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Congo (Kinshasa): Peace Update
Congo (Kinshasa): Peace Update
Date distributed (ymd): 010425
Document reposted by APIC
Africa Policy Electronic Distribution List: an information
service provided by AFRICA ACTION (incorporating the Africa
Policy Information Center, The Africa Fund, and the American
Committee on Africa). Find more information for action for
Africa at http://www.africapolicy.org
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: Central Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace+
SUMMARY CONTENTS:
This posting contains two documents relating to recent developments
in the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One
is the executive summary of a March report by the International
Crisis Group, and the second is brief excerpts on the role of civil
society from the January-March Info Congo/Kinshasa, produced by the
Table De Concertation Sur Les Droits Humains au Congo/Kinshasa in
Canada. Addresses for more complete information from the two groups
is given below.
Developments subsequent to the two documents below include the
further deployment of UN peacekeeping forces in the Congo to
Kisangani, the return of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi to
Kinshasa, and an April 12 report by a UN expert group on "Illegal
Exploitation of Natural Resources". The latter report, found at
http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/letters/2001/357e.pdf, lays out
considerable detailed documentation on exploitation of natural
resources by Uganda, Rwanda and their Congolese allies in eastern
Congo. Criticized by Uganda and Rwanda as one-sided, the report
contains only limited information on Zimbabwe and other allies of
the Kabila government, and the report's authors acknowledge in the
report that they did not have comparable access to data for
Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.
For additional current information, see news reports at
http://allafrica.com/congo-kinshasa
and
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/archive/drc.htm
Current reports from Human Rights Watch can be found at:
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/congo
The latest UN Security Council resolution, of February 22, 2001,
urging more rapid implementation of the peace process in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, can be found at:
http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2001/res1341e.pdf
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
International Crisis Group
From Kabila to Kabila: Prospects for Peace in the Congo
For full report see:
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=257
March 16, 2001
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Joseph Kabila, son of the late Laurent D�sir� Kabila, speaks a
far more peaceful language than that of his bellicose father. But
he will not be able to deliver peace alone, and there are already
signs that the many parties to the war in the Democratic Republic
of Congo are heading for renewed confrontation. In a Congo that
continues to fragment, Kabila's patrons and his enemies are
beginning to quarrel among themselves. What looms are a series of
battles as the factions struggle for influence and spoils.
The assassination of Laurent Kabila on 16 January 2001 and the
appointment of his son Joseph as President of the DRC brought
fresh hope to the stalled Lusaka Peace process. The new president
swiftly agreed to the deployment of a United Nations military
observer force (MONUC) to oversee troop withdrawals, and he
approved the appointment of Sir Ketumile Masire to open a vital
Inter-Congolese Dialogue. There has also been contact between
Kabila and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, his father's old enemy,
on disarmament of the forces associated with the Rwandan genocide
of 1994, who found refuge in Congo. The UN Security Council
hailed these gestures of goodwill by approving the deployment of
MONUC in February to verify disengagement of forces, and almost
immediately Rwandan and Ugandan forces began some troop
withdrawals.
But these positive steps on disarmament and disengagement are
being undermined by the ongoing political struggle for influence
and access to resources, which will make the Inter-Congolese
Dialogue a very difficult exercise. It is still not clear how
strong Joseph Kabila's true commitment to the peace process is,
nor the extent of his real influence over the DRC's ruling elite.
Kabila's nominal allies, Angola and Zimbabwe, deeply mistrustful
of each other, are trying to push their own interests through
Congolese proxies. Zimbabwe, suspicious of the security breach
that enabled Laurent Kabila to be killed, has detained numerous
Congolese associated with Angola, including Eddy Kapend, the
military officer who appeared on television shortly after the
assassination calling for calm.
The rifts between former allies are not confined to the
pro-Kabila side. Rwanda and Uganda, once united against Laurent
Kabila, are showing further signs that their relationship has
frayed. President Yoweri Museveni recently called Rwanda a
"hostile state," accusing it of giving financial support to his
domestic political opponents during the recent elections. In
turn, Rwanda has accused Uganda of harbouring some of President
Kagame's opponents.
In Kinshasa, hardliners are back in control of the government,
opposing any dialogue with anti-government rebels until there is
a total military withdrawal of all foreign forces. The rebels,
backed by Rwanda and Uganda, refuse any dialogue without a
power-sharing agreement. Frustrated by the lack of progress, the
powerful Ugandan-backed rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba has
already threatened to reopen fighting. There appears, therefore,
to be long odds against the Inter-Congolese Dialogue ever
starting. If it does begin, it is likely to become a new theatre
for strife between all the competing interests.
