Associated Press/washingtonpost.com
"The election of Rwanda was likely to renew questions about the image of the council, as it tries to overcome division and find a way to end the war in Syria.
An unpublished U.N. experts' report, leaked to the media this week, accuses Rwanda and Uganda of actively supporting the M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Rwanda and Uganda deny the charges.
Rwanda won a two-year non-permanent seat on the council, starting in 2013. It prevailed despite a July report by the U.N. experts panel that accused senior Rwandan security officials of supporting the rebellion and sending arms into Congo.
Ida Sawyer, a Congo-based Human Rights Watch researcher, said Rwanda has been rewarded after violating the Security Council's arms embargo on Congo and "undermining the work of the U.N. by propping up the abusive M23 rebels."
"Kigali is now in a position to try to shield its own officials implicated in abuses from U.N. sanctions, which is a flagrant conflict of interest," she said. "Other Security Council members now have an even greater responsibility to hold Rwanda to account."
Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo rejected the claims in the latest U.N. report and thanked the assembly for voting it onto the council for the first time since its genocide.
Rwanda was welcomed to the council by Britain's deputy U.N. representative, Philip Parham, who said it will "bring to the Council the particular perspective of a country that has overcome serious conflict and has done so more successfully than many," he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/rwanda-elected-to-un-security-council-amid-investigation-of-its-role-in-congo-rebellion/2012/10/18/068ef02c-1951-11e2-ad4a-e5a958b60a1e_story.html
"The election of Rwanda was likely to renew questions about the image of the council, as it tries to overcome division and find a way to end the war in Syria.
An unpublished U.N. experts' report, leaked to the media this week, accuses Rwanda and Uganda of actively supporting the M23 rebels in eastern Congo. Rwanda and Uganda deny the charges.
Rwanda won a two-year non-permanent seat on the council, starting in 2013. It prevailed despite a July report by the U.N. experts panel that accused senior Rwandan security officials of supporting the rebellion and sending arms into Congo.
Ida Sawyer, a Congo-based Human Rights Watch researcher, said Rwanda has been rewarded after violating the Security Council's arms embargo on Congo and "undermining the work of the U.N. by propping up the abusive M23 rebels."
"Kigali is now in a position to try to shield its own officials implicated in abuses from U.N. sanctions, which is a flagrant conflict of interest," she said. "Other Security Council members now have an even greater responsibility to hold Rwanda to account."
Rwanda's Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo rejected the claims in the latest U.N. report and thanked the assembly for voting it onto the council for the first time since its genocide.
Rwanda was welcomed to the council by Britain's deputy U.N. representative, Philip Parham, who said it will "bring to the Council the particular perspective of a country that has overcome serious conflict and has done so more successfully than many," he said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/rwanda-elected-to-un-security-council-amid-investigation-of-its-role-in-congo-rebellion/2012/10/18/068ef02c-1951-11e2-ad4a-e5a958b60a1e_story.html
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