Rwanda
Article Is
Removed Then
Reposted
Online, As
Expert Hege
Scrutinized
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 1 --
The day after
Inner City
Press highlighted
two
articles under
the byline of
the chairman
of the DR
Congo
Sanctions
Group of
Experts, Steve
Hege, one
of the
articles was
removed from
the Internet.
Inner City
Press now
posts it
again:
"Understanding
the FDLR."
Here is the
other article.
Among
the questions
raised is
whether Hege's
views on
Rwanda, the
FDLR and
events
post-genocide
known to the
UN at the time
of Hege's
appointment?
At
Tuesday's UN
noon briefing
Inner City
Press put this
question to
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky,
asking
about the role
in vetting Mr.
Hege of the UN
Department of
Political
Affairs.
Nesirky
told
Inner City
Press he would
look into it,
but thought it
was "more
prosaic" than
described.
But
who vets these
experts?
When Rwanda's
Foreign
Minister
Louise
Mushikiwabo
visited the UN
in New York
last month,
Inner City
Press asked
her to respond
to charges
that the M23
mutineers in
the Congo are
assisted by
Rwanda.
Inner City
Press
specifically
asked about
Defense
Minister James
Kaberebe,
chief of
defense staff
Charles
Kayonga, and
General
Jacques Nziza,
a military
adviser to
Kagame.
Minister
Mushikiwabo
denied that
these
officials have
assisted the
mutiny, saying
that in fact
they had urged
the mutineers
not to break
away, but
rather to
press the
government in
Kinshasa to
live up to its
commitments of
March 23,
2009.
As
Inner City
Press reported,
so far without
response by
Human Rights
Watch other
than deputy
director Jan
Egeland
calling
Foreign
Minister
Mushikiwabo
Rwanda's
"Ambassador,"
Ms. Mushikiwabo
said
that Human
Rights Watch
has "no
credibility,"
that they
think "because
it's Africa,
anything
goes... a few
exotic names
and acronyms
[then]
fundraising
dinners."
Now,
even more so,
the questions
raised extend
to the
chairman of
the Group of
Experts, Steve
Hege. And,
upon
assessment,
the questions
as
others
should be
answered.
Instead
the
first article
was taken
offline, click
here for
"deleted"
message. Will
the second
article now
come down?
On
what basis do
they assess
that Mr. Hege
is still
qualified to
serve in a
capacity that
allows him to
pass judgment
on Rwanda on
behalf of the
international
community?
Tuesday
marked
the transition
of the
Security
Council
presidency
from Colombia
to France,
which has
promised but
not yet
circulated a
draft press
statement on
the M23
and, some say,
Rwanda.
Council
sources
speculate that
France wanted
its Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud,
and not
Colombia's
Nestor Osorio,
to be the one
to read the
statement out
on camera.
And now the
press
statement is
scheduled for
Aug 1, 5:30
pm.
There
are historical
tensions
between France
and the
current
Rwandan
leadership,
including that
France most
notably in
1994 supported
the Hutu
government
that ordered
the mass
killing of
Tutsis. It is
repeatedly
noted to Inner
City Press
that the
current head
of UN
Peacekeeping,
Herve Ladsous,
was France's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
to the UN in
1994 and
defended the
Hutu
government.
In a
way, the
questions are
similar to
those Somalia
and Eritrea
are raising
about the Coordinator
of "their"
Monitoring
Group, Matt
Bryden,
who gave
select media
copies of his
own report
along with
quotes, before
the countries
at issue even
saw it.
But
Bryden, at
least, is said
to be leaving
his post.
Watch this
site.
, 
