Ecole Technique Officielle
Encyclopedia
The École Technique Officielle was a Salesian
Salesians of Don Bosco
The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...

 secondary school in Kigali
Kigali
Kigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...

, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

. On April 11, 1994, during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...

, over 2,500 Rwandans abandoned by the UN, in the school in which they set up base to supervise the peace between the Hutu
Hutu
The Hutu , or Abahutu, are a Central African people, living mainly in Rwanda, Burundi, and eastern DR Congo.-Population statistics:The Hutu are the largest of the three peoples in Burundi and Rwanda; according to the United States Central Intelligence Agency, 84% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians...

 and Tutsi
Tutsi
The Tutsi , or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group in Central Africa. Historically they were often referred to as the Watussi or Watusi. They are the second largest caste in Rwanda and Burundi, the other two being the Hutu and the Twa ....

, were murdered by extremist militias. This event is the subject of the movie Shooting Dogs
Shooting Dogs
Shooting Dogs, released in the United States as Beyond the Gates, is a 2005 film, directed by Michael Caton-Jones and starring John Hurt, Hugh Dancy and Claire-Hope Ashitey. It is based on the experiences of BBC news producer David Belton, who worked in Rwanda during the Rwandan Genocide...

 (also called Beyond the Gates
Beyond the Gates
Beyond the Gates is the second album released by death metal band Possessed. It took a different direction from their debut, Seven Churches. Compared to Seven Churches, Beyond the Gates has a more technical feeling and, due to poor production, a muddy sound...

) by Michael Caton-Jones
Michael Caton-Jones
Michael Caton-Jones is the director of such films as Scandal, Rob Roy, Memphis Belle and The Jackal...

. The film illuminates the decisions and choices that were made to save whites hiding in the school thereby condemning the remaining Rwandans to death.

The UN are accused of abandoning the refugees

Despite the clear and persistent knowledge that the UN have had enough UN peace-keeping military personnel within the range of few hours of deployment to protect the refugees at the École Technique Officielle, the UN Security Council was unable to deliver the troops to the refugee site. Aftermath more than 2,500 were slaughtered. No investigation was probed even after the Belgian government demanded.

French troops who were behind a controversial evacuation of only 'white Westerners alleged that it compelled the order from the UN SC. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...

 did not comment when asked by Belgian and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

n ambassadors to the UN about the inability to protect the civilian who were clearly taken a refugee at the École Technique Officielle school.

Vjekoslav "Vjeko" Ćurić
Vjekoslav Curic
Vjekoslav "Vjeko" Ćurić was a Bosnian Croat priest and humanitarian. He is one of the recognized martyrs of Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena...

, a Croatian
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have...

 priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 and humanitarian, the only 'white' refused to be evacuated, and who has been later slaughtered, is recognized as one of the martyrs of the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena. In Rwanda he is known as "Croatian Oskar Schindler" and a school in Kivuma is named after him.

The school has since been renamed École Technique de Kicukiro.

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