UNAMIR II - Australian Medical Support Force to Rwanda - Personal/Sub-Unit diary [ASC I COs diary LT Col P McIntosh] 25 Jul 1994 to 16 Dec 1994 - Part 4

57

Monday 19 September

[*Folio 83*] The sitrep for the period 180600 to 190600
is at Folio 83

[*Folio 84*] The AUSMED Programme for the week 19-26

Sep is at Folio 84
 

58

Tuesday 20 September

[*Folio 85*] The sitrep for the period 190600 - 200600 is

at folio 85.

[*Folio 86*] I address the matter of Relief Out of County

Leave to LHQ (Folio 86). There has been a

great deal of procrastination and unless

a decision is made soon soldiers will

not get a flight booking.

I tasked OC A Cot to draft a plan

for the protection and evacuation of AS NGO's

[*Folio 87*] in country (Folio 87)

I visited the hospital to observe the

training support that we are providing to the

local nurses.  It has been exceptionally

well received and already the stench

in the surgical wards has significantly

reduced and patients are being

turned out of the ward some weeks

sooner than they would usually, thereby

freeing up beds.

 

59

Wednesday 21 September

The Sitrep for the period 200600 to 210600

[*Folio 88*] is at Folio 88.

SOI Plans approached the COs of AS, UK, CA

contingents about providing infantry to

either provide security in Kigali so

that the Ghaniain Company can be

released to operate in Sector 2 or

to provide a security force for

Sector 2.  This was borne out of 

a controversial UNHCR report that

advised of atrocities being conducted 

in Sector 2 by the RPA and the UNAMIR

was doing nothing about it.  COMASC

was briefed by SOI Plans on the

proposal to deploy our infantry into

the Kigali sector and he obtained 

approval from LHQ for this to occur.

The RSM and OC Med Coy visited

the TSG at Butare and spent a 

day with them in the displaced

persons camp. They report that the

level of health in the camp had

deteriorated noticeably in about a

week.

The FC, MAJGBN Tousignant, briefed his

prayers gourp that we had entered a new

phase in UNAMIR and that our task was to

observe and report back.  I challenged him

saying that our responsibilities went further than

that.  I advised him that 80% of the country

were Hutus and that most of them were in

refugee or displaced persons camp and that they

were scared of the RPA and unless we can

guarantee them security against unjust

RPA reprisals that they would never return

home. We can't sit back and fully condone

everything that the RPA does without questioning it.

60

Thursday 22 September

The Sitrep for the period 210600 to 220600

[*Folio 89*] is at Folio 89.

The orders were issued for the deployment 

into Sector 2.  The Canadians and Australians

had agreed to provide a platoon each with

us providing the COY HQ and the Canadians

providing the logistics.  As the intention was

now to deploy this force into Sector 2

rather than to release the Ghaniain Coy from

Kigali separate approval had to be

sought from LHQ.

Our soldiers provided support to

the CARE Australia orphanage which was

being set up.  They sprayed the

buildings, supervised the clean up,

agreed to build a covered area

for a dining facility  and to

provide two pit latrines.  A copy of

[*Folio 90*] the recon report is at Folio 90.

I did a TV interview for regional Qld

TV which was conducted by my PR team.

I was also interviewed by a CA

news team.

CAPT Hughes, my Engn CAPT, broke his

ankle during PT today and SGT

Grove, a vehicle mechanic, tore a 

muscle.   CAPT Hughes will be repatriated 

to Australia.  I have directed that

all PT will be planned by a

qualified sub unit PTI and it

is not to involve potentially dangerous

activities.  PT will continue to be run

at sub unit level with everybody in

the contingent participating at least

three times per week.

A Warning Order for the deployment of the

[*Folio 91*] medical clinic to Kibungo is at Folio 91

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA   Notice

See original document

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL

Access Decision Statement

See original document

63

Sunday 25 September

[*Folio 94*] The AUSMED weekly strep is at Folio 94

The Medical Situation Update Report is at

[*Folio 95*] Folio 95.

The OPSO lead a small team to

Kinigi today to investigate the prospect

of conducting regular visits to the 

gorillas in the NW.  The trip was

very successful and arrangements

were made with the Prefecture for

payment of fees and provision of

guides.  The trip will now be a 

regular event.

64

Monday 26 September

The Sitrep for the period 250600 to 260600

[*Folio 96*] is at Folio 96.

A Canadian patient was transferred to

Germany today by C5 Galaxy due to

serious injuries sustained in an

abseiling accident.  Our AME Nursing Officer

accompanied the patient as there was

no suitably qualified person in the

Canadian Contingent or onboard the

aircraft to operation the ventilator.

I travelled to Butare with the RSM

to visit the TSG. They are very well

established and appear to be reasonably

busy.  I visited TAC HQ and received

a briefing on OP Homeward, which is

a combined UNAMIR / NGO attempt to

relocate up to 4000 persons per day

from the Displaced persons camps in

Sector 4.  Our role is to provide an

on call ambulance in the event

that that there is a serious accident.

