Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
Luc Marchal is a retired officer of the
armed forces of
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. He is known for being the senior officer in the Belgian
peacekeeping contingent during the 1994
Rwandan genocide
The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed H ...
, as well as the
United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed on 4 August 1993, wh ...
(UNAMIR) sector commander for the capital
Kigali.
Background
Marchal had, by 1994, accumulated thirty years of experience in the
Belgian military
The Belgian Defense Forces ( nl, Defensie; french: La Défense) is the national military of Belgium. The King of the Belgians is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The Belgian Armed Forces was established after Belgium became indepen ...
, fifteen of them as a
paracommando. Before his Rwanda assignment, he had been
chief of staff to the
Minister of Defense. Marchal had five years of experience working in
Zaire
Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
, and his
United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 872 on 5 October 1993. It was intended to assist in the implementation of the Arusha Accords, signed on 4 August 1993, wh ...
(UNAMIR) commander,
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
Lieutenant General
Roméo Dallaire
Roméo Antonius Dallaire (born June 25, 1946) is a Canadian humanitarian, author, retired senator and Canadian Forces lieutenant-general. Dallaire served as force commander of UNAMIR, the ill-fated United Nations peacekeeping force for Rwanda ...
, praised him, stating, "Luc carried no colonial baggage" and that he "had a special knack for working with troops from less sophisticated armies."
Service in Rwanda 1993/94
Marchal landed in
Rwanda on 9 December 1993. He was the most senior officer in the 440-troop strong Belgian contribution to UNAMIR. As the best trained and equipped contingent in the force, the Belgians formed the backbone of the force. Marchal had been given the command in October and, before leaving, had complained that the contingent did not have enough firepower if he needed to evacuate. He was reassured, "You're going to
Club Med
Club Med SAS, commonly known as Club Med and previously known as Club Méditerranée SA, is a French travel and tourism operator headquartered in Paris, specializing in all-inclusive holidays. Founded in 1950, the company has been primarily o ...
." Belgium was eager to send a contingent to UNAMIR to protect the large number of Belgian citizens in the Rwanda and offer an excuse for their withdrawal from the
United Nations mission in
Somalia
Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...
. On several occasions, Marchal asked
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
for guidance to direct his operations. He was never provided with directives, or even
rules of engagement
Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...
to govern what the Belgian peacekeepers could and could not do.
[Melvern, pp. 82 & 84]
Dallaire became increasingly frustrated that UNAMIR was expected to operate in a total lack of information about the country and current events. When his request to
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
headquarters for an
intelligence gathering
This is a list of intelligence gathering disciplines.
HUMINT
Human intelligence (HUMINT) are gathered from a person in the location in question. Sources can include the following:
* Advisors or foreign internal defense (FID) personnel wor ...
capability was denied because such a capability was considered incompatible with peacekeeping, he asked Marchal to pass on a request for assistance to
Belgian General Information and Security Service
The General Intelligence and Security Service (GISS), known in Dutch as Algemene Dienst Inlichting en Veiligheid (ADIV), and in French as Service Général du Renseignement et de la Sécurité (SGRS) is the Belgian military intelligence service u ...
(SGR), which eventually resulted in a two-person cell and small intelligence network that directed information to Brussels, rather than Dallaire.
Marchal was also given command of UNAMIR's
Kigali Sector, where his major responsibility was the "Kigali Weapons Secure Area" (KWSA), a zone in a 10-kilometer radius from the Kigali city center in which military units, including both the
Rwandan Armed Forces
french: Forces rwandaises de défense sw, Nguvu ya Ulinzi ya Watu wa Rwanda
, image = Rwanda Defense Force emblem.png
, alt =
, caption =
, image2 =
, alt2 =
, caption2 ...
(FAR) and the rebel
Rwandan Patriotic Front
The Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF–Inkotanyi, french: Front patriotique rwandais, FPR) is the ruling political party in Rwanda. Led by President Paul Kagame, the party has governed the country since its armed wing defeated government forces, wi ...
(RPF), would be required to store their weapons and ammunition. The weapons-free zone was a cornerstone of the 1993
Arusha Accords that ended the
Rwandan Civil War
The Rwandan Civil War was a large-scale civil war in Rwanda which was fought between the Rwandan Armed Forces, representing the country's government, and the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) from 1October 1990 to 18 July 1994. The war aro ...
. Marchal oversaw the successful movement of an RPF battalion to the
Conseil National pour le Développement (CND), a prominent government building, on 27 December 1993 to ensure the safety of RPF
transitional deputy prime minister
Jacques Bihozagera. However, when he protested that the 600 RPF soldiers were carrying loaded weapons, in clear violation of the Kigali Weapons Secure Area, he was informed that the Arusha Accords provision did not apply within the CND.
On 10 January,
Faustin Twagiramungu
Faustin Twagiramungu (born 14 August 1945) is a Rwandan politician. He was Prime Minister from 1994 until his resignation in 1995, the first head of government appointed after the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) captured Kigali. He then exiled himse ...
, who was chosen as the transitional prime minister, informed Dallaire that he had made contact with an informant within the
Interahamwe
The Interahamwe ( or ) is a Hutu paramilitary organization active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda. The Interahamwe was formed around 1990 as the youth wing of the National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development (MRND ...
militia. Dallaire sent Marchal to the meeting the next day with the informant, codenamed "Jean-Pierre." "Jean-Pierre" described a complex process of training, organizing and arming militias in preparation for the extermination of
Tutsi
The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic ...
. Dallaire would describe his reaction: "Finally it looked like we could identify the third force, grab hold of it and wrestle it down. After months of being forced to act after the fact, we had a chance to seize the initiative."
[Dallaire, p. 144] Marchal was ordered to plan for four simultaneous raids on the arms caches reported by "Jean-Pierre." Both Dallaire and Marchal perceived the intended raids as being well within their mandate, the caches themselves being a violation of the KWSA and the arming of militias being a violation of the Arusha Accords and threat to the safety of UNAMIR itself.
Aftermath
Marchal was accused of negligence contributing to the death of the ten Belgian peacekeepers in a
court-martial of the Belgian military, but was found not guilty in July 1996. A 2007 inquiry by the
Belgian Senate
The Senate ( nl, Senaat, ; french: Sénat, ; german: Senat) is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parli ...
noted that Marchal and Dallaire were the targets of attempts to turn attention away from errors of judgment made by the Belgian government. Ten years later, Marchal testified in the Belgian trial of former FAR Major
Bernard Ntuyahaga, who was found guilty of the murder of the Belgians, and sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment in July 2007.
Publications
*
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchal, Luc
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Belgian soldiers
People of the Rwandan genocide
United Nations operations in Rwanda
United Nations military personnel
Belgian officials of the United Nations