Activities of Secretary-General in Rwanda, 7-9 September
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left Alpbach, Austria, early on Tuesday, 7 September, by Austrian military helicopter and flew to Munich, from where he flew to Kigali, Rwanda, via Brussels.
The Secretary-General decided to visit Kigali to speak directly with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and other Government officials about their concern regarding the Democratic Republic of the Congo human rights mapping report commissioned by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
On arrival in Rwanda, the Secretary-General attended a working dinner hosted by the Foreign Minister, Louise Mushikwabo.
The next morning, the Secretary-General held talks with President Kagame at the Presidential Palace.
Before leaving Kigali, the Secretary-General gave a statement to the media at Kigali International Airport, in which he said he had congratulated President Kagame on his inauguration earlier in the week. He informed the media that he had told President Kagame that he hoped that Rwanda would continue its exemplary work in support of peace and security in the region.
Regarding the mapping exercise in particular, the Secretary-General said that both he and the President were disappointed at the leaking of the draft report. Mr. Ban reiterated that the United Nations is interested in establishing all the facts relating to incidents in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and covered by the mapping exercise. He said that he had encouraged the Rwandan President and Government to submit their comments by the end of September. He said that those comments would be released simultaneously with the final version of the mapping report.
The Secretary-General was accompanied during the visit to Rwanda by Roger Meece, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations; and Ivan Šimonovic, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights.
The Secretary-General returned to New York via Djibouti and Dubai, arriving early on Thursday, 9 September.