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Congo-Kinshasa: Urgent Peacekeeping Needs
AFRICA ACTION
Africa Policy E-Journal
May 26, 2003 (030526)
Congo-Kinshasa: Urgent Peacekeeping Needs
(Reposted from sources cited below)
This posting contains a press release and joint letter from Human
Rights Watch and Amnesty International calling for urgent UN action
to deploy adequate peacekeeping forces to protect civilians in the
gold-rich Bunia area of eastern Congo (Kinshasa). More than 300
people, including 2 UN observers, were killed in the area earlier
in May. African delegates at the UN have renewed their call for
adequate funding and addtional troops for the UN operation in that
country. According to news reports, the UN Undersecretary-General
for Peacekeeping visited the area on Sunday. Britain, Canada,
Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa have reportedly offered troops
to assist a rapid reaction force spearheaded by France.
A new transition government is due to be installed in Congo in
June, under the terms of last year's peace agreement. However, the
latest killings and the delays in sending the rapid reaction force
illustrate the continued lack of political will by the major powers
to provide adequate peacekeeping support. The ability of the
Security Council to focus on Africa has also been impaired by
concentration on Iraq.
A new report just released by the International Crisis Group,
addressing the impasse in eastern Congo more generally, calls for
a stronger UN mandate with additional military capacity to prevent
massacres and further destablization.
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=979
+++++++++++++++++end summary/introduction+++++++++++++++++++++++
Human Rights Watch
http://www.hrw.org
Press Release
May 21, 2003
Congo: U.N. Should Deploy a Rapid Reaction Force in Ituri
(New York, May 21, 2003) - Human Rights Watch and Amnesty
International today jointly called on the U.N. Security Council to
authorize the deployment of a rapid reaction force to protect
civilians in Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In an open letter to the Security Council, the two human rights
organizations called the situation in Ituri "a critical test" of
the Security Council's commitments to prevent mass killings and
protect civilians, and noted that the United Nations Observation
Mission in Congo (MONUC) has been unable to adequately protect
civilians. The Security Council is currently discussing the
characteristics and mandate of a possible force.
"In Ituri today, the elements of a devastating crisis are clearly
present," said Irene Khan, secretary general of Amnesty
International.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said that thousands of
civilians continue to be at risk as opposing Hema and Lendu ethnic
militia groups remain fully armed and ready to attack again. Tens
of thousands of other civilians are believed to have fled Bunia,
and their condition is unknown.
The two organizations stressed that any military action should be
undertaken with full respect for international human rights and
humanitarian law. They emphasized that the rapid reaction force
should have a robust mandate to ensure the maintenance of law and
order and to protect civilians in Bunia, to locate and protect
those civilians who have fled outside the town, and to ensure that
humanitarian assistance can reach civilian populations in need.
Given the urgency of the situation, the two human rights
organizations urged that a rapid reaction force be deployed
immediately in the Ituri region, pending an agreement by the
Security Council on the expansion and strengthening of MONUC's
mandate, and the respective deployment of its reinforced troops.
The organizations are following up their appeal to the Security
Council with appeals to specific countries to support Security
Council action along the lines suggested and to contribute troops
to an U.N.-authorized force.
"Thousands of civilians have already died in this conflict," said
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "Only rapid
U.N. action can head off continued killings."
At least 5,000 people died from direct violence in Ituri between
July 2002 and March 2003. These victims are in addition to the
50,000 civilians that, according to United Nations estimates, have
died there since 1999. These losses are just one part of an
estimated total of 4.7 million civilians dead throughout the Congo,
a toll that makes this war more deadly to civilians than any other
since World War II.
To read more on human rights in DRC, please see:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/congo.php
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International Letter to the U.N.
Security Council
May 21, 2003
Security Council Members
Your Excellency,
In recent days, the Security Council has expressed growing concern
about the deteriorating human rights situation in Ituri,
north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Despite the
signing last week of a cease-fire, the potential for the situation
to rapidly escalate into further killings of civilians demands an
immediate and urgent response, notably the deployment of troops
with a clear and robust mandate to protect civilians.
Ituri presents the Security Council with a critical test of the
commitments it has made in many previous resolutions to prevent
mass killings and protect civilians. In Resolution 1296 of April
2000 on the protection of civilians in armed conflict, the Council
indicated "its willingness to consider the appropriateness and
feasibility of temporary security zones and safe corridors for the
protection of civilians and the delivery of assistance in
situations characterized by threat of genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes against the civilian population." The
Security Council's various resolutions on children and armed
conflict and women in peace and security have highlighted their
special protection needs.
