/30 37/59
``This is a new era, you need new tools,'' said Dallaire.
The report is the product of the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, based at
Concordia University.
``This is not a partisan issue, this is an issue of protecting victims of genocide,'' he said.
The United Nations has been reluctant to order interventions, but the report's authors point out that the UN has
been sidestepped in places such as Afghanistan and East Timor in favour of other international bodies.
``It's about what I would call coalitions of the relevant ... acting when there is no other choice,'' said Segal.
The report takes a close look at disasters such as Rwanda, where the world looked on as hundreds of
thousands of people were massacred, and Kosovo, where NATO intervened to protect people against the
threat of ethnic cleansing.
The Rwanda response stands as a grim example of the consequences of inaction, the authors said.
Chalk said Canada could have brought pressure on the Rwandan government, from freezing bank accounts to
expelling Rwandan students _ often the children of officials who would later fan the genocide _ from
Canadian universities.
These sorts of soft−power reactions should be the first resort in future crises, the report said. But if persuasion
and arm−twisting don't work, countries must be prepared to use force.
``After you have exhausted diplomatic capability and sanctions capability to arrest it then the use of force is,
of course, recognized,'' Dallaire said. ``But the use of force that we propose is not to go in and blow the place
apart in the classic sense.
``We're talking about a new doctrinal base in which the use of force is there to protect civilians.''
2009/09/30 38/59
Focus on genocide vital: report
DATE: 2009.09.22
KEYWORDS: DEFENCE INTERNATIONAL POLITICS
PUBLICATION: bnw
WORD COUNT: 115
OTTAWA − A new report says Canada and the United States should recognize genocidal disasters such as
Rwanda as threats to their national interest and be prepared to act against such atrocities.
The report is the work of a panel including retired general Romeo Dallaire, retired diplomat Robert Fowler,
former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and an assembly of experts in international affairs.
It says Canada should make prevention of mass atrocities a national priority.
It says the Canadian Forces should be beefed up and given the doctrine and training for interventions to
protect civilians in times of genocide.
The report calls for the appointment of a high−level cabinet minister to monitor developing human
catastrophes and keep government and Canadians informed as disasters unfold.
(The Canadian Press)
2009/09/30 39/59
Haunted by a genocide Canada ignored; Panel urges
intervention plan to ensure horrors, like those in
Rwanda, are never again overlooked
IDNUMBER 200909230078
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Ont
SECTION: News
PAGE: A14
THOMAS SWEJCK ap file photo Skulls lie on display at the NtaramaGenocide
Memorial near Kigali. Rwanda's 1994 genocide saw hundreds of thousands of people,
most from the Tutsi minority, killed by Hutu extremists.Sean Kilpatrick the canadian
press Former diplomat Robert Fowler (from right), genocide expert Frank Chalk, Senator
ILLUSTRATION: Romeo Dallaire, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Senator Hugh Segal unveil 'Will
to Intervene Project' report in Ottawa yesterday. Sean Kilpatrick the canadian press
Former diplomat Robert Fowler (from right), genocide expert Frank Chalk, Senator
Romeo Dallaire, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Senator Hugh Segal unveil 'Will
to Intervene Project' report in Ottawa yesterday. ;
BYLINE: Allan Woods
SOURCE: Toronto Star
WORD COUNT: 535
Up to a million dead, women with babies hacking other women with babies to death with machetes, blood
flowing through the streets − a five−page memo from celebrated former diplomat Robert Fowler painted a
startling picture of genocide following a trip to Rwanda in mid−May 1994.
The document made the rounds of senior Canadian bureaucrats. Fowler says it made them feel guilty about
the horrors taking place under their watch, but it didn't compel anyone to act, to intervene, to save lives. Lore
has it one official even scrawled "Not in Canada's interest" across the top and cast it aside.
"That is, as far as I'm concerned, a simply unacceptable reaction," said Fowler, who was held hostage by Al
Qaeda from December to April while on a United Nations mission in Niger.
He and others who are haunted by the memory of the Rwandan genocide are calling on the Canadian
government to overhaul the way it responds to emerging humanitarian catastrophes and state−sponsored
ethnic violence.
Fowler was among a panel of experts who unveiled their "Will to Intervene" action plan in Ottawa yesterday
urging:
A new cabinet position to track and coordinate Canada's efforts to ensure a more effective response to
conflicts or atrocities in places like Sudan, Sri Lanka and Congo.
2009/09/30 40/59
A parliamentary committee to hear from front−line workers and advocacy groups and hold the government to
