Rwanda Diaspora appeals to President Obama on aid freezing

Members of the association of Rwandan Diaspora in Northern America have strongly appealed to US President Barrack Obama to listen to the cry for justice over allegations that have resulted into the freezing of aid to Rwanda by some countries.

In a letter sent to President Obama, on December 11, 2012, the Rwandan Community in North America argued that Rwanda has been a champion of ensuring the ‘Rule of Law’ among other countries on the globe and said that the accusations of the UN Group of Experts have only been supported by the international community without seeking a thorough investigation into the matter.

The letter said in part that “since March 2012, Rwanda has been accused of supporting M23, a group of mutineers that has been at war with the Congolese army (FARDC) in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (EDRC). In June 2012, the United Nations Group of Experts (UN GoE) on DRC submitted its interim annual report and an addendum to the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee.

The Addendum contains a set of allegations to support the narrative of active involvement by the Government of Rwanda (GoR) in the current armed conflict between the FARDC and M23 in violation of the United Nations Arms Embargo and Sanctions Regime that applies to the DRC”.

Apparently, the association noted that the actions of donors freezing aid to Rwanda would not necessarily resolve the conflict in the Democratic republic of Congo, since the problem in the region was historically rooted in the anti-Tutsi propaganda which led to the genocide against Tutsis in 1994 that claimed the lives of more than one million victims, in the face of the international community.

The association also contested that it was outrageous for Rwanda to be denied justice by declaring it guilty based on the biased UN GoE’s reports and recommended that the US Government joins Rwandans in the cry for justice.

“It is outrageous to see some donor countries withholding the disbursement of aid or freezing the budget support to Rwanda, because of the verdict rendered by GoE on our country. We would like to remind you that Rwanda has been consistently praised for its proficient utilization of foreign aid as well as its overall efficient fiscal management, which have resulted in successful reconstructive efforts in the last 18 years” said Yvette Nyombayire Rugasaguhunga, on behalf of the Rwandan Community in North America.

Just like President Kagame’s previous comments on the freezing of foreign aid to Rwanda, the Northern America Rwanda Diaspora also reechoed that the cutting or freezing aid at this moment will not resolve the crisis in the DRC.

“In fact, we are afraid it will not only derail our country’s development path, but also affect vulnerable women, children and the elderly, the primary recipients of humanitarian assistance in Rwanda. We thus urge the donor countries to release the aid while requesting the UN to fully investigate the allegations against Rwanda before it reaches any conclusions

The letter also noted the significant triumph of Rwanda over this historical fact of genocide, of which the Rwanda government of national unity has understood the need to reconcile its people and despite many challenges, Rwanda has recorded remarkable progress in repatriating most of the refugees, some of whom were successfully reintegrated in the current Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF).

It added that some Rwandan refugees, most of who are alleged perpetrators of the genocide trying to escape justice, formed the FDLR, a terrorist group armed with the same ethnic manipulations that motivated and justified the killings of Tutsi in Rwanda, and continued to wage their propaganda war and a physical war against Rwanda by keeping their ethno-nationalist hopes alive of returning to Rwanda and returning it to its former state.

“While their external communication remains focused on desires to build peace, democracy and greater respect for human rights in Rwanda, the FDLR and negative diaspora internal narratives focus on conflict, with the ultimate goal of winning the war, and the extremist Hutus still focus on “finishing the job” the letter read in part.

The association also recommended that a thoroughly evaluating the current conflict in the DRC, within the context of its roots in ethno-nationalist conflict, including the divisive governance of DRC which for the last several decades has provided safe haven to genocidaires and their sympathizers, working with involved parties to implement the Kampala communiqué, an initiative led by regional leaders at the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), and holding the concerned parties accountable for breaking the March 23, 2009 Peace Deal, setting a solid foundation to implement the outcome of the ongoing talks between the government of DRC and M23.

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