Kigali: Rwanda should ‘carefully review’ the decision to withdraw all its peacekeepers from UN missions if a contested “Genocide” report is released, the platform of civil society organizations said Thursday.

Pulling out the troops will cause unwarranted trauma among civilians who have been counting on the protection of our peacekeepers, according to Eugene Rwibasira, in a statement on behalf of the platform.

Government has put on alert all Rwandan soldiers and police officers on UN peacekeepers in five different countries, ready to return home immediately the report is published. The 3560 troops in Sudan will be the ones to start.   

Despite the emphasis the Foreign Affairs Minister Louise Mushikiwabo put into making the decision clear – without any indication it could be reconsidered, the civil society group wants government to take a second look at the decision.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also broke his silence Thursday on the Rwandan threat – urging government not to recall its troops from Sudan.

The civil society group also expressed concern with the timing of the leak of the draft report which coincided with a period Rwanda was completing the electoral cycle with the reelection of President Kagame.

The civil society also says it is absurd to accuse a people who suffered the Genocide of doing the same thing.