account for its actions or oversights.
A team of diplomats to act as Canada's lookout in the world, crafting strategies to diffuse tensions or prevent
them from escalating as they did in Rwanda.
"We were the major donor to Rwanda at that time," recalled Ed Broadbent, the former NDP leader who once
headed the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development.
Broadbent travelled to Rwanda in November 1992 and could see the signs of the coming genocide. He alerted
Canada's foreign ministry and reporters upon his return, but no one paid much attention.
"If the government of Canada had done the right thing when they had that information, perhaps the atrocious
situation that confronted Gen. (Romeo) Dallaire and the world community a year later could have been
headed off."
Dallaire, as commander of the UN peacekeeping forces in Rwanda, witnessed the genocide but was powerless
to stop it. He has publicly struggled with post− traumatic stress that he blames on the searing memories of the
bloodshed.
The proposed changes would take away from bureaucrats the "flexibility to avoid" acting, said Conservative
Senator Hugh Segal.
The imperative of saving hundreds of thousands of lives clearly was not enough of a reason for Canada to
engage halfway around the world 15 years ago in Rwanda. So Fowler, Dallaire, now a Liberal senator,
Broadbent and other members on a panel of experts have come up with a few more reasons.
"One of the most surprising discoveries we made ... is how vulnerable we are here in Canada to the indirect
consequences of events like the Rwanda genocide, " said Frank Chalk, director of the Montreal Institute for
A disease outbreak in a refugee camp in Africa or Asia can spread around the world in 24 hours. Conflicts can
give rise to terrorism. All of it can disrupt vital trade lines.
"These things will come back and invade the soft, quiet, safe, comfortable lives that we live in these parts of
the world," Fowler said.
Chalk said the federal Liberal party and the NDP have endorsed the report's recommendations.
A copy of the report was sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper in August. A PMO official said the
government is "carefully studying the recommendations."
2009/09/30 41/59
Far−away genocides have impact on our shores
GENOCIDES: A report calls on Canada to act
SOURCETAG 09092397191568
PUBLICATION: The London Free Press
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: B9
photo by The CP Robert Fowler, Frank Chalk, director of Montreal Institute for Genocide
and Human Rights Studies, and Sen. Romeo Dallaire unveil the Will to Intervene Project
ILLUSTRATION:
report entitled Mobilizing the Will to Intervene: Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass
Atrocities at a news conference in Ottawa yesterday.
BYLINE: THE CP
DATELINE: OTTAWA
WORD COUNT: 252
Canada and the United States should recognize genocidal disasters such as the one in Rwanda threaten their
what's now needed is "the will to intervene." The first step to creating that will is the recognition that the
fallout from humanitarian disasters can reach across oceans, says the report from a panel of experts, including
Sen. Romeo Dallaire, the retired general who commanded the hopeless UN mission in Rwanda 15 years ago.
Frank Chalk, a Concordia University professor, a recognized authority on genocide and co−director of the
etc., and creates a vast Petri dish for the development of future pandemics and infectious disease," he said. In
a world linked by jets, contagion can leap halfway around the world in hours.
The idea that only a palpable, direct threat requires action, must be discarded, the 160−page report argues.
protect ourselves."
It recommends Canada make prevention of mass atrocities a national priority by appointing a senior cabinet
minister to monitor such catastrophes. KEYWORDS=NATIONAL
2009/09/30 42/59
Canada urged to act against genocides; Rwandan
atrocities cited as western failure
IDNUMBER 200909230021
PUBLICATION: The Windsor Star
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A6
Photo: Phil Carpenter, Montreal Gazette / Freshly unearthedhuman bones, heaped on
plastic sheets and tarpaulins in a room not intended for public viewing, lie at the Murambi
ILLUSTRATION:
Genocide Memorial Centre near Gikongoro, Rwanda, in this May 2009 photo. The site is
an old technical school where more than 40,000 people were killed. ;
DATELINE: OTTAWA
WORD COUNT: 541
At a time when Canadians are increasingly questioning the country's involvement in Afghanis−tan, a new
report says Canada should pour more diplomatic and military resources into preventing or stopping genocides
in far−off places.
The report's conclusions were passionately embraced Tuesday by retired diplomat Robert Fowler, the author
of a hard−hitting memo to Liberal cabinet ministers in 1994 about the mass slaughter going on in Rwanda that
in the end, he says, was ignored.
Making a rare public speaking appearance since being held hostage for four months by al−Qaida militants in
Africa, Fowler said, in effect, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when outside intervention is
