-Caveat Lector- Annan Asks Probe of UN Response to Rwanda Genocide Reuters 23-MAR-99 UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed an independent inquiry into how the United Nations reacted to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda in which some 800,000 people died, a spokesman said Tuesday. "In view of the enormity of the genocide that occurred in Rwanda ... questions continue to surround the actions of the United Nations immediately before and during the period of the crisis," Annan said in a letter to council president Qin Huasun of China, obtained by Reuters. "It is therefore my intention to set up an independent inquiry into the actions which the United Nations took at that time," Annan said. Spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva, confirming a Reuters story Monday, said the Security Council had until Thursday to respond. "Of course, the secretary-general expects to have the support of the council," he said in answer to queries as to whether Annan would go ahead with the inquiry. The United States, among other council members, has been faulted for a delay in sending peacekeepers to Rwanda early in 1994, which France had advocated. An estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were butchered between April and June 1994. The killings began the day after a plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down April 6 by a missile as it prepared to land in Kigali, the Rwandan capital. It has been widely reported that Canadian Gen. Romeo Dallaire, who led a U.N. peacekeeping force in Rwanda at the time, sent a fax to U.N. headquarters the previous January warning of preparations for mass killings. He was refused permission to disarm the forces preparing the genocide but was authorized to pass on his information to the United States, French and Belgian ambassadors in the Rwandan capital. The primary purpose of the planned inquiry would be "to establish facts and to draw conclusions as to the response of the Organization to the tragedy," Annan said. The inquiry would be expected to "interview any person having knowledge of the events in question, and would enjoy full access to United Nations records, including internal document and cables," he said. He also intended setting a time limit for the inquiry and to issue its report as a U.N. document. But before proceeding, he asked the Security Council to confirm that it "supports this important undertaking." U.N. sources said council president Qin was proposing a positive response, provided none of the other members of the 15-nation body raised objections by Thursday. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who was secretary-general in 1994, was reported not to have informed the council of Dallaire's January 1994 fax. Annan was head of U.N. peacekeeping at the time. Two weeks after the killings began, the council voted to reduce the U.N. force in Rwanda from 2,000 to about 270, mainly at the urging of Belgium. This followed the disarming, torture and murder by soldiers of the presidential guard of 10 Belgian U.N. peacekeepers and Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiwimana, whom they were guarding. As the scale of the killings became apparent, the Security Council in mid-May authorized the dispatch to Rwanda of some 5,500 U.N. troops, but few arrived before the massacres ended when the Uganda-based Tutsi-dominated Rwanda Patriotic Front took control of the country. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) began its own inquiry into the Rwanda genocide early this year while France and Belgium have conducted their own investigations. Annan, who was head of U.N. peacekeeping in 1994, was sharply criticized during a visit to Rwanda in May 1998. During a visit to Belgium in January this year, Annan met relatives of the murdered Belgian peacekeepers and came under pressure to establish an independent inquiry into the U.N. performance during the Rwanda genocide. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited.All rights reserved. ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml POSTING THIS MESSAGE TO THE INTERNET DOES NOT IMPLY PERMISSION TO SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL (SPAM) TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INTERNET ADDRESS. RECEIPT OF SPAM WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION OF THE SENDER'S ISP. ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
