UN tells DR Congo to end ties with FDLR
The problem here is that we can't at this stage check the New Times report as my screen shot shows quite clearly at 6.47 Friday January 31 2014 ( New Zealand Daylight Saving time ) the resolution referred to in this story was embargoed. That New Times has chosen to break that embargo is quite telling.
There are three possible scenarios here, the first and most likely being New Times was given the embargoed press release and broke faith with the established journalistic practice of respecting embargoes. I say this is most likely because New Times is propaganda rag and not to be taken all that seriously.
The second and almost as likely is that New Times were leaked the information by the Government of Rwanda ( which has a non permanent seat on the UN Security Council ). If this is the case then it doesn't get New Times off the hook for unethical behaviour but it is an indictment upon Rwanda and shows that the Rwandan Government isn't a proper and fit representative of Africa to the Security Council, or for that matter a fit government to represent the World on the Council.
The third possibility is that some dickhead at the UN forgot to lift the embargo on website, I would be very surprised if that was the case.
This is contained in Security Council Resolution no. 2014/55 that was passed yesterday, which also demands FDLR, whose members are largely blamed for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, to disarm and disband.
The actual text is now available and it reflects very badly on New Times who you will note below make a big deal about the genocide being referred to as a genocide against Tutsi. The actual complete text is: ( Link at the end )
This is contained in Security Council Resolution no. 2014/55 that was passed yesterday, which also demands FDLR, whose members are largely blamed for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, to disarm and disband.
The Council noted with “deep concern reports indicating FARDC collaboration with the FDLR at a local level, recalling that the FDLR is a group under UN sanctions whose leaders and members include perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.”
Update
Update
" Noting with deep concern reports indicating FARDC collaboration with the FDLR at a local level, recalling that the FDLR is a group under United Nations sanctions whose leaders and members include perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, during which Hutu and others who opposed the genocide were also killed, and have continued to promote and commit ethnically based and other killings in Rwanda and in the DRC, and stressing the importance of permanently addressing this threat,..."
OK regular readers of this blog know I despise the FDLR and I can't wait until the people of the Eastern DR Congo get to dance on their graves. I also think it unlikely that it is an unofficial position of either the leadership of FARDC or for that matter Kinshasa, it is possible even probable that there are some renegade officers within FARDC who are collaborating with the FDLR, the name for this is treason. The DR Congo regards treason as a crime punishable by death.
" Treason.
A variety of treasonous acts are punishable by death, including: treason; treason in time of war; assault on the Head of State; participating in an armed insurrection, including as a leader, organizer, or supplier of information or weapons; committing acts of rebellion resulting in death; and forging or using forged military documents if endangering national defense in time of war or resulting in destruction of troops."
A variety of treasonous acts are punishable by death, including: treason; treason in time of war; assault on the Head of State; participating in an armed insurrection, including as a leader, organizer, or supplier of information or weapons; committing acts of rebellion resulting in death; and forging or using forged military documents if endangering national defense in time of war or resulting in destruction of troops."
It is also worth noting that “... noting with deep concern reports.. " is not " ordering " . I sometimes regret that acts of unethical and in New Times Rwanda's case also incompetent journalism aren't punishable by death. Fortunately that isn't the case or most of the world's courts would be tied up sentencing journalists to death.
The Security Council said FDLR continues to “promote and commit ethnically based and other killings in Rwanda and in the DRC”.
The Security Council said FDLR continues to “promote and commit ethnically based and other killings in Rwanda and in the DRC”.
There is no doubt about it and the FDLR need to be eliminated. The UN Security Council can and have ordered MONUSCO and the Intervention ( Africa ) Brigade to eliminate the FDLR.
Kigali has repeatedly blamed FDLR and a network run by renegade former military officers for a spate of grenade attacks inside Rwanda over the last couple of years.
Former FDLR combatants and other sources have previously revealed how the Congolese army maintained close ties with the militia group, with some FDLR elements fighting alongside FARDC on different fronts in the country’s troubled east.
Kigali has repeatedly blamed FDLR and a network run by renegade former military officers for a spate of grenade attacks inside Rwanda over the last couple of years.
Former FDLR combatants and other sources have previously revealed how the Congolese army maintained close ties with the militia group, with some FDLR elements fighting alongside FARDC on different fronts in the country’s troubled east.
My last blog actually wasn't my blog at all but a translation of a real journalist's blog, one who I might further add would run no risk of being executed for incompetence should we ever decide that death is a suitable punishment for such a crime. Maybe the fools from New Times Rwanda could try some real journalism rather than repeating government propaganda line for line. From Charley Kaserekas blog:
"The population is impoverished, the older residents have already moved more than eight times after multiple confrontations between the Congolese army FARDC and the FDLR ( Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda )."
That, New Times, is called reporting, maybe you have heard of it.
Last year, FDLR units made brief incursions on Rwanda on several occasions, causing some deaths in areas near the Congo border.
Last year, FDLR units made brief incursions on Rwanda on several occasions, causing some deaths in areas near the Congo border.
Yes lets remember these are Rwandans.
All armed groups to cease
The UN Resolution demands that all DR Congo-based armed groups, including FDLR, and Uganda’s Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels as well as various Mayi Mayi groups to “cease immediately all forms of violence and other destabilising activities and that their members immediately and permanently disband, lay down their arms and demobiliSe children from their ranks.”
All armed groups to cease
The UN Resolution demands that all DR Congo-based armed groups, including FDLR, and Uganda’s Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels as well as various Mayi Mayi groups to “cease immediately all forms of violence and other destabilising activities and that their members immediately and permanently disband, lay down their arms and demobiliSe children from their ranks.”