warranted. "The things I am talking about are not debatable," he told a news conference. "They are simply so
horrendous that they require engagement."
"It's a miserable situation. Certainly, people's lives are being diminished, are being ruined in many cases," he
2009/09/30 43/59
Fowler was joined at the news conference promoting the report by Senator Romeo Dallaire, who commanded
the small UN force in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Tory Senator
Hugh Segal. All stressed the report was in no way suggesting turning Canada or the United States into the
"world's policeman," bent on setting everything right around the globe.
Fowler said the failure of western governments to intervene in Rwanda −− where, his 1994 memo estimated,
up to one million people had been killed −− was morally offensive.
In the still secret memo, parts of which were quoted for the first time in the report, Fowler warned the cabinet
of Jean Chretien that reasons for inaction would be "irrelevant to the historians who chronicle the
near−elimination of a tribe while the white world's accountants count and foreign policy specialists
machinate."
Fowler acknowledged Canada doesn't have the military, diplomatic or development assistance capacity at this
time to implement the report's recommendations. But he said he hopes the report will spur the government to
restore the capacity lost in recent years with the hollowing out of Foreign Affairs and other government
departments and agencies.
genocide.
2009/09/30 44/59
'Horrendous' genocidal situations in foreign lands
should bring intervention from Canada, report says;
Former diplomat who was held hostage for four
months calls for stronger response
IDNUMBER 200909230048
PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Canada &World
PAGE: B3
DATELINE: OTTAWA
WORD COUNT: 386
At a time when Canadians are increasingly questioning the country's involvement in Afghanistan, a new
intervene militarily to stop the slaughter of humans.
The report's conclusions were passionately embraced Tuesday by retired diplomat Robert Fowler, author of a
hard−hitting memorandum to Liberal cabinet ministers in 1994 about the mass slaughter going on in Rwanda
that in the end, he says, was ignored. Making a rare speaking appearance since being held hostage for four
months by al−Qaida in Africa, Fowler said, in effect, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when
outside intervention is warranted.
2009/09/30 45/59
Fowler was joined at the news conference on the report by Senator Romeo Dallaire, who commanded the
small UN force in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Tory Senator
Hugh Segal. All stressed the report was in no way suggesting turning Canada or the United States into the
"world's policeman," bent on setting everything right around the globe.
Fowler said the failure of western governments to intervene in Rwanda −− where, his 1994 memo estimated,
up to one million people had been killed −− was morally offensive. He acknowledged Canada doesn't have the
military, diplomatic or development assistance capacity at this time to implement the report's
recommendations.
2009/09/30 46/59
Act on genocides, Ottawa told; Report urges early
intervention; Canada, other nations must consider
military action to halt atrocities, it says
IDNUMBER 200909230050
PUBLICATION: Montreal Gazette
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A7
DATELINE: OTTAWA
BYLINE: NORMA GREENAWAY
WORD COUNT: 439
Canada should pour more diplomatic and military resources into preventing or stopping genocides in far−off
places, a new report says.
The report, issued by the Will to Intervene Project at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights
Studies at Concordia University, says the refusal by Canada, the United States and other countries to act
against atrocities like the Rwandan genocide in the 1990s must be turned into a "will to intervene"
diplomatically as early as possible to prevent catastrophes.
catastrophes," the report said.
Among other things, the report urges the prime minister to make preventing mass atrocities a national policy
priority, and to appoint a "superminister" to co−ordinate defence, diplomacy and developmental policy to
meet that goal.
The study's conclusions were embraced yesterday by retired Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler, author of a
memorandum to the Liberal cabinet in 1994 about the mass slaughter in Rwanda that, in the end, was ignored,
he says.
"The things I am talking about are not debatable," he told a news conference promoting the report. "They are
simply so horrendous that they require engagement."
The situation in Afghanistan doesn't qualify as genocide, added Fowler, who was making a rare public
speaking appearance since he was held hostage for four months by Al−Qa'ida militants in Africa.
"It's a miserable situation. Certainly, people's lives are being diminished, are being ruined in many cases," he
2009/09/30 47/59
Fowler was joined at the Ottawa news conference by Senator Roméo Dallaire, who commanded the small UN
