24 08 12 Eurac – Crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo – The European Union and its member states should withhold their budget support to Rwanda
The evidence provided by the
Group of Experts (GoE) is extensive. They state in the Addendum (par. 6) that
they interviewed over 80 deserters of FARDC mutinies and Congolese armed groups,
including M23 among whom were 31 Rwandan nationals. The group has also consulted
dozens of senior Congolese military commanders and intelligence officials as
well as political and community leaders with detailed and intimate knowledge of
developments between the DRC and Rwanda. The group adds that they
communicated regularly with several active participants of the ex-CNDP mutiny,
the M23 rebellion and other armed groups. Along side this photos of arms caches,
official documents and radio intercepts are presented. Above all, the GoE
evidence increased from three credible and independent sources, to five sources
when naming specific individuals. The GoE states it has made extensive efforts
to engage with the GoR regarding its findings, albeit with limited
success.
The GoR reacted by stating that
some parts of the report are biased, other parts un-falsifiable, and that the
report missed the Rwandan point of view. In its official response the Government
provided counterevidence mainly consisting of testimonies of a handful (high
level) of officers of the Rwandan Defence Forces and minutes of meetings between
the Rwandan and Congolese armed forces.
Eurac has been following these
discussions closely and carefully studied the GoE addendum as well as the
response of the Government of Rwanda (GoR). Eurac concludes that it is not
likely that the content of the addendum of the GoE’s report is wrong and/or
falsified as Rwanda in its response alleges. It
would need false testimonies of a large number of people from entirely different
backgrounds, which is highly unlikely. Rwanda claims it has not been heard however, this
is not convincing as they had the opportunity to put their views forward in May
when the GoE visited Rwanda, but chose not to. Eurac sees
on the basis of the information supplied by the GoR no reason to doubt the
analysis of the Addendum as it is, and looks forward to the final report due
out in October 2012.
Over the last number of years,
the active role of Rwanda in DRC armed conflicts has
been well documented, notably by UN reports. In the UN Mapping Report of 2010,
Rwanda was accused of involvement in
violence and atrocities committed in the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003.
As in 2008, we are, today, once again confronted with Rwandan support to rebel
groups in Eastern Congo. Despite these
accusations, a number of countries continued to consider Rwanda a
privileged partner. Rwanda on its turn always denied its
implication and has been critical of the international community in its media
declarations. Eurac estimates that this gives little space for a constructive
dialogue, an important pre requisite for budget
support.
Budget support contributes to
the finances of the government, knows a yearly discussion on general trends and
is not tied to specific programs. Eurac welcomes the fact that
Germany, the
Netherlands,
Sweden, the
United
Kingdom and the African Development Bank have
taken note of the accusations against the GoR, and have decided to temporarily
suspend direct budget support to the country. These temporary measures were made
while awaiting the response of the Rwandan Government and monitoring evolutions
on the ground.
Recommendations of
Eurac :
Eurac calls upon the EU and all
EU member states to withhold budget support permanently and limit interventions
to project support. However, ongoing support of civil society initiatives that
will limit the impact of the sanctions on the Rwandan people is encouraged.
These measures can serve as a
first step in a revised relationship with Rwanda. The EU
and EU member states should also address the critical situation regarding
democracy, good governance and respect for human rights. We refer to our
Memorandum to the Presidency of the European Union entitled « Contributing to an
increase in democratic space in Rwanda through a collective and
coherent approach » of 6 March 2011.