The sexual assault allegations against Rwandan peacekeepers deployed in the Central African Republic (CAR) are part of a recent but continuous campaign launched by detractors to tarnish Rwanda’s reputation, Deputy Government Spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda has said.
The allegations appeared in articles published by The New Humanitarian and Le Monde on October 16.
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In response, the RDF issued a statement on October 17, providing several reasons why such could not happen. RDF’s reasons include the fact that Rwandan peacekeepers have never been deployed in the northern town of Paoua, where one alleged incident involving a "twenty-eight-year-old Grace” reportedly took place.
The military also refuted claims regarding another alleged incident involving a fruit and vegetable seller named "Jeanne,” who was said to have been raped by a Rwandan peacekeeper at their base in Bangui in 2023. RDF bases do not permit visits by unregistered civilians without official business.
The New Humanitarian, Le Monde part of broader, ongoing effort to tarnish Rwanda
Following RDF's statement, Mukuralinda also added his voice, noting that The New Humanitarian and Le Monde publications are part of a broader, ongoing effort to tarnish Rwanda.
"If you analyse, you find that there is a program aimed at tarnishing Rwanda in any way possible,” Mukuralinda pointed out, giving examples of previous stories published by such media houses, featuring allegations that Rwanda’s Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events (MICE) strategy serves as a cover for concealing what is really happening in Rwanda.
This comes a few months after the government, in May, dismissed what it called a politically motivated media campaign by a journalists’ organisation called Forbidden Stories, which released a series of stories to smear Rwanda’s image.
ALSO READ: Rwanda dismisses ‘politically motivated’ campaign by Forbidden Stories
Meanwhile, RDF emphasised that sexual violence against civilians by peacekeepers is unacceptable and the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) takes every accusation against its troops seriously.
"By the author’s own account of comments from displaced civilians in Bria, sexual assaults that had been occurring previously stopped when Rwandan troops were deployed in the area,” the statement read.
"The discipline, reputation and effectiveness of Rwandan peacekeepers is not in question. For 20 years now, Rwandan peacekeepers have carried out their missions with integrity and respect for local communities, in adherence to core values of civilian protection and the responsibility to protect (R2P).”