UN should withdraw the ‘Mapping report’

This week, Kigali hosted a high-level meeting, bringing together top international legal scholars and diplomats from accross the world, during which it was, yet again, proved that the recent UN Mapping report on the alleged DR Congo crimes, was nothing but a highly deceptive thesis, designed to serve interests of genocide deniers and their supporters. Several distinguished speakers, including, the former EU special envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Ambassador Aldo Ajello, American, European and African legal and military experts, all branded the report ‘illegitimate and fundamentally flawed’. They demonstrated that it does not only misrepresent well-known historical facts, but openly espouses the theory of double genocide, a hallmark of the deniers of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The experts regretted the fact that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights could be manipulated to the extent that it released such a revisionist, unprofessional and politically motivated report, whose content entirely depends on the allegations leveled by publically known manipulators and deniers of the 1994 Genocide. It emerged that, in most cases, the investigators, quoted publications that accused Rwandan troops of committing human rights atrocities, and turned around to interview the very authors of the same publications, which ultimately formed the basis of their outrageous conclusions. They never bothered to seek the views of the accused parties, a basic requirement for any credible investigation. Also questioned were the intentions behind and the timing of the report, considering that it was released at a time when the region was experiencing unprecedented levels of cordial diplomatic relations, stability and development. Clearly, the report benefits no one in this region; not Rwanda, not DR Congo or any other countries mentioned. It is not about the interests of the people of this region, but rather seeks to serve as a feel good document for a clique of dangerous extremists, who would wish to take Rwanda and the entire region back to its dark past. The UN needs to promote initiatives that enhance the living standards of the people, instead of backing propaganda-driven projects that would only serve to undo the great strides made by the people of this region. Ends

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UN should withdraw the ‘Mapping report’