force in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, former New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent and
Conservative Senator Hugh Segal.
All stressed the report was in no way suggesting turning Canada or the U.S. into the "world's policeman."
Fowler said the failure of western governments to intervene in Rwanda − where, his 1994 memo estimated, as
many as 1 million people had been killed − was morally offensive, he said.
In the still secret memo, parts of which were quoted for the first time in the report, Fowler warned Prime
Minister Jean Chrétien's cabinet that reasons for inaction would be "irrelevant to the historians who chronicle
the near−elimination of a tribe while the white world's accountants count and foreign policy specialists
machinate."
Canada doesn't have the military, diplomatic or development−assistance capacity at this time to implement the
report's recommendations, Fowler acknowledged.
hollowing out of the Foreign Affairs Department and other federal departments and agencies.
2009/09/30 48/59
MASS ATROCITIES Will to halt genocide lacking:
panel Report urges Canada to build diplomatic corps
in 'fragile' nations, challenges media
IDN: 092660060
DATE: 2009.09.23
PAGE: A4
BYLINE: BILL CURRY
SECTION: National News
EDITION: Metro
DATELINE: Ottawa ONT
WORDS: 612
WORD COUNT: 595
BILL CURRY OTTAWA Canada lacks the political will and diplomatic might to prevent future genocidal
horrors by intervening early and often, concludes a high−profile panel of foreign policy experts that includes
Robert Fowler, the career diplomat who was released this year after being kidnapped by al−Qaeda.
The authors of a 139−page report by the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights insist soft−power
measures like diplomatic warnings and cuts to foreign aid can often avoid the need for military intervention.
The report's authors urge Ottawa to build up its diplomatic corps in "fragile" countries, but also challenge the
Canadian news media by noting that in 1993, few Canadian journalists were interested in the early warnings
of genocide in Rwanda. The report calls on the media to recognize the important role they play in creating the
political will for Canadian politicians to act abroad.
Speaking with reporters at a news conference yesterday, Mr. Fowler, who was working as a United Nations
special envoy when he was captured last December in Niger, recalled a trip he took to Rwanda in 1994 as
deputy minister of national defence.
In June of that year, he penned a graphic report that warned the highest levels of the Canadian government
about the extent of genocide ongoing in Rwanda.
He estimated that between 400,000 and one million people had been killed and that Canada's reasons for
inaction would be "irrelevant to the historians who chronicle the near−elimination of a tribe while the white
world's accountants count and the foreign policy specialists machinate." That report was ultimately ignored.
Mr. Fowler said yesterday that Canada still does not have the policies in place to detect and prevent genocide.
"What we are talking about here is the moral imperative of engaging when truly appalling, unspeakable and
unacceptable things are occurring," he said.
Mr. Fowler appeared along− side Senator Romeo Dallaire who served in 1994 as the military commander of
the UN mission in Rwanda. Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Conservative Senator Hugh Segal were
also on hand to release the report, which advises the Canadian government on how to prevent future genocide,
ideally without military intervention.
2009/09/30 49/59
Mr. Broadbent, who had also visited Rwanda at the time as an independent observer and issued warnings that
went unheeded by the Canadian government and media, said there were many things Canada could have done
to prevent the genocide.
For instance, Canada could have cut off aid, funded a rival radio network to counter the country's
pro−genocidal propaganda or denied student visas to children of pro−genocidal Rwandans studying in
Canada.
"We were in a position to take so−called soft power [actions] that would have made a real difference," said
Mr. Broadbent. "But we did nothing." The report calls on the Prime Minister to make the prevention of mass
atrocities a national priority and to appoint an international security minister.
It also urges Parliament to create a joint House of Commons−Senate committee on preventing genocide and
calls on the government to increase its diplomatic presence in fragile countries and to create a Canadian
Prevention Corps. On the military side, it recommends that Canada continue to enhance the capabilities of the
Canadian Forces.
A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said the government is studying the report.
"The government's foreign policy is centred on freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law and
Canada will continue to work with our allies when confronted with grave violations of human rights," said
spokesperson Catherine Loubier in an e−mail.
