Rwanda : Rwanda demands correction of latest UN report on DRC

Not only does the Government of Rwanda want GoE head, American Steve Hege to correct the contested UN reports, but genocide survivors demand he be fired by the UN Secretary General

A new report from the UN Group of Experts has been described as “tasteless and false” – in which the team casts doubt over fresh graves found in Kanombe military barracks in Kigali.

During a visit to Kigali on July 25, the five member team headed by American Steve Hege claim in the latest report submitted to the UN Security Council this weekend that they saw new graves. The team writes that the explanation given by the hosts at the barracks was not factual.

“During its own visit to Kanombe Military Barracks on 25 July, the Group observed several fresh graves in the cemetery behind the hospital. When the Group inquired about the graves, RDF officers stated that peacekeepers had recently been killed in Darfur. The Group notes, however, that there have been no deceased RDF peacekeepers in Darfur since March 2012,” writes the GoE team.

In a furious response, Rwanda’s foreign affairs minister Louise Mushikiwabo wrote on Twitter: “This is worse than shoddy, much worse…Mr Hege and his “experts” should amend and apologise.”

It has instead emerged that the graves were of Rwandan soldiers who had been buried over the past few days prior to the arrival of the UN team.

A statement from the foreign ministry said: “Were he or his colleagues serious about verifying their increasingly outlandish claims, Mr Hege would have discovered that a burial ceremony had taken place the previous day, July 24, for a returned soldier from Darfur, Lieutenant Vincent MIRENGE.”

“Sergeant Jean Claude TUBANAMBAZI, who had also been deployed in Darfur, was buried at Kanombe on 13^th July 2012.”

“Sergeant-Major Jackson MUHANGUZI, who had served as a peacekeeper in South Sudan, was buried on 30^th June 2012 Kanombe barracks.”

“The government of Rwanda wants the UN report to be corrected. “Mr Hege must amend his report immediately,” said a statement.

This is the third report in two months submitted to the UN Security Council by the experts. The first was in late June – which was largely covering the wider east DRC conflict. The second report dubbed the ‘addendum’ covered alleged Rwanda support to the newly created Congolese rebels M23.

Rwanda has submitted a 131-page rebuttal of this particular UN report linking senior government officials to the rebels. The GoE have yet to respond to the challenge from Rwanda.

The latest report, had been expected at end of October, but surprisingly surfaced over the weekend. Mr Hege himself is at the centre of fierce criticism after it emerged he had published work that was deemed apologist to the Rwandan FDLR rebels before he was named on the 5-member UN experts.

Genocide survivors’ umbrella grouping IBUKA has petitioned the UN Secretary General – demanding Mr Hege is sacked. The survivors accuse him of negating the genocide – through his writings in which he refers to the FDLR rebels, blamed for the slaughter of Tutsis, as victims. In essence, he seemed to be suggesting the rebels do not have any case to answer. And the fire directed at Mr Hege is burning by the day.

“The problem for the Group of Experts is that, in a rush to repair damage to its reputation, it has produced an extremely shoddy piece of work; a report of such dubious quality that it raises troubling questions about the Group’s professionalism, objectivity and capacity to offer meaningful advice to the Security Council,” reads another government statement released on Sunday.

“It is fair to expect that calls for Mr Hege to step aside will increase in volume and frequency over coming days, and not just from Rwanda.”

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