I attended the coordination conference 

that evening to learn that the first

day of the operation had been far from

successful, with only 406 people

moved.  The reasons suggested were many

and varied but it largely comes

down to the fact that the people are

either scared or they are too uncertain

about how they will survive without

the handouts.

I visited the Care Australia orphanage 

It has been cleaned up very well and

there were some children being cared

for.  The Aslt Pnr Sect. will build some

partitions in the dormitory and a play

area for the children as soon as Care can

access some wood.

65

Tuesday 27 September

The Sitrep for the period 260600 to

[*Folio 97*] 270600 is at Folio 97.

I visited the clinics at Raranzigi

and Kibeho camp today.  The clinic

at Raranzigi is conducted for about

an hour enroute to Kibeho.  There

were about 150 patients awaiting

treatment for a variety of ailments

including worms, malaria, infections,

dressing changes etc.  The medical

staff have a very good system

operating.  The people with worms or

malaria line up in certain areas

and are treated.  The others line up

and are vetted by the MO or NO's and

are treated as required.  It is a 

very swift process.  While we were

there the RSM and I ventured out

the back of the building, which was

a medical facility sponsored by the 

Lion's Club, to find the previous

inhabitants bodies strewn around

the area. They had been buried in

shallow graves and had been

disturbed by the dogs.  They would

have been killed in April by

the Interahamwe.  Also, another incident

occurred in the village while we

were there.  A house had been set

alight and our soldiers went to

investigate.  They saw some men

running away so they gave chase

and eventually apprehended about

five people.  In all there had been

nine houses destroyed.  When we

linked up with the interpreters we

learned that a mad woman had

66

set fire to the houses.  The men started

running when they saw our soldiers and

had played no part in it.  We

released the men.  The village seemed

to have no concern for the loss of

the houses and made no attempt 

to put out or contain the fires.  Nor

were they overly concerned by the

behaviour of the mad woman.  It

would appear that mad people are

totally accepted in their community

and there is no control imposed

upon them.

The camp at Kibeho was an

eye opener.  The camp extends for about

15 km.  There were supposed to be about

20,000 people in the camp but I doubt

that there would be more that 30,000 to

40,000. We set up two clinics some

distance apart.  The people were waiting

there in their hundreds.  The clinics

are conducted very professionally with

treatment being given at the lowest

possible level.  The infantry were

involved in crown control, playing

games with the children and doing

dressings. The medics and nurses

treated most of the patients leaving

the doctors to handle the serious

cases.

I visited the British 23 PFA medical

clinic in the camp and an

orphanage.  The children in the orphanage 

were poorly looked after with one

child about to die of dehydration.

We gave the child fluids, and I

arranged for our doctor to examine

him.  We also organised for Care

67

Australia to take the child into

their orphanage at Butare.

The people in the camp appear

to be content and are now totally

used to and reliant on handouts.

It will be very difficult to wrench

them from the camps.

That evening I briefed the troops

at the TSG on the general situation

iin Rwanda and UNAMIR and

I standardised policy directions

for Kigali and Butare.  Later on

I attended a dinner with Ccare

Australia where support and security

arrangements were discussed.

68

Wednesday 28 September

The Sitrep for the period 272359 to 282359

is at Folio 98.  The Sitrep period

was changed by  HQ UNAMIR to enable

more staff time for the report to

be prepared for the UN.

I attended a clinic at Savé

near Butare, and observed the

medics and MO' CAPTs Michelle

Barrett and Craig Schramm amputated

a woman's left arm.   She had been

shot in the jaw and the arm some

months ago, probably Apr/May, and 

had not been treated.  He arm was

shattered and was badly infected,

with the infection spreading  throughout

the whole of the body.  The jaw was

a mess, with the front of the lower

jaw being shot away.  There was

nothing that could be done to treat

the jaw but if the arm didn't come

off she would die within days. The

amputation is a complex procedure

and took about one hour.  The doctors

administered their own anesthetic

and did a superb job.  This type

of work would never be done

in Australia by medical officers.

I observed also the medics and

infantry soldiers treating other injuries

and ailments.  The local people and

the staff at the mission are very

appreciative of our support.

After leaving the clinic we

inspected a very large and modern

mission school near Savé.  We ran

into a Brother who wanted to show

us where many of his fellows and

69

villages had been killed.  He took

us to a dam in a creek between

two steep ridges were he claimed

that about 1700 people had been 

herded in either killed in the

woods or forced into the dam

and killed.  We didn't search

the woods but we found many

bodies in shallow graves near the

dam.  The bodies had been dug up

by dogs and many appeared to

be small children and had either

been battered to death or shot. A

local farmer advised that he and

other farmers had removed the bodies

from the dam and had buried them.

He also confirmed that the killings

had been committed by the Interhamwe

in April.  The bodies were skeletal

which would back up this claim.

We will report the story and the

grave site to UNAMIR HQ.

