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Stefan Stec (UN peacekeeper)
Encyclopedia
Stefan Stec was a major
of the Polish Armed Forces
. In 1994 he served as a peacekeeper
in the UNAMIR forces in Rwanda
under general
Roméo Dallaire
. For his dedication in saving lives during Rwandan genocide
at the risk to his own he was awarded the Cross of Merit for Bravery
by Polish President
Lech Wałęsa
. He died at the age of 41 due to complications from posttraumatic stress disorder.
Military University of Technology, but then volunteered for service in Polish peacekeeping UN forces and completed training at the Polish peacekeeping centre in Kielce
-Bukówka.
On his first UN mission he was assigned in 1992 to UNTAC forces at Phnom Penh
, the capital of Cambodia
. The goal of the mission was to supervise the first Cambodia parliamentary election. Poland provided a contingent in the size of the battalion
containing engineering
and logistic
units repairing roads and bridges and providing operational units with water, food and fuel. The mission ended in September 1993.
and described by optimistic politicians as "classic". Only five Polish officers and cadets, mostly from finished UNTAC mission in Cambodia served in the UNAMIR mission that lasted from October 1993 till March 1996. They arrived to Kigali
in November and December 1993 and their task was to prepare plans and organization of logistic support for the UNAMIR.
Upon arrival Stec noticed however how the other UN soldiers called the mission as "Mission Impossible" due to the racism, the Hutu Power militia and the human rights abuses. "It felt as though we were sitting on a barrel of gunpowder, waiting for a spark. (...) the genocide hanged in the air", and "the international community was playing for time, waiting for some final solution to the Rwandan problem". But no one could ever have imagined the scale of what was to come.
When the genocide in Rwanda
begun on April 6, 1994, Stec was one of the first (with Polish major Marek Pazik, Canadian major Brent Beardsley and a three-man Bangladesh
i crew) who, called upon two other Polish UNAMIR officers major Jerzy Mączka and major Ryszard Chudy, arrived by Czech made Armoured personnel carrier
to the place of the massacre in Gikondo
, the first massacre discovered by UNAMIR. Stec filmed the bodies with his camcorder in order to gain the proof of the genocide
and was the first UNAMIR officer to use this word. As noted later "we were explicitly forbidden to use the word genocide in our correspondence to New York".
Massacres like the one in Gikondo
would become commonplace. "We had a well-organised genocide rolling through the country".
There were an estimated 10,000 people being killed each day by Interhamwe. Stec and four fellow polish officers created a Humanitarian Action Cell to co-ordinate and organise rescue teams. By April 15, 1994 they devised a plan for the creation of secure zones, the co-ordination of relief agencies and protection of the population. None of these points was entirely realised because of the pressure from the UN Security Council, or rather from Paris
, London
, Washington, D.C.
, and Brussels
. "Instead of saving people, we were engaged into talks on impossible ceasefire. Basically it sounded to us like: do not save people, play for time and see how it develops". They created 91 such secure zones in Rwanda, but there were only enough Unamir soldiers to stand guard at four of them.
In May 1994 along with four Tunisia
n UNAMIR peacekeepers Stec supervised the evacuation some of those trapped in the Hotel des Mille Collines
reading the names of those to be evacuated in a crowded hotel lobby. "I had a 'Schindler's List
' of the people we were allowed to save. The conditions were: they did need a visa guarantee and a financial guarantee that they would be received outside Rwanda (...). A few blocks away from the Mille Collines, there was a church, St. Famille, with more than 5000 refugees. Every night militia was killing people there. We did nothing for them and I guess it was because they didn't have visas".
In May 1994 Stec tried also to revive his humanitarian assistance plan. Together with general Dallaire they concluded that it was the right thing to do but they could not save people because of political liaisons. "At that time, the sense of rebellion was very strong in UNAMIR. The words nonsense operation were commonly used by military observers to describe the refugee transfers we did". It was then when Stec was considering deserting UNAMIR and joining the Rwandan Patriotic Front
in protest. But still he had the list of people that were allowed to save and actually were.
When the United Nations Security Council
, at the instigation of the United Kingdom
, had determined that UNAMIR be withdrawn, leaving only a "token force" to "appease public opinion", Stec remained in Rwanda even though the council terminated sending supplies to the remaining peacekeepers.
