Rwanda’s position on UN report still stands – official

KIGALI - Despite the UN’s latest decision to delay the release of the controversial and recently leaked report alleging that Rwandan troops committed genocide in the DRC during the 1990s, the government is not about to change its decision to pull out peacekeepers from UN missions worldwide. The UN announced on Thursday that the publication of the report has been pushed to October, to allow “concerned states” time to comment on the findings. Government early this week put contingents of the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) serving under UN-backed peacekeeping operations on standby for pull out if the UN goes ahead and publishes the report. “This must be put straight; Rwanda is considering pulling out troops if the report is published. That is the condition. And now that it has been pushed back by one month, the condition is still the same. Our reasons are that the report is fictitious, malicious and questionable,” said Ben Rutsinga, a top official in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In an initial statement after news of the report’s leak emerged last week, the government noted that the ‘leaked’ report is a dangerous and irresponsible document that under the guise of human rights, can only achieve instability in the region. Earlier, Rutsinga said the report’s authors were not concerned with pursuing in-depth investigations or gathering evidence of sufficient admissibility to stand in court, meaning that they employed the lowest evidentiary standard to investigate allegations. Reports say U.N. spokesman, Rupert Colville, has said the final report will differ in a number of ways from the draft leaked to media outlets. Ends

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Rwanda’s position on UN report still stands – official