Immediately after this I fell ill

with an unknown illness that many

of the soldiers had come down with

from the camps.  I was unable to

travel and remained under care in

the Tmt. Sect.

 

70

Thursday 29 September

The Sitrep for the period 282359 to 292359

[*Folio 99*] is at Folio 99.

Today I spent most of the day recovering 

The OC Med Coy, Major Peter Nasveld,

visited the Kebeho camp with the clinics.

We returned to Kigali that afternoon.

During the evening, we held an

officer / training session on the Medical

Appreciation for UNAMIR.

We were advised today that our

Relief Out of Country Leave destinations

for cost comparison purposes will

be Durban, Johannesburg, Seychelles

or Mauritius.  This gives a value 

of AS $1350. This is far less than

what was expected and is less than

that provided to UNISOM, whose

destination is Rome.

71

Friday 30 September

The Sitrep for the period 292359 to

[*Folio 100*] 302359 is at Folio 100.

I conducted a CO's ward round

with the doctors and specialists today.

We have 20 inpatients, about 

half of them UNAMIR. The tech spt

personnel and radiography staff

have nearly completed the restoration

of the CHK Xray department.  We

have nearly exhausted or Xray

supplies so we have ceased to

provide an Xray service to the

NGOs except in an emergency.

I held a COs Conference after

lunch and the Officers, attended

the UNAMIR HQ happy hour that

evening.

A copy of the ASC UNAMIR

[*Folio 101*] leave instruction is at Folio 101

 

73

Sunday 2 October

The Sitrep for the period 012359 to 022359

[*Folio 103*] is at Folio 103

The AUSMED Weekly Sitrep for the period

[*Folio 104*] 25 Sep to 2 October is at Folio 104

The last of the outgoing surgeons

visited the Gorillas today.

The surgeons were farewelled from

the Mess by the PMC

It was reported that the Clinic

at Kibungo on Saturday was very

poorly attended.  We will cease

to conduct the clinic as we are

too stretched and the need is

no longer there.  The resident medical

staff can now cope.

74

Monday 3 October

The Sitrep for the period 022359 to 032359

[*Folio 105*] is at Folio 105

The matter of outstanding pharmaceutical

supplies is still being addressed.  COMASC

is putting his weight behind it.  We

have waited six weeks for the outstanding

supplies and after their arrival we

still find that essential items are

still outstanding, especially pathology items.

The new specialists, were due to

arrive at 1045 hr but have been delayed.

The manning for the medical team

to work with 23 PFA to vacinate against

Meningitis in the Kibeho camp was

agreed today.  We have requested support

from the Canadians and will seek

support from Care Australia.  I will not

deplete our number at the hospital.

The Log Coy element attempting to

procure Class VI supplies from Entebbe

remains in Entebbe and should

arrive back tomorrow.

I conducted a radio of interview with the ABC's

African Correspondent and a TV interview for

Foreign Correspondent this afternoon.  The reporter,

 , was keen to address the

issues that we have been directed to xx avoid,

massgraves, stress, external security tasks

and UNHCR report about continuing atrocites.

These issues can be defused by addressing them

honestly.  But instead one has to mealy mouth

the issues.

The soldier who was caught at the nightclub

on Saturday night, drinking, in uniform was

heard today.  He received 14 days detention

and a $800 fine.

The new surgical team arrived today.

I conducted radio interviews with McQuarie Network

and ABC Radio, Brisbane during the evening.

 

75

Tuesday 4 October

The Sitrep for the period 032359 to 042359

[*Folio106*] is at Folio 106.

The arriving surgeons advised this

morning that an echelon bag has gone

missing containing a lot of very

expensive anesthetic equipment.  An

investigation is in progress.

The first FST departed for Nairobi

today and will spend two days

in Nairobi resting before returning

to Australia.

The travel / echelon bag has been located,

complete with equipment, at the airport

in Kigali.

One of the surgeons had a UD

this evening.  He has been charged.

I finished the last of the 2/4 RAR

PR66 and PR19 this evening so that

they could be taken back to AS by 

CAPT Sowerby when he departs on

compassionate leave.

 

76

Wednesday 5 October

The Sitrep for the period ^∧050001 942359 to

[*Folio 107*] 052359 is at Folio 107.

I had a radio interview with

ABC Radio in Townsville this morning at

6am.

I had a meeting with the SMO, SNO

and the Red Cross Rep about a proposal

to obtain supplies and equipment needed

for the theatre and wards for the

treatment of humanitarian patients.

Med Coy will prepare the submission by

Sunday.

We have been released to visit the

Gorillas again, but the cost is now

about US $125, a $100 increase in 

a week.

A UK Psychiatrist, MAJ Ian Palmer, gave

a presentation on the 'Psychological

Reactions to Stress' this evening.  He

put it across very well.  All

Officers and NCOs attended who were

in Kigali and able to be released.

He will do the presentation again in

about a week for those who are

returning from Butare.