Shake Hands With the Devil
91 minutes, 2005 , United States
Directed by Peter Raymont. Produced by Peter Raymont and Lindalee Tracey. Written by Roméo Dallaire, based on his book.
While many Americans were distracted by the OJ Simpson case, over 800,000 men, women and children were massacred in the small African country of Rwanda. The victims were mainly Tutsis, murdered by their Hutu neighbors. Canadian General Roméo Dallaire was charged with an impossible task: to head the UN peacekeeping mission with a handful of soldiers ordered not to use force to protect Rwandans from the mass slaughter.
Based on Dallaire’s best-selling book, Peter Raymont’s documentary follows the General’s return to the region 10 years later, as he comes to grips with the events that have haunted him: his struggles with top UN officials, expedient Belgian policy-makers and Clinton administration officials who ignored his pleas for reinforcements. The experience led to Dallaire’s own life tragedy as he dealt with the psychological fallout of witnessing a genocide he was powerless to stop. Judging from the current killings in Darfur, Sudan, the ethical dilemmas confronting the international community are as urgent now as a decade ago. SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL won the World Documentary Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
More about Rwanda and the UN (204 KB pdf file)
Give to Roméo Dallaire's Rwandan Foundation, "Future for Our Children"
Background from Human Rights Watch
Take action with Earthaction
National Security Archive : press release
US Institute for Peace on war crimes
Based on Dallaire’s best-selling book, Peter Raymont’s documentary follows the General’s return to the region 10 years later, as he comes to grips with the events that have haunted him: his struggles with top UN officials, expedient Belgian policy-makers and Clinton administration officials who ignored his pleas for reinforcements. The experience led to Dallaire’s own life tragedy as he dealt with the psychological fallout of witnessing a genocide he was powerless to stop. Judging from the current killings in Darfur, Sudan, the ethical dilemmas confronting the international community are as urgent now as a decade ago. SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL won the World Documentary Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
More about Rwanda and the UN (204 KB pdf file)
Give to Roméo Dallaire's Rwandan Foundation, "Future for Our Children"
Background from Human Rights Watch
Take action with Earthaction
National Security Archive : press release
US Institute for Peace on war crimes
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