Ban Ki Moon urges Rwanda to keep troops in Sudan; UN updates cases of rape in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame today and urged the leader not to withdraw troops from a peace keeping mission in Sudan.

Kagame threatened to pull troops out of Sudan, after a draft UN report on the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide was leaked. The report finds that Rwandan troops and Congolese rebels pursued Hutus following the 1994 Rwandan genocide and killed tens of thousands of people.

According to the BBC, the draft report calls the acts “damning” and that, if proven by a court, could be classified as genocide.

Rwandan officials denied the charges and called the report’s findings “malicious.”

Rwanda has 3,500 troops in Sudan, which are seen as key to security ahead of a referendum on independence set for January. The UN has delayed publication of the controversial report until October 1st.

In other news from the region, the head of the UN Department of Political Affairs, Atul Khare, returned from an investigative trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo saying an estimated 500 people, mostly women and young girls, had been raped in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in July and August. Since news of the incident surfaced, the number of cases has steadily risen.

On Tuesday Khare told the Security Council that the UN mission in DR Congo had failed and that quick action should be taken.

"It is essential that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are swiftly apprehended and brought to justice. Rapid and exemplary punishment would deter others who might repeat similar criminal acts."

News of the attacks began to emerge from an aid group in the region treating survivors, but the scale of the rapes did not come out until later.  The UN released in internal email indicating UN agencies knew that rebels were in the area and that one rape occurred. But UN workers did not reach the area until August.

Margot Wallstrom, the top UN official dealing with sexual violence in conflict said that the incidents are part of a disturbing trend.

"It is evident that rape is increasingly selected as the 'weapon of choice' in Eastern DRC, with numbers reaching endemic proportions. The sad reality is that incidents of rape have become so commonplace that they do not trigger our most urgent interventions."

Wallstrom added that she is planning a trip to the DR Congo next month to listen to survivors and to address the issue in person.