"We will engage in appropriate measures with these countries, including working towards preventing future
atrocities."
ADDED SEARCH TERMS:
GEOGRAPHIC NAME: Canada
SUBJECT TERM:foreign policy; genocide; human rights; political; war crimes
PERSONAL NAME: Robert Fowler
ORGANIZATION NAME: Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights
2009/09/30 50/59
Ending genocide a priority: report; Calls for rewrite of
policy to halt horrors like Rwanda
IDNUMBER 200909230071
PUBLICATION: Edmonton Journal
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Final
SECTION: News
PAGE: A7
DATELINE: OTTAWA
WORD COUNT: 503
At a time when Canadians are increasingly questioning the country's involvement in Afghanistan, a new
If the genocide is already in progress, it says, Canadian, U. S. and other world leaders must be prepared to
The report's conclusions were passionately embraced Tuesday by retired diplomat Robert Fowler, the author
of a hard−hitting memorandum to Liberal cabinet ministers in 1994 about the mass slaughter going on in
Making a rare public speaking appearance since being held hostage for four months by al−Qaida militants in
Africa, Fowler said, in effect, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out when outside intervention is
warranted.
Fowler was joined at the news conference promoting the report by Sen. Romeo Dallaire, who commanded the
small UN force in Rwanda at the time of the genocide, former NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Tory Sen. Hugh
2009/09/30 51/59
Segal.
Fowler said the failure of western governments to intervene in Rwanda−−where, his 1994 memo estimated, up
to one million people had been killed−−was morally offensive.
In the still secret memo, parts of which were quoted for the first time in the report, Fowler warned the cabinet
of Jean Chretien that reasons for inaction would be "irrelevant to the historians who chronicle the
near−elimination of a tribe while the white world's accountants count and foreign−policy specialists
machinate."
Fowler acknowledged Canada doesn't have the military, diplomatic or development assistance capacity at this
time to implement the report's recommendations.
genocide.
2009/09/30 52/59
WHEN THE WEST INTERVENES Do we have the
means to match our will? Before shipping out for
distant interests, consider our limitations
IDN: 092650073
DATE: 2009.09.22
PAGE: A19
BYLINE: TOM FLANAGAN
SECTION: Comment
EDITION: Metro
DATELINE:
WORDS: 760
WORD COUNT: 797
TOM FLANAGAN Professor of political science at the University of Calgary and a former Conservative
campaign manager ** Conservative thinkers generally base foreign policy on the concept of national interest.
Seeing the world as full of danger and not under anyone's control, they argue that the responsibility of
government is to protect the state's territorial integrity and other vital interests, such as freedom to trade and
navigate the seas. They emphasize the importance of military strength, quoting the old Roman proverb Si vis
pacem, para bellum − if you want peace, prepare for war.
After becoming prime minister in 2006, Stephen Harper announced that his Conservative government would
adhere to the national interest in formulating Canada's foreign policy. He has largely been true to his word,
rebuilding the Canadian Forces and staying close to our allies, especially the United States and other countries
in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Now, however, comes an important attempt to expand the concept of national interest. The Montreal Institute
for Genocide and Human Rights Studies has released a report titled Mobilizing the Will to Intervene:
Leadership and Action to Prevent Mass Atrocities.
The experts involved in preparing this report have intimate knowledge of the subject. Senator Romeo Dallaire
was commander of the United Nations force in Rwanda when the Hutu massacred the Tutsi in 1993.
Bob Fowler, a distinguished Canadian civil servant and diplomat, recently emerged from a harrowing
kidnapping ordeal in Niger.
These people deserve out attention when they talk about genocide.
Although perhaps tilting more liberal than conservative in their outlook, they are not mushy−headed idealists
obsessed with soft power. They know that in a brutal world, it is often necessary to use force. They want to
marry the liberal notion of humanitarian intervention with the conservative conception of national interest.
Their point is that the national interest has to be more broadly understood in a world made smaller by
revolutionary improvements in transportation and communication. The atrocious Taliban government in
Afghanistan sheltered Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The failed state in
2009/09/30 53/59
Somalia has disrupted shipping near the Suez Canal, so vital to world commerce. Refugees from failed states
flood into neighbouring countries, creating enormous humanitarian problems of famine and disease. Refugees
also end up in the world's stable democracies, creating new voting blocs and pressure groups that inevitably
involve Western governments in genocidal conflicts elsewhere.
