BY EDWIN MUSONIThe New Times-Kigali
August 2, 2009
Photo:
President Kagame with MONUC chief, Allan Doss (PPU photo)
URUGWIRO VILLAGE - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Alan Doss has reemphasized his call for the prosecution of individuals and groups that support and sponsor the rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Doss reiterated this after meeting with President Paul Kagame at Urugwiro Village, yesterday.
Currently, the majority of the FDLR sponsors and leaders are said to be based in European countries. Despite several sanctions adopted by the UN, little has been done to pursue and prosecute those individuals and groups.
“The UN has adopted sanctions against a number of individuals and those sanctions are always applied by the member states of the UN, the secretariat does not impose them,” Doss said.
He, however, pointed out that beyond that, there have been growing concerns that some of these FDLR leaders have been encouraging and supporting violence in Eastern Congo.
“There are links between these individuals and FDLR on the ground and of course it’s a great concern to the Congolese government, to the MONUC and to Rwanda,” he said.
He noted that there is need for determined efforts to make it clear in countries where they (FDLR leaders) have sought shelter that there is a problem today in the Congo and that FDLR is behaving in a criminal fashion against the Congolese people.
“Besides what they did 15 years ago, in my view, they obviously deserve to be persecuted by legal means for what is happening in the Congo today.”
The Monuc boss stressed that any encouragement or material support to the FDLR has an effect in the Congo.
“The FDLR is everyday involved in reprisal attacks; killing, raping, looting…and that to my mind is a criminal offence that should be prosecuted.”
He praised the current relations between Kigali and Kinshasa saying that since the two countries mended their relations, there has been remarkable and visible achievement in the peace progress between the two countries.
He said that, he briefed President Kagame on the current situation in the DRC and what Monuc is doing to restore peace in the eastern region of DRC.
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It is difficult to comprehend how those who claim to working for the welfare of the people turn away in the face of a criminal in plain action, and afterward they came up with subtlest explanation about what is cause suffering and horror in the word. Do they believe that the plague that swept through the wild animal kingdom of Lafontaine wase caused by a donkey that grazed on fresh grass?
ReplyDeleteFDLR crimes related to killing, rape, looting occurred each time during the attack from Rwanda and in its aftermath. Whenever the Rwanda army is not officially and unofficially active, there are no such crimes. Why does FDLR wait for attack from Rwanda in order to commit those crimes and live peacefully with the population when the Rwanda army is not active?
In recent memories, crimes of killing, rape and looting were rampant during the Kagame proxy war, when he was using Nkunda and Ntaganda.
They rose to the highest level since the invasion of January 2009, when Rwanda sent in about 11,000 troops after agreeing with Kinshasa to help flush out FDLR. Since then only 2000 of its troops were withdrawn. So where are the other 9000? If they are not accounted for, how can someone know who is committing the crime who is not? The Rwandan army on special and undercover mission or the FDLR?
Anyone logical and reasonable person who discuss the above question will reach a conclusion clearing FDLR most of those crimes.