Mbaye diagne
Encyclopedia
Captain Mbaye Diagne (?-31 May 1994) was a Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

ese Army
Military of Senegal
The Senegalese armed forces consist of about 19,000 well-trained and disciplined personnel in the army, air force, navy, and gendarmerie. The Senegalese military force receives most of its training, equipment, and support from France and the United States...

 officer and a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 military observer 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...

. He is credited with saving many lives during his time in 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...

 through nearly continuous rescue missions at great peril to himself.

A devout Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

, Mbaye was one of nine children born to a family living near Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...

, and the first to go to college. Following his graduation from the University of Dakar, he joined the army as an officer. In 1993 he was seconded to UNAMIR, the United Nations peacekeeping force sent to Rwanda as a military observer of the implementation of the Arusha Accords
Arusha Accords
The Arusha Accords were a set of five accords signed in Arusha, Tanzania on August 4, 1993, by the government of Rwanda and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front , under mediation, to end a three-year Rwandan Civil War...

. He was stationed at the Hôtel des Mille Collines
Hôtel des Mille Collines
The Hôtel des Mille Collines is a large hotel in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. It became famous as the building in which more than a thousand people took refuge during the Rwandan Genocide of 1994...

, a luxury hotel located 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...

.

Rwandan Genocide

The start of the 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...

 was signaled by the assassination
Assassination of Habyarimana and Ntaryamira
The assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on the evening of April 6, 1994, was the catalyst for the Rwandan Genocide. The airplane carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda....

 of Rwandan President Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana
Juvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...

 on the evening of 6 April 1994. 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...

 hardliners, who had opposed negotiating with the rebel 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 ....

 Rwandan Patriotic Front
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front abbreviated as RPF is the current ruling political party of Rwanda, led by President Paul Kagame. It governs in a coalition with other parties...

, began implementing a plan to kill moderate politicians. The following morning Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Rwanda
-List of Prime Ministers of Rwanda:-Affiliations:*Parmehutu - Party of the Hutu Emancipation Movement*MRND - National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development...

 Agathe Uwilingiyimana
Agathe Uwilingiyimana
Agathe Uwilingiyimana was a Rwandan political figure. She served as Prime Minister of Rwanda from 18 July 1993 until her death on 7 April 1994. Her term was ended when she was assassinated during the opening stages of the Rwandan Genocide...

 and her husband were assassinated by soldiers of the Presidential Guard
Presidential Guard
Presidential Guard may refer to:*Evzones, the Greek Presidential Guard, formerly the Royal Guard.*Presidential Guard *Presidential Guard *Presidential Guard *Presidential Guard Brigade...

. The ten Belgian peacekeepers assigned to her protection were also murdered. Later that morning, Mbaye heard rumors of Uwilingiyimana's murder from people fleeing to Hôtel des Mille Collines. Unarmed, he came to investigate and found the prime minister's four children being hidden in the adjoining United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Development Programme
The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations' global development network. It advocates for change and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP operates in 177 countries, working with nations on their own solutions to...

 housing compound. He was discovered later that morning by UNAMIR Force Commander Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...

, who was trying to find out what had happened to the prime minister. Dallaire told Mbaye to wait for UNAMIR armored personnel carriers to rescue the children and UNDP employees later that day, but the APCs never appeared. Mbaye eventually put the children in the back seat of his vehicle, covered them with blankets and made his way to the hotel.

Despite U.N. rules of engagement prohibiting observers from going out to save civilians, it soon became apparent to other UNAMIR employees that Mbaye was continuing his rescue missions. The head of humanitarian operations in Rwanda gave an explanation as to why Mbaye was not rebuked: "here's someone who stepped out of line and [the general is] not going to discipline him because he's doing the right thing." The number of lives he saved is variously given as "dozens upon dozens" and "at least hundreds". Because he had to pass through dozens of checkpoints tasked with killing Tutsis and moderate Hutus, Mbaye ferried at most five people on each trip. In order to get past, he relied on his extensive contacts among the military and militias, his ability to defuse tense situations with quick jokes, and occasional bribes of cigarettes and money.

Death

On 31 May, Capt. Mbaye was driving alone, back to U.N. headquarters in Kigali with a message for Dallaire from Augustin Bizimungu
Augustin Bizimungu
Augustin Bizimungu is a former general in the Rwandan Armed Forces . In 1994, he briefly served as chief of staff of the army...

 when a mortar shell landed behind his Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...

. Shrapnel entered through the back window and hit Mbaye in the back of the head, killing him instantly. The mortar had been fired by Rwandan Patriotic Front
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front abbreviated as RPF is the current ruling political party of Rwanda, led by President Paul Kagame. It governs in a coalition with other parties...

 forces at a Rwandan Armed Forces checkpoint.

The Head of the U.N. Humanitarian Assistance Team realized that the U.N. did not have a body bag
Body bag
A body bag is a non-porous bag designed to contain a human body, used for the storage and transportation of corpses. Body bags can also be used for the storage of corpses within morgues. Before purpose-made body bags were available, cotton mattress covers were sometimes used, particularly in...

 and was forced to make one from a light blue UNICEF
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...

 tarp and tape:
you wanna do it right. You want to … zip it, [but] you got this UN light-blue body bag, and we're going to make and fold the edges over. And we're folding them up, and the creases aren't right, because his feet are so damn big. … And you don't want that for him. You want it to be like, you know, just laid out perfectly. So that when people look at him, they know that he was something great.


UNAMIR Force HQ held a minute of silence in his honor and a small parade at the airport on 1 June. Dallaire wrote in Shake Hands with the Devil
Shake Hands with the Devil (book)
Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda is a book by Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire of the Canadian Forces, with help from Major Brent Beardsley...

:
As one of his fellow MILOBs said: "He was the bravest of all". The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Mark Doyle
Mark Doyle (journalist)
Mark Doyle is a world affairs correspondent for BBC News. A British citizen, he is known in particular for his articles on topics related to Africa.In 1980, Doyle volunteered as a student teacher at the British-Senegalese Institute in Dakar, Senegal...

 who considered Diagne a friend, recently wrote to me, "Can you imagine the blanket media coverage that a dead British or American peacekeeper of Mbaye's bravery and stature would have received? He got almost none."


Mbaye is also responsible for amateur video footage of the United Nations peacekeepers in Rwanda during the genocide, which is one of the only video records during that time.. The footage was used in the 2004 PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....

 Frontline documentary, Ghosts of Rwanda.

Mbaye was buried in Senegal with full military honors. He left behind a wife and two children.

Further reading

  • "Captain Mbaye Diagne" by Mark Doyle
    Mark Doyle (journalist)
    Mark Doyle is a world affairs correspondent for BBC News. A British citizen, he is known in particular for his articles on topics related to Africa.In 1980, Doyle volunteered as a student teacher at the British-Senegalese Institute in Dakar, Senegal...

    , in Granta
    Granta
    Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centers on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated, "In its blend of...

    48, 1 September 1994, ISBN 140140840
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