Anyone recall whether
(a) the Cabinet was convened before the UPDF were sent into DRC?
(b) Parliament was consulted before the UPDF were sent into DRC?
So why go thru the motions at this late hour, if this is not a cynical ploy to "kutusibako matu ga mbuzi"?
I say, hold the soldiers individually accountable for their crimes, whatever be they -- all legal instruments are aleady in place. We, the people of Uganda, are not their parteners in crime!
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Subject: ugnet_: Museveni Convenes Cabinet to Discuss DRC Inquiry Report
Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 09:52:23 EST
Museveni Convenes Cabinet to Discuss DRC Inquiry Report
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
February 14, 2003
Posted to the web February 14, 2003
Nairobi
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni convened a special cabinet meeting on
Friday in the capital, Kampala, to discuss a report on allegations that
Ugandan army officers were involved in looting natural resources in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to The New Vision
government-owned newspaper.
"This is a serious report, and cabinet must discuss it before the minister
responsible acts on it accordingly. The president, who summoned cabinet, will
chair the discussions," the newspaper quoted a source close to the cabinet as
saying.
The 211-page report, compiled by a commission of inquiry headed by Justice
David Christopher Porter, was submitted to the minister of state for
international affairs, Tom Butime, on 31 January. It details the Ugandan
army's role in the controversial plunder of the DRC's wealth by foreign
armies.
"The president has summoned the cabinet so that it can take a collective
decision before the report is published a few hours later. It will be
published within 48 hours after the special cabinet meeting," the source told
the newspaper.
In November 2002, the UN Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of
Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth in the DRC submitted a report to
the UN Security Council accusing Uganda and Rwanda, among other countries, of
exploiting the DRC's natural resources. The Council gave those named in the
plunder up to 31 March to submit their defences.
The five-member panel, which was established in September 2000, recommended a
moratorium on imports of gold, diamonds, copper, cobalt, timber, coffee and
other valuable commodities from rebel-held areas of the DRC.
After submitting its findings to the Security Council on 12 April 2001, the
panel was given three more months to complete outstanding work and to respond
to observations and complaints raised by governments, individuals and
companies implicated in the exploitation of the DRC's wealth.
The panel had named Museveni, his brother, Salim Saleh, and several senior
army officers as being involved in the exploitation of DRC's natural
resources. It also implicated Rwanda, among others.
Museveni rejected the panel's findings, but subsequently appointed the Porter
commission to investigate the allegations made by the UN panel.
