Rwanda: Paul Kagame is a bastard.

Reuters reports 

Rwanda refuses visas for two U.N. Congo sanctions experts.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Conogolese President Joseph Kabila. PHOTO/Reuters  newvision 

(Reuters) - Rwanda has refused to issue entry visas to two members of a U.N. expert panel that accused Kigali last year of arming rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, describing them as biased, Rwandan and other diplomats said on Tuesday.

Several U.N. diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, disputed the allegations of bias.

Rwanda seems to believe that it can invade the territory of the DR Congo with impunity and then when inconvenient evidence emerges that confirms Rwandan malfeasance the response is always to deny it.

The U.N. Security Council's Group of Experts, which monitors compliance with sanctions and an arms embargo on Congo, said in a report last year that Rwanda's defence minister was commanding the M23 revolt in Congo and that Rwanda was arming the rebels and supporting them with troops. It also accused Uganda of supporting M23.

There is of course the irony that Rwanda now holds the African seat on the Security Council. Rwanda should be removed from the Security Council. Paul Kagame runs one of the most brutal corrupt regimes in Africa. He is terrified of external scrutiny.

Rwanda's government was furious about the experts' report, as was the Ugandan government, and denied the allegations. U.N. officials and Security Council diplomats, however, said the Rwandan denials were not credible.

The allegations against Uganda were ( and I have read and blogged on the report ) not sustained in my opinion. They had a right to complain in fact one of the allegations was to accuse Uganda of offering support to M23 with the provision of administrational support in the on going peace negotiations. That is just stupidity.  Uganda I note though has not with held visa's.

A Rwandan diplomat confirmed the refusal to issue entry visas to Bernard Leloup of Belgium and Marie Plamadiala of Moldova. Several council diplomats dismissed the Rwandan allegations of bias, saying they suspected Kigali may be getting revenge over the group's revelations about M23's Rwandan links.

Absolutely. If Rwanda wish's to conduct itself in this manner the argument for removal from the security council just grows stronger. 

"We told the DRC (Congo) sanctions committee ... that no visa will issued to both of them," Rwanda's deputy U.N. ambassador, Olivier Nduhungirehe, told Reuters. He was referring to the Security Council's Congo sanctions committee.

How bloody ironic. Olivier Nduhungirehe might well find himself representing a government thta will face international sanctions along the lines of Zimbabwe if Rwanda carries on killing and fomenting unrest in the DR Congo.  Paul Kagame record on domestic oppression is fairly mind boggling. 

Several diplomats said the other four members of the expert group are currently in the Rwandan capital Kigali for discussions with the government regarding the panel's continued investigation of Rwanda's role in supporting M23.

Why bother. Rwanda will not play by the established rules of international behaviour so screw them. Issue the report and bring in sanctions against the regime.

Britain, France and the United States are among the countries that have urged Kigali to cooperate with all six members of the expert panel, council diplomats said, adding that they hoped Rwanda would relent.

Last year's report by the Group of Experts caused significant grief for Rwanda. The United States, Sweden, the Netherlands, Britain and the European Union reacted to the experts' accusations by suspending some aid to Rwanda, which relies on donors for about 40 percent of its budget.

That gives a fair indication of just how awful this regime is.

ACCUSATIONS OF BIAS

The Rwandan U.N. mission prepared a memo complaining about Leloup and Plamadiala. In that memo, obtained by Reuters from a diplomatic source, Rwanda accused Leloup of "a clear pattern of a deeply-seated bias against the GoR (government of Rwanda)."

The memo said Plamadiala has "no demonstrated expertise" suitable to being a member of the expert panel and "demonstrates inappropriate professional boundaries not befitting a U.N. expert."

If think a diplomatic fuck off needs to be sent to Rwanda in terms that the leadership can't fail to understand. Something along the line if an ICC indictment for crimes against humanity would do it. 

Despite Rwanda's complaints, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reappointed Leloup and Plamadiala to the expert group.

The U.N. press office did not have an immediate response to the question of whether the Rwandan memo complaining about the two experts had been received by Ban's office.

Plamadiala declined to comment in an email to Reuters. Leloup did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

Last year, Rwanda accused the Group of Experts' coordinator, Steve Hege of the United States, of bias and leaking information to the media. Several council diplomats told Reuters those allegations about Hege were unfounded. The experts' new coordinator is Emilie Serralta of France.

Hege won and that must really piss Rwanda off. Rwanda will discover sooner or later that just because it operates on an ideology of hate, denial and corruption the rest of the world does not. The message that the world should send this and other Crocodiles is simple. You will be held to account for your actions.

Recently the M23 rebellion started to implode, U.N. diplomats and officials say. Hundreds of Congolese M23 rebels loyal to warlord Bosco Ntaganda fled into neighbouring Rwanda or surrendered to U.N. peacekeepers over the weekend after being routed by a rival faction.

It would be interesting to know what deals and influence Rwanda had on the above events. The fall out from this will be informative and I suspect will show Rwandan interference. 

Ntaganda, the fugitive Rwandan-born former Congolese general, walked into the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda on Monday and asked to be transferred to the International Criminal Court, where he faces war crimes charges racked up during the rebellion.

African leaders signed a U.N.-mediated regional accord late last month aimed at ending two decades of conflict in eastern Congo and paving the way for the possible creation of a U.N. intervention force to combat armed groups.

I have been blogging about this talk fest for ever I have serious doubts as to whether the force will ever take the field.