Democracies such as Canada and the United States, therefore, have a tangible national interest in these distant
events. Western powers should have acted decisively to stop the murder in Rwanda, as they ultimately did in
Kosovo. They should also be trying to help the hopeless refugees of Darfur, the victims of anarchy in the
Congo and those threatened with starvation and disease in Zimbabwe. Peaceful measures, such as publicity,
condemnation and boycotts, should be tried first, but if all else fails, we must not shy from military
intervention. This is the essence of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine adopted by the World Summit
in 2005 and now espoused by the UN.
The report is persuasive, but does it take sufficient account of the limitations under which democracies use
military force, except in situations of total war? The Roman Empire could invade a troublesome border
district, create a desert and call it peace, but Western democracies feel obliged to bring democracy and the
rule of law along with peace and order. Where the local political culture has no basis for such Western values,
the occupation is likely to become indefinite in order to prevent violence from breaking out again.
Winning the initial war is the easy part; creating the conditions for long−term peace is much harder,
sometimes maybe impossible.
There's an obvious analogy with George W. Bush's doctrine of "regime change," also based on a revised
understanding of national interest − namely, that democratic governments are not safe except in a democratic
world. Underlying the doctrine of regime change was the well−established fact that no two democracies have
ever gone to war against each other. Ergo, in a democratic world, war would never break out. The reasoning
seemed persuasive, but it neglected the limitations of Western power that have manifested themselves so
visibly in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Our parliamentarians should study and debate this report thoroughly.
No one wants to repeat the genocidal experiences of the previous century. Nonetheless, I fear that R2P is to
the left what regime change was to the right: an appealing promise that goes beyond our power to fulfill.
ADDED SEARCH TERMS:
GEOGRAPHIC NAME: Canada
SUBJECT TERM:defence; foreign policy; human rights; political
ORGANIZATION NAME: Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies
2009/09/30 54/59
MASS KILLINGS Distant genocides demand
intervention, report urges
IDN: 092640046
DATE: 2009.09.21
PAGE: A12
BYLINE: PAUL KORING
SECTION: International News
EDITION: Metro
DATELINE: Washington DC
WORDS: 539
WORD COUNT: 565
PAUL KORING WASHINGTON Far−away genocides − like Rwanda's in the 1990s and Darfur's today −
pose grave national security threats that warrant robust intervention by countries like Canada and the United
States, according to a report to be published today.
It argues that political leaders have failed to learn the lessons of inaction, despite the horrific consequences
and decades of repeated "never−again" promises.
"Policy−makers continue to cling to an outdated and traditional view of the national interest that relegates the
prevention of atrocities to a second− or third−tier foreign−policy priority," says the report, issued by the Will
to Intervene Project at the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia
University.
The 160−page report to be released today sounds a clarion call for action. A copy was obtained by The Globe
and Mail.
The project's researchers interviewed scores of key officials and former politicians in an effort to dissect the
political dynamic that left the world sitting on its hands while a million or more Tutsis were hacked to death
in Rwanda in 1994, while − five years later − the West went to war pre−emptively to avert the mass killing of
ethnic Albanians threatened by Serb ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
They document, in often painful but revealing detail, the woeful − almost willful − failure of political leaders
to respond to the Rwandan genocide and conclude it is one of the latest in a long series of choosing to turn a
blind eye to massive atrocities.
"We are struck not by the absence of the will to intervene to prevent genocide, but by the presence of the will
not to intervene, a negative thrust evident among the leaders of Canada, the United States and other
democracies when confronting the great mass atrocities of the 20th and 21st centuries," say the project's
co−directors, Frank Chalk and Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian general commanding the small UN force in
Rwanda whose increasingly dire warnings and urgent pleas for reinforcements were ignored in Ottawa,
Washington and at the United Nations.
The report provides separate sets of recommendations for the Canadian and U.S. power structures, being
keenly aware that the role of the world's sole remaining superpower is far different from a medium−sized
2009/09/30 55/59
Western power with a public increasingly unwilling to countenance the use of military force overseas.
One recommendation urges Ottawa to create a rapid−reaction force of bureaucrats − a seemingly odd
