Uganda rejects UN war crimes report against UPDF
By Our Staff Writer
Uganda has dismissed the draft UN mapping report that threw allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against the UPDF as “deeply flawed”.
In a September 27th letter to the UN Human Rights Commissioner in Geneva that Uganda Correspondent has seen, Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa said the allegations could jeopardise Uganda’s participation in UN peacekeeping operations. “The draft report under reference is a compendium of rumours, deeply flawed in methodology, sourcing and standard of proof”, Kutesa said.
The report, due to be released on October 1st, accuses both Rwandan and Ugandan soldiers of committing atrocities in the DRC between 1993 and 2003.
In our report “Museveni could face ICC over DRC genocide” of 30th August, we reported that the UN mapping report had described the alleged atrocities as “…systematic, methodical, and premeditated”.
The attacks on the Hutus, the report claimed, “…took place in all areas where the refugees had been tracked down”. It also said “…the pursuit lasted months and, occasionally, humanitarian aid intended for them was deliberately blocked, notably in the eastern province, thus depriving them of things essential to their survival”.
Kutesa however described the UN mapping report as “sinister” because in his view, it accuses the UPDF of committing atrocities in areas where the UPDF had not even deployed. “Its timing, scope, motive and subsequent leakage to the media were all made in bad taste”, Kutesa added. Uganda, Kutesa said, “rejects that draft report in its entirety and demands that it not be published”.
