Rwanda: The disturbing report

A report of the U.N High Commission for Human Rights, revealed by the French newspaper “Le Monde”,

said that acts of genocide have been committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (RDC) by Rwandan soldiers. The report refers to the charges against the Rwandan Patriotic Army (RPA) during the first war in DRC, 1996-1998. It also refers to alleged acts of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (ADFL), “a coalition established in Kigali” in October 1996, which allowed Laurent-Desire Kabila to oust the Marshal Mobutu from Kinshasa in May 1997.
“Le Monde” said that Rwandan President Paul Kagamé has tried to prevent the publication, by the UN, of the report accusing Rwandan troops of genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s, and that Kigali has threatened to withdraw its troops from the UN operations in case of leaks to the press. There are over 3,300 Rwandan peacekeepers in Darfur and their departure would be difficult to fill.
The paper said that the report does not criminalise only Rwanda. Between 1998 and 2003, at least eight national armies and 21 irregular armed groups have taken part in the DRC “War”.

The U.N. human rights office in Geneva said it is very upset by the premature leak of the controversial report on the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and most of its ire is directed at the French newspaper, Le Monde, which was the first media organization to leak the report. The Office had asked the newspaper to refrain from publishing the story, as the final definitive version would be coming out soon.

Unfortunately, the paper did not listen and this has created a messy situation. Everyone associated with the report is also very upset with Le Monde.

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