UN probes background of Rwandan general for Darfur

August 20, 2007 (UNITED NATIONS) — The United Nations has asked international human rights groups to submit any information they have on a controversial Rwandan general who is in line to become deputy commander of the new peacekeeping force in Darfur, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Monday.

The Brussels-based United Democratic Forces, an Rwandan exile opposition group, has accused Maj. Gen. Karenzi Karake of supervising extra-judicial killings of civilians before and after the Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front rebels took power in Rwanda following the genocide there. In 1994, militant Hutus killed about 800,000 Rwandans, mainly Tutsis.

The African Union has approved Karake for the deputy commander post for the joint U.N.-AU force for Sudan’s violence-plagued Darfur region, leaving the world body in a quandary. Rwanda fields some 2,000 of the 7,000 AU troops now in Darfur.

“We are talking to other parties…international organizations dealing with human rights to find out if there is any basis for the allegations,” U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas told reporters. She did not name the groups.

“There are also discussions with the Rwandan government on what they have to say,” Montas said.

The so-called “hybrid” U.N.-African Union operation aims to protect civilians in Darfur, where more than 2.5 million people have lost their homes and an estimated 200,000 have died in the past four years.

Should the allegations have a basis, Rwanda might be asked to submit other candidates for the post, which is usually decided by the African Union.

Rwandan Maj. Jill Rutaremara, the military spokesman, said the exiles were making “wild and unfounded allegations,” according to the Africa.com Web site.

“The allegation that General Karake supervised the mass killings of civilian refugees in the neighboring Congo after the genocide or was involved in killing of Rwanda politicians earlier were “far fetched” and “mere fabrication,” Rutaremara said in a lengthy statement.

The U.N. Security Council last month authorized up to 19,555 military personnel and 6,432 civilian police for the new force. About 10,000 U.N. peacekeepers are already in southern Sudan monitoring a peace agreement between Khartoum and former rebels.

The commander of the joint force is Gen. Martin Agwai of Nigeria.

Karake, 46, has been chairman of the Military Tribunal of Rwanda since January 2006. Before that, he held several senior positions in the Rwandan army.

(Reuters)