After the genocide was over in July 1994 Stec left UNAMIR and made a home with his partner Heather Kilner in The Hague. Working in computer technology, he saved enough money to establish in December 2001 along with Kilner the Amahoro Foundation
. Since then the foundation assists children, particularly orphans, advances education and relieves poverty in Rwanda, connecting people of goodwill, in general supported only by a website designed by Stec.
For his exceptional courage in Rwanda, saving lives at the risk to his own he was personally thanked by the Polish President
Lech Wałęsa
, who honored him with the Cross of Merit for Bravery
. Stec dedicated this cross to all volunteers who stayed with UNAMIR and especially to General Dallaire
, "whose courage and leadership kept us running against the will of the international community".
In 2005, Stec was invited on a special showing of Hotel Rwanda
movie in the Hague. After the film, which portrays the peacekeepers as ineffectual, there was a panel discussion during which Stec was publicly blamed for not having done enough to save Rwandan lives.
Stec fell ill after the viewing of Hotel Rwanda. He stopped eating and, in spite of help from psychiatrists who had treated soldiers from the Dutch
UN battalion in Srebrenica
, died due to complications from posttraumatic stress disorder in September 2005.
In the 2007 Canadian drama feature film Shake Hands with the Devil Stec is played by Mark Antony Krupa.
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
of the Polish Armed Forces
Polish Armed Forces
Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej are the national defense forces of Poland...
. In 1994 he served as a peacekeeper
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
in the UNAMIR forces 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...
under general
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...
. For his dedication in saving lives during 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...
at the risk to his own he was awarded the Cross of Merit for Bravery
Cross of Merit for Bravery
The Cross of Merit for Bravery is a Polish medal awarded for selfless bravery in the defense of law, national borders, and the life and property of citizens in especially difficult circumstances....
by Polish President
President of the Republic of Poland
The President of the Republic of Poland is the Polish head of state. His or her rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Poland....
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
. He died at the age of 41 due to complications from posttraumatic stress disorder.
Youth and service in UNTAC
Stefan Stec began his studies in 1982 at the WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
Military University of Technology, but then volunteered for service in Polish peacekeeping UN forces and completed training at the Polish peacekeeping centre in Kielce
Kielce
Kielce ) is a city in central Poland with 204,891 inhabitants . It is also the capital city of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship since 1999, previously in Kielce Voivodeship...
-Bukówka.
On his first UN mission he was assigned in 1992 to UNTAC forces at Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh
Phnom Penh is the capital and largest city of Cambodia. Located on the banks of the Mekong River, Phnom Penh has been the national capital since the French colonized Cambodia, and has grown to become the nation's center of economic and industrial activities, as well as the center of security,...
, the capital of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. The goal of the mission was to supervise the first Cambodia parliamentary election. Poland provided a contingent in the size of the battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
containing engineering
Military engineer
In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...
and logistic
Military logistics
Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:...
units repairing roads and bridges and providing operational units with water, food and fuel. The mission ended in September 1993.
Service in UNAMIR during Rwandan genocide
His next mission was small and ill-equipped UNAMIR mission intended to oversee a transition from dictatorship to democracy in RwandaRwanda
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...
and described by optimistic politicians as "classic". Only five Polish officers and cadets, mostly from finished UNTAC mission in Cambodia served in the UNAMIR mission that lasted from October 1993 till March 1996. They arrived to 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...
in November and December 1993 and their task was to prepare plans and organization of logistic support for the UNAMIR.
Upon arrival Stec noticed however how the other UN soldiers called the mission as "Mission Impossible" due to the racism, the Hutu Power militia and the human rights abuses. "It felt as though we were sitting on a barrel of gunpowder, waiting for a spark. (...) the genocide hanged in the air", and "the international community was playing for time, waiting for some final solution to the Rwandan problem". But no one could ever have imagined the scale of what was to come.
When the genocide in Rwanda
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...
begun on April 6, 1994, Stec was one of the first (with Polish major Marek Pazik, Canadian major Brent Beardsley and a three-man Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
i crew) who, called upon two other Polish UNAMIR officers major Jerzy Mączka and major Ryszard Chudy, arrived by Czech made Armoured personnel carrier
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
to the place of the massacre in Gikondo
Gikondo massacre
The Gikondo massacre was the mass murder of about 110 people of Tutsi identity, including children, who sheltered in a Polish Pallottine mission church in Gikondo, Kigali. The massacre took place on April 9, 1994 and was executed by Interahamwe militia under supervision of the Hutu presidential guard...