The success of the Lusaka process is critical for lasting peace
in Congo and all of Central Africa. This giant land is a state in
name only. Its structures are destroyed and regions fragmented
between enemies and friends. It urgently needs a power-sharing
agreement that includes unarmed opposition groups and rebel
representatives as well as pro-Kabila factions. It needs a
government of transition and a new constitution. None can be
achieved without vigilance and support from all parties involved
and the international community.
Strict conditions over assistance to Joseph Kabila must be
enforced to overcome the political resistance to an
Inter-Congolese Dialogue. Failure to act will mean a resumption
of hostilities, a war of succession and further fragmentation of
the country into semi-permanent spheres of military influence and
the certainty of worse crises to come.
RECOMMENDATIONS
TO MEMBERS OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL
On Disengagement
- Maintain pressure on the belligerents to disengage their
forces under the terms of the Kampala and Harare Disengagement
Plans.
- Maintain pressure on Rwanda and Uganda on the one hand, and
Angola and Zimbabwe on the other, to negotiate in good faith on
complete withdrawal of their forces from the DRC. Such pressure
can be maintained through reassessments of their qualifications
to receive military and financial aid, debt relief and trade
privileges.
- On Dialogue
- Give provisional support, including the progressive resumption
of development aid, to Joseph Kabila's regime on condition that:
1) he liberalises political activities and frees political
prisoners; 2) he guarantees freedom of movement to all
participants to the Inter-Congolese Dialogue as well as a
peaceful working environment for Ketumile Masire's team in
Kinshasa; 3) he agrees to participate in the Inter-Congolese
Dialogue as outlined in the Lusaka Cease-fire Agreement by
supporting its preliminary and preparatory steps and consistently
supporting Masire's activities.
- Pressure the new government to immediately cease the
repression of Kivutians and Equatorians on the territory it
controls.
- Pressure Rwanda and Uganda to have the RCD and FLC respect
freedom of association in the territory they control and
guarantee political party and civil society representatives'
freedom of movement to meet Ketumile Masire's team.
- Pressure Rwanda and Uganda to respect International
Humanitarian Law in the Eastern DRC and to have the RCD and FLC
arrest human rights abusers within their ranks and discipline
them severely.
On Disarmament
- Pressure the new government and its allies to immediately
cease support of the ex-FAR and FDD factions and to encourage the
FDD to join the Burundi peace process.
- Direct the UN Observer Mission, MONUC, to commence planning
for a comprehensive disarmament, demobilisation, resettlement,
and reintegration (DDRR) process of armed groups in the eastern
DRC.
- Implement UN Security Council Resolutions 918 (1994), 997
(1995), 1011 (1995), and 1341 (2001), as well as the
recommendations of the report of the UN Commission of Enquiry on
Rwanda (1997), which together provide a legal basis for the
resumption of an arms embargo against the ex-FAR.
TO THE SIGNATORIES OF THE LUSAKA AGREEMENT
10. Immediately stop supporting the "negative forces" and
co-operate as quickly as possible with MONUC in order to assess
the needs for a major DDRR exercise.
11. Comply with the Kampala and Harare disengagement plan and
start withdrawing from DRC.
12. Help the Inter-Congolese Dialogue by identifying the key
interests to be negotiated in order to have a stable government
emerge.
Nairobi/Brussels, 16 March 2001
Info-Congo/Kinshasa
Information document produced by the TABLE DE CONCERTATION SUR
LES DROITS HUMAINS AU CONGO/KINSHASA Entraide missionnaire, 15 De
Castelnau Ouest, Montreal (Qc), Canada H2R 2W3 Tel. (514)
270-6089 Fax 270-6156 Email [email protected]
The English version of Info-Congo/Kinshasa can be obtained from
Inter-Church Coalition on Africa (ICCAF), 129 St.Clair Avenue
West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4V 1N5, by enclosing a cheque or
postal order drawn on a Canadian or American bank: $15 for a
Canadian subscription and $20 for outside Canada Tel: (416)
927-1124. Fax: (416) 927-7554. Email: [email protected]
[brief excerpts only; for full version write to the addresses
above For additional information see also
http://www.web.net/~iccaf/humanrights/congoinfo/congo.htm].
January, February, March 2001 Nos 165-166-167
THE INTERCONGOLESE DIALOGUE NOW POSSIBLE
Many now believe that the inter-Congolese dialogue promised by
President Joseph Kabila will take place. Now accepted by Kabila,
whom he met in Tripoli (Libya) at a recent OAU summit, Masire has
just visited Kinshasa. At the end of his meeting with the
president on March 18, he announced that he shared with him
"similar views on the inter-Congolese dialogue." There were no
more obstacles, and starting in April, the mediator would, as
planned, start the preparatory work which, had all gone according
to plan, should have been accomplished in Benin over the last
year. One of the principal obstacles, the status of the present
president of the Congo at the dialogue, seems to have been
removed.
