Another U.N. Scandal--U.N. Official Accused of Participating in Genocide Awarded Back Pay

A former U.N. official who was accused of participating in genocide in Rwanda was awarded back pay recently after an internal U.N. review panel could not verify the allegations against him. Callixte Mbarushimana, a Rwandan Hutu, headed up the United Nations Development Program (U.N.D.P.) operations in that country. He was accused of ordering the deaths of dozens of Tutsis, a rival tribe to his Hutus.

American RadioWorks reports:

Callixte Mbarushimana filed a complaint saying he was unfairly dismissed by the U.N. after he was detained in 2001 on an international arrest warrant. A U.N. administrative panel agreed and awarded Mbarushimana 12 months' back pay, according to a copy of the July 23, 2004 decision . . . . The decision has not been released publicly.

The decision angered current and former United Nations officials who accused the U.N. of foot-dragging, mishandling evidence, and betraying victims of the genocide by finding in Mbarushimana's favor. They said the failure to prosecute Mbarushimana further undermines the U.N.'s credibility in confronting genocide.

More to the point, we find this statement in the American RadioWorks story:

After Mbarushimana's release, U.N. war crimes investigators uncovered evidence linking him to at least six massacres of ethnic Tutsi civilians in Kigali, the Rwandan capital. . . . The victims included Tutsis working for the U.N. who were hunted down and slaughtered by Hutu extremists. Mbarushimana is a Hutu.

Ms. Florence Ngirumpatse, a Tutsi who worked for the U.N.D.P. mission , was ordered to be killed along with 12 other Tutsis by Mbarushimana. Reports of this killing were not investigated by the U.N. when reported to them.

Tony Greig, a New Zealand attorney who led the U.N. investigation, said he helped draft a genocide indictment against Mbarushimana, drawing on detailed accounts from 24 witnesses. It would have been the first time a U.N. worker was charged with international war crimes. However, the indictment was set aside and the investigation closed by Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. Del Ponte has refused to explain why Mbarushimana was not indicted.

Shockingly, the U.N. had this to say in its administrative report allowing back pay for Mbarushimana:

although it is understood that the United Nations
was undoubtedly shocked to learn that one of its employees was charged with crimes of genocide, the Administration is always bound to balance its interest to keep the reputation of the Organization at the highest possible level, with the need to respect the dignity of its staff members and indeed see that this dignity is safeguarded until they are found guilty by a Court of Law.

The United Nations ignored the brutal treatment of Hutus and abuse of power within its own ranks in a vain attempt to save its reputation. In the July 2004 administrative opinion it decided to stand for the "dignity" of one of its employees over the dignity of dozens of murded people even with the testimony of dozens of witnesses.

This organization shows rampant corruption and disregard for true human rights. It failed in Kosovo and Bonsia, it ignored Iraq, it does nothing about the problems in The Sudan and now it becomes clear why their mission failed in Rwanda. The U.N.D.P. was being run by officials who had no neutrality. On the contrary, Mbarushimana had every intent to use his position to destroy his sworn enemies.

American RadioWorks Story

Read the transcript from CNN's Lou Dobbs' program from 10/21/04.