suggestion, but one that fits well with the project's central theme that active, early intervention, across a range
of fronts, including so−called "soft power," might avert crises sliding into genocidal nightmares.
"A Canadian Prevention Corps would enable the Government of Canada to deploy a team of dedicated civil
servants from anywhere in the government," the report says, adding the group "would provide a critical mass
of multidisciplinary experts to work with high−level special envoys for preventive diplomacy and
fact−finding missions." The report suggests that the costs and dangers − from global pandemics and the sort of
piracy thriving off Somalia to the massive aid requirements needed in Rwanda − make averting genocide by
early intervention, including but not limited to military intervention, far less risky than indecision and delay.
ADDED SEARCH TERMS:
GEOGRAPHIC NAME: World
SUBJECT TERM:foreign policy; genocide; human rights; political
ORGANIZATION NAME: Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies; oncordia University
2009/09/30 56/59
Hope for future: senator; Humanity Man who
witnessed horrors of Rwanda has faith young people
will change things
IDNUMBER 200909190078
PUBLICATION: New Brunswick Telegraph−Journal
DATE: 2009.09.19
SECTION: News
PAGE: B1
BYLINE: BRUCE BARTLETT TELEGRAPH−JOURNAL
COPYRIGHT: © 2009 Telegraph−Journal (New Brunswick)
WORD COUNT: 477
Senator Roméo Dallaire, who helplessly witnessed the genocide in Rawanda in 1994, has seen more of the
dark side of humanity than most.
But in a speech at the first fundraising dinner for the New Brunswick Heart Centre the retired lieutenant
general in the Canadian army noted that the nature of power is changing and that young people everywhere
are seeing the world as smaller.
Those between 18 to 30 see the world as a fragile green−blue sphere in space, while earlier generations saw
the Earth as vast.
"They see it as the astronauts see it, they don't see the borders," he said.
Many young people are now working around the world in NGOs (non−governmental organizations) because
they can get into places to make a difference. Dallaire urged the audience to encourage all young people from
Canada to spend some time in places such as Africa to gain an understanding of how the majority of people on
this planet live.
The majority of people in the 18 to 30 age group don't vote, but if they did they would hold the balance of
power, he said. When they take on the responsibilities of power, Dallaire believes there will be hope for the
future. It is a hope that helps him to deal with the failures of the past 20 years, including Rawanda, where
800,000 people were slaughtered and more than three million were displaced.
When more people share the view that human lives are equal, it won't be possible to ignore situations such as
Rawanda, he said. During that time in history more news coverage was given to the O. .J Simpson trial than to
Rawanda, he said.
Dallaire was invited to speak at the fundraising dinner because he and the medical profession both share
something in common − leadership and caring, said Dr. David Bewick, who introduced Dallaire.
As a Canadian soldier in 1994, Dallaire led the UN peacekeeping mission in Rawanda, a country that boiled
over into civil war and genocide. The experience has solidified in him the belief that everyone has to
recognize all human beings as equal.
2009/09/30 57/59
"There is an overriding principle that says all humans are human," he said. "Not one of us is more human than
the other."
A lot of world history has ignored that, both through war and in the corporate world where in recent years
workers were called human "resources," which downplayed their humanity, he said.
True leadership means placing a high value on humanity, he said.
"Leadership will always produce results far beyond what the science of management says is possible. Poor
leadership, absence of leadership will permit you to potentially achieve what the science of management says
is possible, but the cost will be horrendous," he said.
Drawing on his experiences in Rawanda, Dallaire urged Canadians to live up to the fact that this country is
one of the nine or 10 most powerful countries in the world.
His speech was delivered to a sold−out crowd of 600 at the Saint John Trade and Convention Centre. It was
part of the 19th annual Cardiovascular Symposium, which brings together health care professionals involved
in the treatment of heart disease.
The dinner raised money to be spent on items and services beyond the range of government budgets.
2009/09/30 58/59
Genocidal disasters pose threats to Canadian
interests, says professor
IDNUMBER 200909230039
PUBLICATION: The Hamilton Spectator
DATE: 2009.09.23
EDITION: Final
SECTION: Canada/World
PAGE: A13
DATELINE: OTTAWA
WORD COUNT: 177
A new report says Canada and the United States should recognize that genocidal disasters such as Rwanda
threaten their national interest and they should be prepared to act against such atrocities.
across oceans.
protect ourselves."
2009/09/30 59/59