Contrary to the stipulations of the text of the Lusaka Accord and
to opposition demands that the president should be just another
representative of one of the conflicting parties at the
inter-Congolese dialogue, Masire gave way to demands from
Kinshasa, and no doubt pressure from its allies. At the end of
his meeting with Joseph Kabila, Facilitator Masire announced, "he
is the president of the Republic and, at the dialogue, he will
still be the president of the Republic." This is a major
concession to Kinshasa, which leads one to believe that another
concession could be obtained in the inter-Congolese dialogue,
giving the current president the responsibility of leading the
transition up to the elections which he has promised to organize
as soon as the foreign troops leave.
But a second concession has been made on the subject of
co-facilitation. After the question of his being unilingual was
raised, and the former president sollicited the president of
Gabon to organize the inter-Congolese dialogue at Libreville,
Masire seems to have accepted the proposal of a joint
facilitation with Omar Bongo.
It will be recalled that on December 11 last, Kabila Senior met
with different Congolese figures, from the political parties,
special interest groups, and Kinshasa religious communities. This
meeting produced the idea of organizing a national forum on the
democratization of the Congo. To the observers, the forum seemed
to have a double objective: " to confirm the national cohesion
... necessary to confront the enemies of the Congolese people" as
Kabila insisted, but above all to exploit the French/English
rivalry in the region, to thwart Masire and to take the
initiative with a parallel forum which Kinshasa would control.
At the first session convoked on December 20 in Libreville,
nearly 200 Congolese, representing the goverment, the rebel
groups, parliament, the opposition and members of civil society
were present. But "given the absence of numerous significant
persons from outside the Congo at the Libreville meeting, the
Gabon and Congo heads of state [decided], in spite of the
presence of important people from inside the Congo, to put off
the start of the meeting until January 2001." President Bongo
was asked to "make useful contacts with the leading figures of
the exterior opposition, including the armed rebellion." Because
of Joseph Kabila's advent, it is unlikely there will be a follow
up.
...
Fifty nine non-governmental organizations, networks, and
different associations representing civil society, met on
February 5. They put forward 27 proposals to the new government:
among them, a firm promise to hold the National dialogue in 3
months, the modification of the decrees pertaining to political
parties and non-profit organizations, the dissolution of the
present National Assembly and structures like the Committees of
Popular Power (CPP), liberalization of the media, the suppression
of the Military Court, the freeing of political prisoners and the
payment of wages owed to civil servants. The associations also
insisted on appointing their own representatives to the National
dialogue.
To calm the situation, the new government decided to call the
leading lights of the political parties and civil society to a
conference on the country's political future. The first meeting,
planned for March 1, had to be cancelled for lack of
participants. A second, convoked on March 12, had a very limited
success, since the principal political parties, like the UDPS,
the PDSC, the FONUS, and the MPR(Fait Prive) declined the
invitation. They refused to take part in the kind of meeting
whose goals are uncertain. The Catholic church delegated 3
bishops from its permanent committee still in Kinshasa after a
conference from February 26 to March 3. In individual meetings
with the president, since no group session was planned, they
presented some of the points from the assembly's final report,
among them making youth education a priority, the reorganization
of public health and transportation services, and an end to the
lack of security caused by soldiers and police.
Diplomatically, the new government formed a joint committee, with
equal representatives of government, political parties and civil
society, charged with presenting realistic ways to reintroduce
political activities.
The new government, which was not slow to open channels of
communication with the armed opposition and the countries
supporting it, has been in no hurry to share the political arena
with the unarmed opposition. This opposition, divided, and
without the ability to exert much pressure, is not a real threat
at the moment. No doubt this is the message coming from the
presidents of the allied countries. ...
CIVIL SOCIETY THREATENED
Kinshasa's civil society continues to be the target of security
forces. ...
This repression aimed at civil rights militants has been
vigorously condemned by Roberto Garreton, the UN Special
Rapporteur for the Congo for the Commission for Human Rights at
Geneva. He visited the Congo from March 11 to 21 and will shortly
present a detailed report. But he has already indicated some of
his findings. "The situation of the defenders of civil rights is
precarious and dangerous," he declared. "Throughout the country,
they are persecuted, arrested, harassed, and their offices closed
down. In the areas controlled by Kinshasa, they are considered
Rwandan allies, and in areas controlled by the rebels they are
seen as Kabila's allies.
March 30, 2001
Contributors to this issue: Kadari Mwene Kabyana and Denis
Tougas. English translation by M.Dowler
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by
Africa Action (incorporating the Africa Policy Information
Center, The Africa Fund, and the American Committee on Africa).
Africa Action's information services provide accessible
information and analysis in order to promote U.S. and
international policies toward Africa that advance economic,
political and social justice and the full spectrum of human
rights.
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