In the News Justice Comes (Late) to Rwanda

December 18, 2008

“In such circumstances, if you don't at least speak out clearly, you are participating [in] the genocide.”
Philippe Gaillard, head of Red Cross Mission, Rwanda (1994)

Fourteen years after the world watched the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandans, a principal architect of that slaughter has been found guilty of genocide and crimes of humanity, and sentenced to life imprisonment by a UN tribunal. Col. Theoneste Bagosora is the highest-ranking official to be convicted, and the first to be found guilty not just of participating in the carnage, but of leading it.

Col. Bagosora turns up at several chilling points in Ghosts of Rwanda, FRONTLINE'S powerful and moving account of the genocide. One of these appearances is recounted in the excerpt on this page; it begins with another important actor in the story, Philippe Gaillard, who headed the Red Cross mission in Rwanda, and emerges as one of the film's several extraordinary heroes.

An additional 40 minutes of the film, and supporting materials, can be seen here. The full two-hour program is available on DVD or cassette.