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Table of Contents / Table des matières

Inaction in the face of genocide....................................................................................................................1/59

Genocide tests our will...................................................................................................................................3/59

PREVENTING GENOCIDE Readiness to act...........................................................................................4/59

Genocide lurks in the dark............................................................................................................................6/59

‘New era' of genocide a threat......................................................................................................................8/59

Genocide, however distant, still a threat: report......................................................................................12/59

A ‘new era' of genocide...............................................................................................................................15/59

Genocide, however distant, still a threat: report......................................................................................22/59

Genocide, however distant, still a threat says report................................................................................24/59

Pour mettre fin aux génocides....................................................................................................................25/59

Finding the will to act; Report: step up fight against genocide...............................................................31/59

Genocide: "Never Again"...........................................................................................................................33/59

Genocide, however distant, still a threat....................................................................................................35/59

Genocide, however distant, still a threat: report......................................................................................37/59

MASS KILLINGS Distant genocides demand intervention, report urges.............................................55/59

Genocidal disasters pose threats to Canadian interests, says professor.................................................59/59

Somehow that feels like wishful thinking.

ADDED SEARCH TERMS:

GEOGRAPHIC NAME: Canada; World

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

Jeff Gardiner, Wellesley, Ont.

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

"This is a new era, you need new tools," said Dallaire.

He said the situation in Afghanistan doesn't qualify as genocide.

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

He said the situation in Afghanistan doesn't qualify as genocide.

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

"This is a new era, you need new tools," said Dallaire.

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

"This is a new era, you need new tools," said Dallaire.

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

"This is a new era, you need new tools," said Dallaire.

DALLAIRE: Thank you.

THOMSON: We'll be right back on "Canada AM".

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

``There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events.''

``This is a new era, you need new tools,'' said Dallaire.

It says Canada should make prevention of mass atrocities a national priority.

(The Canadian Press)

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

He said the situation in Afghanistan doesn't qualify as genocide.

He said the situation in Afghanistan doesn't qualify as genocide.

ADDED SEARCH TERMS:

GEOGRAPHIC NAME: Canada

SUBJECT TERM:foreign policy; genocide; human rights; political; war crimes

PERSONAL NAME: Robert Fowler

ORGANIZATION NAME: Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights

He said the situation in Afghanistan doesn't qualify as genocide.

Our parliamentarians should study and debate this report thoroughly.

ADDED SEARCH TERMS:

GEOGRAPHIC NAME: Canada

SUBJECT TERM:defence; foreign policy; human rights; political

ADDED SEARCH TERMS:

GEOGRAPHIC NAME: World

SUBJECT TERM:foreign policy; genocide; human rights; political

True leadership means placing a high value on humanity, he said.

"There's also the threat of terrorism arising from these events."

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