PRESS CONFERENCE BY RWANDA ON EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES

OF THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

Responding to the final report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ambassador Anastase Gasana of Rwanda described the report as “politically motivated and unprofessional” and denied that his country’s presence in the Congo had been motivated by economic interests. 

Briefing correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning, he stated that the report, the fourth by the Panel, contained only false allegations.  The Panel’s first report, he recalled, had failed to show evidence of any involvement by the Rwandese Government in illegal exploitation of the DRC’s resources, as had the second and third reports.  The fourth and current report had brought nothing new, except false allegations. 

How could the report, he asked, state that Rwanda’s security concerns were a figment of its imagination and that its presence in the Congo was motivated by economic interests?  It was well known that Rwanda had faced security threats from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1994, when the genocidal forces of the ex-FAR (Forces Armées Rwandaises) and Interahamwe, after killing nearly a million Rwandans, had fled to the DRC.  Those who helped those forces to flee were now creating panels and manipulating reports.

He categorically denied the malicious implication that his Government’s decision to send its troops to the DRC was motivated by economic considerations, namely mining and the trade in minerals.  Mining was a long, hard process, which required expertise and specialized equipment and infrastructures, none of which the Rwandese Patriotic Army (RPA) possessed.  Also, Rwandese troops did not have the financial resources or time to invest in such activities.

The withdrawal of Rwandese forces from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had been total, he stressed, disputing allegations to the contrary.  That withdrawal had been monitored by, among others, the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC)

and the Third Party Verification Mechanism (TPVM), which had certified Rwanda’s total withdrawal. 

He therefore failed to understand why the Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo had told the Security Council yesterday that Rwanda’s withdrawal had not been total.  Nor did he understand why France was saying that Rwandese withdrawal had not been total, and that Rwandese soldiers were now transforming themselves into civilians.  He rejected those allegations, saying that France had been the “champion of scepticism” following the signing of the Pretoria Agreement.  France’s scepticism was motivated by its self-interests in the region, which were well-known. 

Asked if there had ever been any illegal exploitation by Rwandese forces in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ambassador Gasana

replied that there had never been exploitation or illegal mining in the areas controlled by his Government.  The report -- and even the Panel’s very creation -- were supported by those who had personal interests in the Great Lakes region.

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