http://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/world/2012/oct/18/congo-rwanda-un-security-council
Rwanda joins UN security council despite damning Congo reportRwanda's election to the UN security council on Thursday was branded a major embarrassment in the wake of a UN report claiming that the country is fuelling a violent uprising in a neighbouring country. Rwanda was unopposed in its bid for a non-permanent African seat on the security council – previously held by South Africa. The timing of Rwanda's ascent could hardly be more uncomfortable for the UN security council, whose own group of experts have produced a damning report of its support for the rebel M23 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Atoki Ileka, Congo's ambassador to France and former envoy to the UN, said: "It is a dreadful day and a very sad day for Africa because the security council is the UN body in charge of peace and security, and this is a country not committed to peace and security. It's very embarrassing for the UN." Ileka remained hopeful, however, that the security council would "rubber stamp" the group of experts' final report before Rwanda takes its seat. The report is due to be presented next month whereas Rwanda will not become a member until 1 January 2013. From this date onward, however, there is the prospect of division and deadlock. The Congolese government is demanding that the security council impose targeted sanctions against Rwandan and Ugandan officials named in the UN experts' report. An unnamed western diplomat told Reuters that getting unanimity among the 15 council members on Congo's rebellion would be difficult with Rwanda in the room. Carina Tertsakian, senior researcher on Rwanda for Human Rights Watch, said before Rwanda's election that its membership would present "a clear conflict of interest", saying the country had "for several years undermined initiatives of the security council, for example the arms embargo on Congo". She added: "Our fear is that having a seat on the security council will enable Rwanda to protect its own officials from sanctions. For the victims – Congolese or Rwandan – of violent abuses by M23, this is a real affront." An extract of the UN report leaked to Reuters this week named the Rwandan defence minister general, James Kabarebe, a close ally of President Paul Kagame, as effectively commanding the rebellion. It also accused both Rwanda and Uganda of providing weapons, troops and military and political aid to the M23 rebels in their six-month fight against Congolese government troops. The report has also intensified pressure on Britain to review its decision to restore £16m of aid to Kagame's government. Rwanda accused the head of the group of experts of "pursuing a political agenda". Uganda called the allegations "rubbish, rubbish, rubbish". Five security council seats were due to be filled in elections on Thursday. There are five veto-holding permanent members of the council – the US, Britain, France, Russia and China – and 10 temporary members without vetoes. Rwandan UN diplomat Olivier Nduhungirehe had said his country was not worried about the report harming its security council bid. "The members of the general assembly know exactly what our record is and they cannot be deterred or swayed by a baseless report, which has no credibility," he told Reuters. "We are the sixth [biggest] troop-contributing country for peacekeeping, we are a leading country in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, we have a record in post-conflict reconstruction and peace-building." After the UN vote a defiant if somewhat incoherent message was posted onKagame's Twitter account. "No matter what haters say dO-alwz justice&truth willprevail!!!" it said. "Sometimes it just requires a bit of good fight for allthat..!!! # UN VoTe" Rwanda was last on the council in 1994-95, a period that coincided with the genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. |
Thursday 18 October 2012
Congolese ambassador declares 'sad day for Africa' as Rwanda joins council in spite of accusations it backs DRC rebellion
Under fire over Congo rebels, Rwanda wins Security Council seat
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Rwanda wins Security Council seat as new report blasts support for Congo mutineers
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Rwanda voted onto UN Security Council
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-19998195 18 October 2012 Last updated at 15:59 ET Rwanda voted onto UN Security CouncilContinue reading the main story Related StoriesRwanda has been elected to sit on the United Nations Security Council for the next two years. The vote comes a day after a leaked UN report said Rwanda was supporting a rebellion in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo. Five non-permanent seats to the 15-member council were decided at the United Nations on Thursday. Argentina, Australia, South Korea and Luxembourg have also been elected to sit on the Security Council. According to a confidential report by the UN Security Council's Group of Experts, seen by Reuters news agency, Rwanda's defence minister was relaying military orders to M23 rebel leaders who have been fighting DRC's army since April. Continue reading the main story AnalysisBarbara PlettBBC UN correspondent Clearly Rwanda's election campaign was not affected by evidence that it's supporting the rebellion in eastern Congo. The DRC raised a formal objection to its candidacy. But Kigali, running unopposed for the Africa seat, received 148 votes, well above the two-thirds majority needed. It strenuously denies the accusations, and presented itself as a post-conflict success story, the sixth largest contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping missions, with a good record on meeting the UN's Millennium Development Goals. Nevertheless the report issued by a UN panel of experts shortly before the election has contributed to mounting concern over Rwanda's behaviour, adding considerable detail to charges that it is supplying the rebels with weapons, troops and military aid. A senior Security Council diplomat acknowledged that Rwanda's presence could complicate the Council's handling of the DRC, especially where consensus is required, and affect the work of its sanctions committee, to which the experts report. The experts also accused Uganda of backing the rebels. Both governments in Kampala and Kigali strenuously denied the allegations. The DRC raised a formal objection to Rwanda's candidacy but one of Kigali's UN diplomats said voters would not be swayed by the "baseless report". Rwanda will take the seat currently filled by South Africa on 1 January. BBC UN correspondent Barbara Plett said there was a well-established pattern of rotation on the Security Council, with eastern Africa due to take the African seat for 2013-14. There was an agreement to put Rwanda forward, and no other country contested it, she said. In a statement, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said her government could offer a unique perspective on matters of war and peace because of the 1994 genocide in which a million Tutsis died. The contrast could not be sharper between now and 1993-4 "when a genocidal government occupied a prized Security Council seat," she said. Philippe Bolopion, UN Director of New York-based campaign group Human Rights Watch, said that with a seat on the Security Council, Rwanda would be in a position to block any sanctions against its officials. "If they were, after being elected to the UN Security Council, to immediately stop all their support to M23 that would be great news. But nothing in their recent behaviour would suggest that it would happen," he told the BBC World Service's Focus on Africa programme. |
Rwanda opposition leader loses genocide law challenge
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-“The root cause of the Rwandan tragedy of 1994 is the long and past historical ethnic dominance of one minority ethnic group to the other majority ethnic group. Ignoring this reality is giving a black cheque for the Rwandan people’s future and deepening resentment, hostility and hatred between the two groups.”
-« Ce dont j’ai le plus peur, c’est des gens qui croient que, du jour au lendemain, on peut prendre une société, lui tordre le cou et en faire une autre ».
-“The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.”
-“I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.”
-“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
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