The UN should not be used to tarnish Rwanda

JASON Stearns, reportedly an expert on DR Congo, was quoted by the BBC saying that the leaked UN report that accuses Rwandan soldiers and the AFDL, of various crimes in the DRC, against the Hutu people between 1996 and 1998, “will greatly tarnish the reputation of the current Rwandan government which prides itself on having brought to an end the Genocide against Tutsis.” This is precisely the aim of the report. But will those who engineered it, succeed in their mission of tarnishing the impeccable record and reputation of the Rwandan government? Well I believe ultimately, the truth will triumph over this clearly politically motivated plot to undermine the government that not only, ended the Genocide, but has actively worked and participated in many efforts to advance the cause of humanity. Towards the end of the presidential elections, I listened to a radio debate on Contact FM, where it was suggested by one of the panellists, that there is a conspiracy against Rwanda. Others seemed not to agree and appeared to suggest that such a conspiracy is farfetched. But events in recent days seem to suggest that such an assertion is not misplaced. What is obvious, now, is that a sustained campaign, aimed at undermining the Rwandan state is underway. What is unacceptable is that the name of the United Nations should be used for such a purpose. The UN and its numerous agencies, should know better. The Rwanda Defence Forces have worked in the Darfur region of the Sudan under the auspices of the United Nations. The character and professionalism that they have exhibited in Darfur, one can say, is not by accident. It evidently has been the mode of operation since its inception as a liberation front, aiming at the liberation of all the Rwandan people. It will be recalled that as a guerrilla force, the RPA at the time recruited Rwandans regardless of their ethnic background. Indeed its officers and men were drawn from across the Rwandan society, regardless of the fact that it had been historically formed by a section of the Rwandan population that had been forced to languish in exile for decades. If such an army had the premeditated aim, as the report says, of elimination of a section of the population, then why would it have in its ranks people regarded to originate from such a group? Even the fact that the Rwandan government, single-handedly and without enough resources, repatriated more than a million Rwandans from the former Zaire, and resettled them, in their former homes without seeking revenge but restorative justice thru the Gacaca judicial system, says a lot about the ideals that the RPF government and its former armed wing that evolved into the RDF. Therefore, to go against common sense and hard evidence, and ‘leak’ such a report, is atrocious and an attack on the dignity of the Rwandan people. What business has such international groups that looked the other way, when Rwandans needed everyone as Genocide against the Tutsi raged? Even when the Rwandan government repeatedly called for the disarming of the genocidaires in the camps of Goma, and separating civilians from the criminals, international agencies turned a deaf ear, and continued to supply the camps with foods and other items, when they even knew that armed criminals would hijack the distribution to fund their agenda. Rwanda’s intervention was certainly necessary as a pre emptive strike against the people who carried out Genocide, and had continued their mission across the border. It is obvious that the so-called historical report does not reflect the reality, but the opinions and world view of its authors, which they want all of us to believe as fact, yet it is fiction. frank2kagabo@yahoo.com