Rwanda threatens to pull out Peace keepers from Sudan

By Robert Mugabe

Kigali-Rwanda stepped up its threats on Tuesday to withdraw thousands of peacekeepers from Sudan if the United Nations published a report that accused Rwandan forces of massacring civilians and possibly committing genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo years ago.

The UN controversial draft report which linked to the media, Rwanda defence forces are accused of committing crimes in Easter DRC which the report say may be called Genocide
Rwandas’ foreign minister, Louse Mushikiwabo was quoted as saying that the whole contingent serving under UN have been briefed on stand bye to pull out of Sudan, If, UN goes ahead to publish the report which is said that former UN boss Kofi Anan is brain behind the report.

“We are waiting to see what the United Nations does with this report, but we are very seriously considering pulling out our troops,” Mushikiwabo said.

As early as 1997, the United Nations began investigations into reports of possible crimes against humanity involving extermination of Hutu populations by the Congolese rebel forces and their Rwandan backers, but Laurent Kabila, as president, refused access to areas where atrocities were believed to have been committed, and the investigation was abandoned

The 545-page report on 600 of the country’s most serious reported atrocities raises the question of whether Rwanda could be found guilty of genocide against Hutu during the war in neighbouring Congo, but says international courts would need to rule on individual cases.

Rwanda has 3,300 peacekeepers in Darfur, and a Rwandan general is in charge of the entire 21,800-strong United Nations-African Union peacekeeping mission there.
The Rwandan government responded angrily to the report, calling it “outrageous.” The topic is extremely delicate for the government, which has built its legitimacy on its history of combating the genocide in Rwanda.

Pascal Kambale, a prominent long time Congolese human rights lawyer who was consulted by the United Nations investigators, said: “The ex-F.A.R. fighters were said to be hiding behind the refugee populations, but the truth is that the attackers were targeting both the Rwandan Hutus and the Congolese Hutus,”

Referring to the Hutu-led Rwandan militia, F.A.R. in its French initials. “Entire families were killed, whole villages were burned, and in my view this remains the most heinous crime that happened during these 10 years.”