Canadian Lieutenant General Roméo Dallaire wishes that the wisdom learned from World War II was applied when he took the command of United Nations mission in Rwanda in 1993.  The situation in Rwanda steadily worsened when Dallaire arrived to Rwanda, as radio programs continued to hoist prejudice and hatred toward the Tutsi and the French were arming the countries troops consisting of Hutus.  The majority religion in Rwanda, Catholicism, disregarded the hatred and let it continue as the instability in the country turned it into a butcher shop after the killing of the president, which was blamed upon the Tutsi.

During Dallaire’s command, he tried numerous times to convince the United Nations to act before it was too late.  However, the leading world was more concerned about the war in former Yugoslavia while the public drew their interest through the many news stations to O.J. Simpson’s infamous small gloves.  Abandoned at his post with an insufficient number of soldiers to handle a murderous rampage that took place in Rwanda, Dallaire could only do one thing, watch and try to save as many as he could.

One scene introduces the audience to a place where ten Belgian soldiers were murdered.  Dallaire who was there did not act on the slaughter killings of these soldiers, as he considered it too dangerous for the mission and it could put all of his present men at risk.  Yet, the Belgian senator of Rwanda had the stomach to complain that Dallaire did not act to save the ten soldiers that were killed at the outpost.  This supports the notion that the Belgians did not consider the 800,000 Rwandan’s that were brutally murdered by machetes and guns, as the Belgians withdrew their troops from the country.  Besides did the Canadians not aid the Belgians in their fight for freedom during World War II?

The story is thoughtfully told through Dallaire’s personal struggle to cope with the post-traumatic stress that he suffers from due to the time in Rwanda, as he returns to the country of his haunting nightmares.  He vividly remembers the smell of rotting corpses, the view of mutilated women and children, and the cries of people being butchered in the night.  These events continued for over 100 days when he was in command of the United Nations’ outpost in Rwanda while the United Nations’ Cabinet did nothing to prevent the brutal killings.  Instead the Western World repeated history, as they turned their backs to the people of Rwanda just as they did to the Jews in the Evian Conference of 1938 by closing their borders to German-Jewish refugees.

Sadly, this documentary provides an image of the atrocities in Rwanda, which still seem to be swept under the rug in the Western World.  Sure, it is recognized today, but the Western World does not want to talk about its blood stained hands, as it is too difficult, maybe because of guilt.  Nonetheless, it is a story that should be told and that unfortunately took place in a remote part of the world compared to the Western World.  Dallaire raises his voice and speaks out, the way he experienced it, while others tried to take potshots at him.  Ultimately, Shake Hands with the Devil offers a tragic story that should be a tool to help educate the world of the atrocities, and maybe this time the Western World can get it right when they say, “Let this never happen again.”

DIRECTED BY

COUNTRY

Canada

Filmography links and data courtesy of