, the first massacre discovered by UNAMIR. Stec filmed the bodies with his camcorder in order to gain the proof of the genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
and was the first UNAMIR officer to use this word. As noted later "we were explicitly forbidden to use the word genocide in our correspondence to New York".
Massacres like the one in Gikondo
Gikondo massacre
The Gikondo massacre was the mass murder of about 110 people of Tutsi identity, including children, who sheltered in a Polish Pallottine mission church in Gikondo, Kigali. The massacre took place on April 9, 1994 and was executed by Interahamwe militia under supervision of the Hutu presidential guard...
would become commonplace. "We had a well-organised genocide rolling through the country".
There were an estimated 10,000 people being killed each day by Interhamwe. Stec and four fellow polish officers created a Humanitarian Action Cell to co-ordinate and organise rescue teams. By April 15, 1994 they devised a plan for the creation of secure zones, the co-ordination of relief agencies and protection of the population. None of these points was entirely realised because of the pressure from the UN Security Council, or rather from Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. "Instead of saving people, we were engaged into talks on impossible ceasefire. Basically it sounded to us like: do not save people, play for time and see how it develops". They created 91 such secure zones in Rwanda, but there were only enough Unamir soldiers to stand guard at four of them.
In May 1994 along with four Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
n UNAMIR peacekeepers Stec supervised the evacuation some of those trapped in the Hotel 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...
reading the names of those to be evacuated in a crowded hotel lobby. "I had a 'Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
' of the people we were allowed to save. The conditions were: they did need a visa guarantee and a financial guarantee that they would be received outside Rwanda (...). A few blocks away from the Mille Collines, there was a church, St. Famille, with more than 5000 refugees. Every night militia was killing people there. We did nothing for them and I guess it was because they didn't have visas".
In May 1994 Stec tried also to revive his humanitarian assistance plan. Together with general Dallaire they concluded that it was the right thing to do but they could not save people because of political liaisons. "At that time, the sense of rebellion was very strong in UNAMIR. The words nonsense operation were commonly used by military observers to describe the refugee transfers we did". It was then when Stec was considering deserting UNAMIR and joining the 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...
in protest. But still he had the list of people that were allowed to save and actually were.
When the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
, at the instigation of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, had determined that UNAMIR be withdrawn, leaving only a "token force" to "appease public opinion", Stec remained in Rwanda even though the council terminated sending supplies to the remaining peacekeepers.
Amahoro Foundation
Amahoro Foundation
Amahoro Foundation - public benefit organization established on December 2001 in the Hague, Netherlands by Heather Kilner and Stefan Stec.The foundation has been established to assist war affected children in Rwanda and its neighbouring countries...
. Since then the foundation assists children, particularly orphans, advances education and relieves poverty in Rwanda, connecting people of goodwill, in general supported only by a website designed by Stec.
For his exceptional courage in Rwanda, saving lives at the risk to his own he was personally thanked by the Polish President
President of the Republic of Poland
The President of the Republic of Poland is the Polish head of state. His or her rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Poland....
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
, who honored him with the Cross of Merit for Bravery
Cross of Merit for Bravery
The Cross of Merit for Bravery is a Polish medal awarded for selfless bravery in the defense of law, national borders, and the life and property of citizens in especially difficult circumstances....
. Stec dedicated this cross to all volunteers who stayed with UNAMIR and especially to General Dallaire
Roméo Dallaire
Lieutenant-General Roméo Antonius Dallaire, is a Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general...
, "whose courage and leadership kept us running against the will of the international community".
In 2005, Stec was invited on a special showing of Hotel Rwanda
Hotel Rwanda
Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 American drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay written by both George and Keir Pearson. Based on real life events which took place in Rwanda during the spring of 1994, the film stars Don Cheadle as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina, who attempts to...
movie in the Hague. After the film, which portrays the peacekeepers as ineffectual, there was a panel discussion during which Stec was publicly blamed for not having done enough to save Rwandan lives.
Stec fell ill after the viewing of Hotel Rwanda. He stopped eating and, in spite of help from psychiatrists who had treated soldiers from the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
UN battalion in Srebrenica
Srebrenica
Srebrenica is a town and municipality in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Bosnian Serb entity of Republika Srpska. Srebrenica is a small mountain town, its main industry being salt mining and a nearby spa. During the Bosnian War, the town was the site of the July 1995 massacre,...
, died due to complications from posttraumatic stress disorder in September 2005.
In the 2007 Canadian drama feature film Shake Hands with the Devil Stec is played by Mark Antony Krupa.