Rwanda Wins security Council Seat

In this photograph provided by the United Nations, a UN conference officer is accompanied by a supervising delegate as she collects ballots on the floor of the UN General Assembly after they voted to elect five new non-permanent members of the Security Council in New York.

New York - Rwanda, along with Australia, Argentina, Luxembourg and South Korea, won a seat on the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, despite accusations by a UN panel that Rwanda's defence minister commands a rebellion in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rwanda was unopposed in its bid for the African seat on the council that South Africa will vacate at the end of December, but still needed approval from two-thirds of the UN General Assembly members present to secure the two-year term. It won 148 votes in the 193-nation assembly.

Argentina also was elected to the council unopposed, winning 182 votes. Australia won a seat with 140 votes, Luxembourg with 131 votes and South Korea with 149.

Cambodia, Bhutan and Finland failed to secure two-year seats on the council.

There are five veto-holding permanent members of the council - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - and 10 temporary members without veto power. Thursday's election was for the term from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2014.

Rwanda's government said that it would work with all members of the council to ensure “it is responsive and reflective of the views and aspirations of the developing world”.

“Rwanda's troubling and tragic past allows it to bring to the UNSC a unique perspective on matters of war and peace,” it posted on a Twitter account created for its Security Council term (@RwandaUNSC).

Before the vote, the Congolese delegation told the General Assembly it objected to Rwanda joining the Security Council, accusing its neighbour of harbouring “war criminals operating in the eastern part of the DRC and who are being sought by international justice”.

A confidential UN report, seen by Reuters on Tuesday, cast a shadow over Rwanda's election to the 15-member UN power centre - which has the ability to impose sanctions and authorise military interventions.

The Security Council's “Group of Experts” said that Rwanda and Uganda - despite their strong denials - continued to support M23 rebels in their six-month fight against Congolese government troops in the east of the country.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame posted a declaration on Twitter welcoming the result: “No matter what haters say... Justice and truth will prevail!!! Sometimes it just requires a bit of good fight for all that!!!”

Speaking to reporters in New York, Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo complained about the timing of the leak of the experts report to Reuters two days ahead of the Security Council vote, but added that the leak was “predictable”.

She also sought to assure Congo that Rwanda would be a responsible council member. “I believe the Democratic Republic of Congo should see Rwanda on the Security Council as value addition,” she said after the vote.

Philippe Bolopion of the advocacy group Human Rights Watch criticised the inclusion of Rwanda on the Security Council

“After blatantly violating the Security Council's arms embargo and undermining the work of the UN by propping up the abusive M23 rebels, Rwanda is rewarded with a seat at the table,” he said.

“Kigali is now in a position to try to shield its own officials implicated in abuses from UN sanctions, which is a flagrant conflict of interest,” Bolopion said in a statement. “Other Security Council members now have an even greater responsibility to hold Rwanda to account.”

Britain's Deputy UN Ambassador Philip Parham put a more positive spin on Rwanda's election, saying: “We look forward to working with them on issues of international peace and security including the efforts to try to end the cycle of violence in the eastern DRC.”

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr described Australia's election as a “big juicy, decisive win” that endorsed the country as a good global citizen.

“For us as a middle power a long way from the centres of clout in the world, the centres of power in the world, this is a lovely moment,” Carr told reporters after the vote.

South Africa, Colombia, Germany, India and Portugal are leaving the Security Council in December. Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Pakistan, Togo and Morocco will remain until the end of 2013.

The last time Rwanda was on the council was in 1994-95. That coincided with a genocide in which 800 000 people were killed when Rwanda's Hutu-led government and ethnic militias went on a 100-day killing spree, massacring Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

The Congolese government on Wednesday demanded targeted sanctions against Rwandan and Ugandan officials named in the UN experts report.

According to the UN experts, who monitor compliance with sanctions and an arms embargo on the Congo, Rwandan Defence Minister General James Kabarebe was ultimately commanding the rebellion and both Rwanda and Uganda were providing weapons, troops and military and political aid to the insurgency.

--------- Reuters