Editor,

RE: "Genocide: Fresh bid for inquiry into France’s role ahead of UN review” (The New Times, June 30).

I applaud their tireless efforts and commend their resilience. However, I’d also like to remind them, since they seem to have forgotten, of who they’re dealing with. The UN isn’t the United Nations overseer that it portrays itself to be. It never was and it probably never will be. Since its inception, its one and only mandate has always been to protect the collective interests of Western powers that created it.

The UN would never – and I repeat NEVER – bring to light any compromising findings that would jeopardise its very integrity. We should never forget that France acted with the full and dedicated support of the UN when the former was re-arming the genocidaires in the Congo. We should never forget that while the world was having pointless meetings at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York, still deciding whether or not to use the terminology of a "genocide” as the killings raged in Rwanda, security councilmen comprised of French envoys were pulling all the plugs and vetoing to not allow the MINUAR to intervene and stop the slaughter.

I truly hope these efforts produce some results and that those of us who survived the unspeakable tragedy will one day find some solace. However, the harsh reality is that this is the same UN that put a system in place for ‘59 to happen.  

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Justice in the end will be ours to demand. However, it will NOT be served on a silver platter.

Ali Rukariza