UN Mapping Report wanting - Belgium

KIGALI - The Belgian Ambassador to Rwanda, Ivo Goemans, has said that the United Nations ignored genuine facts while compiling its Mapping report on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He made the remarks recently after meeting with the Speaker of Parliament, Rose Mukantabana.

Friday, October 22, 2010

KIGALI - The Belgian Ambassador to Rwanda, Ivo Goemans, has said that the United Nations ignored genuine facts while compiling its Mapping report on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He made the remarks recently after meeting with the Speaker of Parliament, Rose Mukantabana.

The UN Mapping report accused the Rwandan Army for having committed atrocities in the DRC.

"The Ambassador said that the UN ignored the truth of what happened in Congo (DRC) and wondered how the armies that are accused of having gone to DRC to commit atrocities instead repatriated refugees,” reads a statement from Parliament.

"Goemans also stressed that his country asked the UN to come up with a genuine report and said that whatever findings may be highlighted, they should not be called Genocide as it is in the October 1 UN Mapping report”.

Both the Speaker and Ambassador Goemans agreed on a proposal that more genuine and neutral investigations be conducted on what happened in the DRC and a truthful report be compiled, reads the statement.

Ambassador Goemans’s meeting with the Speaker was mainly aimed at briefing the envoy on how far Rwanda has gone in preparations to host the Annual General Assembly of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL), scheduled for February 2011.

Senate President. Dr. Vincent Biruta, recently invited Belgium’s Presidents of the House of Representatives and Senate to attend the CEPGL General Assembly while he was in Brussels, Belgium for the EU-Africa Partnership for Development and Security conference.

CEPGL is a sub-regional organization that aims at ensuring the safety of member states, promoting development and trade, as well as regional economic cooperation and integration.

The bloc comprises Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

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