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UN KANGAROO COURT DIVERTS BLAME FROM UN LEADERSHIP FOR RWANDAN GENOCIDE

ARUSHA, United Republic of Tanzania, Sept 3 (LSN) - In yesterday's landmark ruling on the Rwandan genocide by the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the court made the first ever finding of guilt by convicting former village Mayor Jean-Paul Akayesu of the crime of genocide. Akayesu's trial was a vivid example of the UN's attempt to shift blame for the deaths of 800,000 Rwandans to anyone but itself. The responsibility of the UN for allowing the massacre in Rwanda to continue has been well documented in various news reports about allegations made by Canadian general Romeo Dallaire, the UN commanding officer in Rwanda during the crisis.

On July 2 the Canadian Press reported that in the midst of the Rwandan crisis Dallaire had discovered information on the planned massacres in Rwanda which led him to present a plan to UN high command which, according to military analysts, would have brought a swift end to the Rwandan massacre and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. On May 3 the Associated Press confirmed that the present UN Secretary General and then head of UN peacekeeping operations Kofi Annan, was informed of Dallaire's plan in January of 1994. AP noted that Iqbal Riza, Mr Annan's senior adviser, admitted that the reply forbidding Dallaire to take action to halt the genocide was sent from Annan's office.

Furthermore, in an effort to cover up the UN's complicity in the Rwandan genocide Annan ordered Dallaire to remain silent about the UN's refusal to go ahead with Dallaire's plan. On May 3 the Associated press noted that "In a letter to the Belgian government last year, Annan refused to let Dallaire testify before a Belgian parliamentary panel investigating the events in Rwanda because he did not believe it was "in the interest of the organization." Moreover, in the UN International Tribunal case against Akayesu decided yesterday, the Associated Press reported on February 25 that the UN only reluctantly gave Dallaire permission to give restricted testimony at the trial even though Akayesu's lawyers said Dallaire's testimony was "of capital importance to his case."

"Presiding Judge Laity Kama of Senegal repeatedly reminded defence attorney Nicholas Tiangaye of the Central African Republic to respect UN restrictions preventing Dallaire from discussing confidential documents, including whether he had warned superiors of the Hutu plot to exterminate Tutsis," said the article.

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