Rwanda: State Department Daily Press Briefing
26 JULY 2012DOCUMENT
U.S. Department of State on-camera daily briefing, excerpts on Africa; briefer: Victoria Nuland, spokesperson:
QUESTION: Rwanda?
MS. NULAND: Yeah.
QUESTION: On Sunday, the State Department slipped out an email saying that you were freezing military aid to Rwanda because of concerns about its involvement in what is happening in the Congo. What evidence, other than the UN report, does the United States have that the Rwandans are getting involved in the rebellion in Congo?
MS. NULAND: Well, we obviously have information of our own which we share with the UN as well. But the UN report, in our view, is quite comprehensive and quite concerning.
QUESTION: And further to that, Stephen Rapp then suggested that there might be consideration of war crimes prosecutions brought against Paul Kagame. Would that be something that the U.S. is building a case for? Would that be something that you would support?
MS. NULAND: Well, first of all, as we have repeatedly said to the Government of Rwanda, we have deep concerns about Rwanda's support to the Congolese rebel group that goes by the name M23. This was outlined and highlighted in the UN Experts Group. Our immediate focus is on a cessation of violence in eastern DRC and the end of outside support. We support regional cooperation against armed groups, including joint military operations.
With regard to The Guardian interview given by Ambassador Rapp, what he was trying to do was to underscore the importance of holding to account those responsible for crimes against humanity - this is what he does all around the world - and noting as a general principle that neighboring countries have been held responsible in the past for cross-border support. He did not call for any specific action in this particular case.
QUESTION: So there isn't any kind of investigation specifically into Paul Kagame then, on the U.S. side, at the moment?
MS. NULAND: Again, we are continuing to watch this case very carefully and to send public and private messages to the Government of Rwanda. I don't have anything further beyond that.
All right?
QUESTION: No, wait. Staying there --
MS. NULAND: What - staying in Africa.
QUESTION: So last year, you may remember, there was the case of this Ugandan Little League team that made the Little League World Series, and they were denied visas because there were some discrepancies. It wasn't clear that they had the proper birth certificates or proper proof of age, not only for Little League but also to get a visa.
This year, a different Ugandan Little League team has qualified for the Little League World Series, and yesterday the Little League headquarters in Williamsport, Pennsylvania said that they will be getting visas and they were - and that they expect the team to arrive on August 11th. I want to know if you can confirm that the Little League team from Uganda got visas to come to play in the Little League World Series.
MS. NULAND: You have stumped me, Matt. I will find out.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MS. NULAND: All right. Thanks, everybody.
(The briefing was concluded at 1:33 p.m.)
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