Six
Months
Before Rwanda
Joins UN SC,
Congo Urges
Report Not Be
Censored
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 20, updated
-- When Inner
City Press
covered the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo
Sanctions
Committee
meeting a week
ago, several
UN Security
Council
members
mentioned that
"one Permanent
member," as
they put it,
seemed
troubled by
and might want
to
block the
release of the
Group of
Experts
report.
This
was ironic,
because the
member
mentioned is
one what has
criticize
others for
blocking the
release of
similar
reports on
Iran and the
Democratic
People's
Republic of
Korea. But the
member's ally
Rwanda
featured in
the Group of
Experts' Power
Point
presentation
on June 13,
including
Rwandan
bullets, as
exclusively
reported by
Inner City
Press.
That
Rwanda is,
for now and
probably
definitively,
set to join
the Security
Council
in January was
also reported
by Inner City
Press, giving
rise to
surprise in
some quarters,
and anger at
Inner City
Press in
others.
On
June 19, Inner
City Press was
told by a
major Council
member that,
yes, the
member
moving to
block release.
The chairman
of the
Committee, on
the other
hand, assured
Inner City
Press that
"the report
will be
released."
Now
on June 20,
Congolese
Ambassador
Atoki Ileka
has gone
public with a
letter
sent
to the
Security
Council
(Inner City
Press is putting
it online here),
and a
"a
few
words about
the UN Group
of Experts.
This Group has
– as part
of its mandate
– documented
military
support coming
from Rwanda to
the so-called
mutineers in
eastern Congo.
The UN
sanctions
committee
now needs to
do its job and
publish the
information,
denounce the
violation of
the arms
embargo and
put pressure
on Rwanda to
halt any
support to
Bosco Ntaganda
and the M23
mutineers. The
findings of
the
Group of
Experts should
not be buried,
ignored or
pushed to a
later
date until
they are
published.
Efforts by any
Security
Council
members to try
to avoid
publication of
the findings
is shameful
and
does nothing
to help the
people of
eastern Congo.
"The
Security
Council will
lose its
credibility by
seemingly
siding with
people
(leaders of
CNDP and M23)
who are the
worst
perpetrators
of
human Rights
violations in
the DRC. Their
leaders are
Bosco
NTANGANDA,
Sultani
MAKENGA,
Baudoin
NGARUYE,
Innocent
ZIMURINDA and
Innocent
KAINA. Those
are the wars
criminals that
are being
protected by
some members
of the
Security
Council."
For
now we note
that the UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
himself, and
his head of
Peacekeeping
Herve Ladsous,
have as a
Senior Advisor
an alleged war
criminal, Sri
Lankan general
Shavendra
Silva, so it
wouldn't be
the
first time.
But will this
report be
blocked?
Or perhaps changed
before being
finalized,
as took place
with the last
Western Sahara
report and, as
exclusively
reported by
Inner City
Press, is
taking
the currently
pending
Eritrea
report,
allegedly with
involvement of
the same
member?
The
spokespeople
for the member
alleged as
blocker were
not
immediately
available
prior to
publication.
Their position
will be added
here upon
receipt.
Update
11:41 am
-- for now it
is understood
that blocking
may not in
fact be the
issue, but
rather putting
this "new"
information
about Rwanda
through the
same scrutiny
as the rest of
the report:
that is, for a
few weeks.
Watch
this site.
, 
