Rwanda, M23 and the UNSC - By Jennifer Fierberg
Posted on
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http://africanarguments.org/2013/08/27/rwanda-m23-and-the-unsc-by-jennifer-
fierberg/> September 8, 2013 by
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http://africanarguments.org/author/africanargumentseditor/>
AfricanArgumentsEditor
The United Nations demonstrated hypocrisy in its decision to grant Rwanda a
seat on its Security Council (UNSC) despite the country's well-documented
history of destabilization in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic
of Congo. The UN's actions are antithetical to the stated goals and vision
of the UNSC to protect the weak and "take collective action against mass
atrocities" by allowing a known aggressor country to sit in its ranks.
The UN has collected over 19 years of reports, cataloging crimes committed
by Rwanda against the DRC including the
<
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/DRC_MAPPING_REPORT_FINAL_EN.pdf
> UN Mapping Report. Between 1993 and 2003, the UN reported that the
violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by
Rwanda, represented "one of the most tragic chapters in the recent history
of the DRC. marked by a string of major political crises, wars and multiple
ethnic and regional conflicts that brought about the deaths of hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, of people." Rwanda's active involvement with the
M23 rebel group demonstrates a continued effort to bring unrest to the
Congo.
With a well-known commitment to destabilization, Rwanda's membership
reflects a "flagrant conflict of interest," according to Human Rights Watch.
The UNSC appears to have given a seat to Rwanda out of guilt and sympathy
over the 1994 genocide. As a result, Rwanda is using its power to
<
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/DRC_Report_Comments_Rwanda.pdf>
reject unflattering reports of human rights violations and to contest new
accusations against it based on paranoid claims of bias against Rwanda.
Thus far, Rwanda's most notable contribution to the UNSC is to deny any
reports published against it by the Group of Experts, as well as to formally
contest two new members on the Group of Experts by stating that they are
"biased" against Rwanda.
In essence, Rwanda is governed by an autocratic regime run by its President,
Paul Kagame, who has won two elections with over 96% of the vote each time.
Theogene Rudasingwa, Kagame's former chief of staff (now in exile in the
United States), recently published a
<
http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Nation-Testimony-Peaceful-Revolution/dp/14818
57657/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376633960&sr=1-1> book in which he
described how the outcome of the first election had to be "re-fixed" because
Kagame had won by more than 100%.
How can a country that silences journalists, jails political opposition
members and is run by a dictatorial regime be entrusted to monitor peace
thought out the world?
The 1994 genocide was a horrific event and Rwandan government officials
justifiably point to the country's abandonment by the international
community during their darkest hour. As recently as July 2013, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Louise Mushkiwabo, opened her remarks at the UNSC meeting
on the situation in the DRC with such an argument. It is a signature move of
Rwandan government officials to play up the "genocide guilt" in order to
gain sympathy and development assistance. However, over the last two years
this ploy has ceased to be so effective. Rwanda is now one quarter of the
way through its two year appointment to the UNSC and the likelihood of its
removal is slim, but how will Rwanda respond to the increased level of
scrutiny brought by its current postion?
Many Rwandan government officials are active on social media and one in
particular, Olivier Nduhungirehe, the Minister Counselor, Deputy Permanent
Representative of Rwanda to the UN, is a very active Twitter community
member. Yet, the majority of his tweets are either abusive to those who
disagree with him, (this writer included) or are in strong support of the
actions of the M23 in DRC. For a country that vehemently denies
responsibility for backing the M23 why would one of its UN representatives
so adamantly defend it in public?
How Rwanda acts during its time on the UNSC should be closely monitored by
political analysts, journalists and scholars worldwide. We must hope that
their tenure will lead to greater transparency in the policies that govern
this small but powerful country, rather than drive the country to further
cover up its poor human rights record (both at home and in neighboring
countries.)
Jennifer Fierberg is a journalist with a particular focus on Rwanda.
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Received on Sun Sep 08 2013 - 14:13:31 EDT