Lets also remember that the Rwandan proxy M23 has been defeated by FARDC, MONUSCO and the Intervention Brigade and they are now dealing with the ADF. The FDLR's appointment with them is not to far away.
The world body warned that the situation in eastern DR Congo, where a 20,000-plus UN peacekeeping mission is authorised to use force to disarm armed groups, “continues to constitute a threat to peace and security in the region”.
After the adoption of the UN Resolution, Rwanda’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Eugène-Richard Gasana, said his government shared the same concerns with the Security Council’s over reports of the FARDC–FDLR collaboration, but that Rwanda remained committed to finding a lasting solution to recurring crises in eastern DR Congo, bilaterally or through regional efforts.
The FARDC–FDLR alliance is of particular concern because the militia is among those targeted by a 3,000-strong special intervention brigade, deployed last year to bolster the UN peacekeeping force, Monusco.
And now the New Times really lets rip with the half truths through to the out right lies, fortunately the world outside of Rwanda knows this is just a load of propaganda pretending to be news. There is no FDLR / FARDC alliance.
After the brigade helped defeat the M23 rebels in November last year, its leaders promised to go after the FDLR and other armed forces, but as of to date, nothing has been done.
After the brigade helped defeat the M23 rebels in November last year, its leaders promised to go after the FDLR and other armed forces, but as of to date, nothing has been done.
The Brigade is under the command of MONUSCO and they with the Congolese Government decide the timetable not the idiotorial team at New Times. Currently FARDC, MONUSCO and the Intervention Brigade are targeting the ADF. That New Time is unaware of this is just pathetic, if I was the proprietor, the editor would have been sacked along with all reporters tasked with collecting regional news. This is an unbelievable failure on the part of New Times.
Instead, reports from eastern DR Congo indicate that FDLR expanded its territory after moving into some of the areas previously occupied by the M23 rebels, and launched a fresh wave of deadly attacks against civilians.
Instead, reports from eastern DR Congo indicate that FDLR expanded its territory after moving into some of the areas previously occupied by the M23 rebels, and launched a fresh wave of deadly attacks against civilians.
I haven't seen those reports, I think this might be called making it up as you go along or in journalistic speak " interviewing the typewriter ".
“The Security Council strongly condemns all armed groups operating in the region and their violations of international humanitarian law as well as other applicable international law, and abuses of human rights including attacks on the civilian population, Monusco peacekeepers and humanitarian actors, summary executions, sexual and gender based violence and large scale recruitment and use of children, and reiterates that those responsible will be held accountable,” the Resolution reads in part.
It Council called on “all States, especially those in the region, to take effective steps to ensure that there is no support, in and from their territories, for the armed groups in the eastern part of the DR Congo”.
“The Security Council strongly condemns all armed groups operating in the region and their violations of international humanitarian law as well as other applicable international law, and abuses of human rights including attacks on the civilian population, Monusco peacekeepers and humanitarian actors, summary executions, sexual and gender based violence and large scale recruitment and use of children, and reiterates that those responsible will be held accountable,” the Resolution reads in part.
It Council called on “all States, especially those in the region, to take effective steps to ensure that there is no support, in and from their territories, for the armed groups in the eastern part of the DR Congo”.
Yes that last paragraph is aimed at Rwanda with regard to M23. These fools don't even really understand propaganda.
It also urged States to “take steps, where appropriate, against leaders of the FDLR and other armed groups residing in their countries.”
For some time now, top FDLR political and military leaders have been under travel and financial sanctions, and there is a US$5 million bounty for anyone with information that would lead to the capture of the group’s supreme commander, Sylvester Mudacumura.
It also urged States to “take steps, where appropriate, against leaders of the FDLR and other armed groups residing in their countries.”
For some time now, top FDLR political and military leaders have been under travel and financial sanctions, and there is a US$5 million bounty for anyone with information that would lead to the capture of the group’s supreme commander, Sylvester Mudacumura.
The only thing I agree with the Rwandan Government about is the desirability of eliminating the FDLR. If Sylvester Mudacumura is worth 5 million US captured I would think his lifeless corpse would be worth at least twice that amount.
Meanwhile, 20 years after the Genocide, the UN for the first time yesterday used the phrase “genocide against the Tutsi” in reference to the 1994 killings that claimed the lives of one million people, instead of the “Rwandan genocide”.
Meanwhile, 20 years after the Genocide, the UN for the first time yesterday used the phrase “genocide against the Tutsi” in reference to the 1994 killings that claimed the lives of one million people, instead of the “Rwandan genocide”.
That is a mistake. Many Hutu also died because they would not participate in the genocide. Their sacrifice should never be forgotten. Racism should be fought wherever it happens, the perpetrators of the Rwandan Genocide like the Nazi's will face justice. The world owes the murdered nothing less, both Tutsi and Hutu.
The label “Rwandan genocide” is mainly associated with groups and individuals who attempt to distort the history of the Genocide, including those who deny that Tutsis were the principal targets during the 100-day killing spree.
Bullshit. Again a lie covered with a truth. No one denies that Tutsi were the principal target I just refuse to see people in terms of racial identity. Will New Times next be asking for ethnicity to be included on identification documents ? That is the road of ethnic separation that idiotic statements such as " groups and individuals who attempt to distort the history of the
Genocide" will take Rwanda down, a road it should never travel again.
Rwanda is currently serving its second year as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN Security Council.
Rwanda is currently serving its second year as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation UN Security Council.
Update
1/2/2014, 2.15 pm ( NZDST ) The UN Security Council embargo has expired and the resolution text is available here.
No comments:
Post a Comment