Ben Wilhelmi

Belgian paras slaughtered, Kigali, April 1994

 

 

A moving visit some years back...

Camp Kigali where 10 of our soldiers died, abandoned by their superiors and UN desk specialists.

 

What's 10 soldiers one might ask...indeed but Belgium is a small country and not used to lose its soldiers, especially due to crass incompetence and lack of care and guts from above.

 

 

 

 

 

Camp Kigali, memorial for murdered Belgian soldiers

 

20 years ago Belgium lost 10 marines (para commandos) while on a mission to protect a minister. Since Belgium is not regularly invading other countries, we are not used to lose soldiers, these atrocious deaths became a trauma, made worse by the fact it could have been prevented, had the officers in charge somewhere in the neighborhood used their balls and brains.

Those bullet holes were not enough to send help to the 10.

 

Nowadays, each stone represents one fallen soldier, the marks represent their age.

 

 

In the far corner, more bullet holes. The corner where the last ones were executed.

 

The families came here some years ago, they left some messages on this blackboard. Their anger was justified, understandable. The general Dallaire and a Belgian colonel, Marchal, are seen are the main culprits with another Belgian colonel whose name is here missing, Dewez. They were widely blamed  for not helping the 10.

 

Further in the house, one of the various placards is in honor of the 10 marines and also for the 12 Belgian civilian victims

 

A guide shows us the work of a  local artist who has represented 3 of the main genocides of the last century, the Holocaust, the Khmers Rouges and the Rwanda cases. Yugoslavia, the Herreros and Armenia could also have been represented.

 

A detail for Rwanda and the 10 marines.

 

I was in Kigali a few days ago to meet my girlfriend and rest a bit on a long weekend. But we felt the need to visit a few of the memorials out there. Needless to say, this is quite a moving experience.