34 Facts About Mbaye Diagne

Mbaye Diagne was a Senegalese military officer who served in Rwanda as a United Nations military observer from 1993 to 1994.

Mbaye Diagne completed his schooling the following year and eventually attained the rank of captain.

Mbaye Diagne was given command of the 3rd Company of the 6th Infantry Battalion and fought in the Casamance conflict from 1989 to 1993.

That year, Diagne was sent to Rwanda as part of an Organisation of African Unity military observer team tasked with monitoring the Rwandan Civil War, a conflict fought between the Hutu-dominated government and the Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front.

Mbaye Diagne then undertook numerous missions on his own around Kigali in violation of the UN's rules of engagement, hiding Tutsis in his car and evacuating them to UN installations.

Mbaye Diagne protected some Hutus and worked to safeguard the Senegalese expatriate community.

Various estimates exist for the number of lives Mbaye Diagne saved, ranging as high as over 1,000.

On 31 May 1994, Mbaye Diagne was killed when a mortar shell launched by RPF forces exploded near his car while he was stopped at a government checkpoint.

Mbaye Diagne's death led the UN to suspend relief operations in Kigali.

Mbaye Diagne's body was repatriated to Senegal and buried with full military honours.

In 2005, Mbaye Diagne was posthumously awarded the rank of Knight in Senegal's National Order of the Lion.

Mbaye Diagne was born on 18 March 1958 in Koki, Louga region, Senegal.

Mbaye Diagne was one of nine children, and the first person in his family to attend university, studying at the University of Dakar.

In January 1983, Mbaye Diagne enrolled in the Ecole Nationale des Officiers d'Active.

Mbaye Diagne graduated in July 1984 and was made head of section of the 12th Training Battalion of the Senegalese Army.

In 1989, Mbaye Diagne was given command of the 3rd Company of the Confederal Battalion, later the 6th Infantry Battalion, in Bignona.

In 1993, Mbaye Diagne was sent to Rwanda as a military observer attached to an Organisation of African Unity team meant to monitor the Rwandan Civil War, a conflict fought between the Hutu-dominated government of Rwanda and the Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front.

Mbaye Diagne was then reassigned to UNAMIR and served officially as a military liaison officer between UNAMIR and the Rwandan government.

Mbaye Diagne heard rumours of Uwilingiyimana's murder from people fleeing to Hotel des Mille Collines, which was occupied by UN peacekeepers.

Mbaye Diagne came to investigate and found the prime minister's four children being hidden in the adjoining United Nations Development Programme housing compound.

Mbaye Diagne chose to wait with the children, but the armoured vehicles never appeared.

Mbaye Diagne then put the children in the back seat of his own vehicle, covered them with clothes, and brought them to the hotel.

Mbaye Diagne would go out alone in his vehicle to rescue Tutsis and bring them to safety before they could be hunted down and killed.

Mbaye Diagne paid off militiamen to facilitate the escape of Rwandan employees of UN aid projects.

Mbaye Diagne once spent a full day ferrying 25 Tutsis in his car from a house in Nyamirambo next to a government military base past checkpoints to a safer location.

Mbaye Diagne acted to protect the Senegalese expatriate community in the country.

Mbaye Diagne defused the situation by joking that he was a "black Belgian" before commanding the militia to let them pass.

Unarmed, Mbaye Diagne stood atop one of the lorries, striking militiamen with his gear bag and kicking them to protect the civilians.

Mbaye Diagne captured amateur video footage of the UN peacekeepers in Rwanda during the genocide, which became one of the few video records of the event.

Babacar Faye, a Senegalese soldier who served in UNAMIR, asserted that Mbaye Diagne saved at least 400 or 500 people.

Alex realised that the UN did not have a body bag for Mbaye Diagne and was forced to make one from a light blue UNICEF tarp and tape:.

Mbaye Diagne was the 12th UNAMIR peacekeeper to die in the conflict, and his death led the UN to suspend relief operations in Kigali.

On 1 June 2005, Mbaye Diagne was posthumously awarded the rank of Knight in Senegal's National Order of the Lion.

Mbaye Diagne's family was given the award in May 2016.