In Ituri today, the elements of a devastating crisis are clearly
present: thousands of civilians continue to be at risk as opposing
Hema and Lendu ethnic militia groups remain fully armed and ready
to attack again; tens of thousands of other civilians are believed
to have fled Bunia, and their fate is unknown. In a fast-changing
scene, the ethnic groups have allied with several different
Congolese rebel movements and with foreign backers, including
Uganda and Rwanda. There have been mass killings and targeted rapes
based on ethnic identity, by members of different ethnic groups,
yielding a spiral of deadly reprisal attacks.
The potential for escalating abuses is illustrated by the massacre
of hundreds of civilians at Drodro in April 2003 and by the 10 May
killing of as many as 20 Hema civilians, including two priests, at
a church in Nyakazansa, reportedly carried out by Lendu
combatants. On 11 May MONUC personnel reportedly found 12 dead
civilians in the centre of Bunia - three of them were babies who
had had their throats cut.
These constitute only the most recent cases of unlawful deliberate
killings on ethnic grounds in a conflict in Ituri that has claimed
tens of thousands of lives and displaced over 500,000 people since
mid-1999. Tens of thousands of civilians have reportedly fled
Bunia in search of safety, many crossing the border into
neighbouring Uganda. Aid workers have also been forced to cease
their work and evacuate from Bunia. By 12 May the armed group
Union des patriotes congolais (UPC), Union of Congolese Patriots,
which had been driven out of Bunia by Ugandan troops in early
March, had reportedly recaptured most parts of the town. Meanwhile,
the humanitarian situation is becoming increasingly desperate:
nearly 10,000 civilians of various ethnic groups are now sheltering
in UN installations in Bunia, facing serious shortages of food,
water, and sanitation, and leading to rising fears of cholera;
small children are already starting to die.
The United Nations Observation Mission in Congo (MONUC) with some
700 troops in Bunia has been completely overwhelmed and has been
unable to adequately protect civilians and help restore calm to
this volatile region. On 12 May, the Under-Secretary General for
Peacekeeping Operations, Mr. Guehenno warned that "without
decisive action there could be a bloodbath in the region." The
troop reinforcements from Bangladesh are not due to arrive for a
couple of months, which means that MONUC will be unable to respond
adequately to events in the short term.
We are aware that intensive efforts are underway internationally to
mobilize a rapid reaction force. The UN Security Council is
currently discussing the characteristics and mandate of a possible
force to be sent by one or more UN member states to the DRC to
help calm the fighting and to protect civilians, as requested by
the UN Secretary-General. Given the urgency of the situation, we
urge you to ensure a rapid reaction force is deployed immediately
in Bunia, pending an agreement by the Security Council on the
expansion and strengthening of MONUC's mandate, and the respective
deployment of its reinforced troops.
It is of utmost importance that any military action should be
undertaken with full respect for international human rights and
humanitarian law. The rapid reaction force should have a robust
mandate to: 1) ensure the maintenance of law and order to protect
civilians in Bunia, and to try to locate and protect those
civilians who have fled outside the town, progressively
establishing a presence beyond Bunia to ensure civilians are
protected throughout the region; and 2) to help ensure that
humanitarian assistance can reach civilian populations in need.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are ready to assist
you with further information should you require it. Thank you for
your kind consideration of these urgent matters.
Sincerely,
Kenneth Roth
Executive Director
Human Rights Watch
Irene Khan
Secretary General
Amnesty International
Annan Urges Emergency UN Force to Quell Violence in Northeastern DR
of Congo
United Nations (New York)
http://www.un.org
PRESS RELEASE
May 16, 2003 New York
With Congolese parties signing a ceasefire agreement today for the
northeastern region of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC),
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Security
Council to consider quickly deploying a multinational emergency
force to help stabilize the volatile situation in the town of
Bunia.
In a letter this morning to the President of the Council, the
Secretary-General said he considered it likely that the situation
could worsen. He asked that members of the 15-nation body urgently
consider his proposal for the rapid deployment of a highly trained
and well-equipped multinational force to provide security at the
local airport as well as to other vial installations and to protect
the civilian population.
The Council's President for the month of May, Ambassador Munir
Akram of Pakistan, confirmed in a statement to the press that some
UN Member States have been approached by the Secretary-General to
participate in this force. A UN spokesman, meanwhile, said the
search for troop contributors to the multinational force "continues
to go well," with generous responses from several Member States
offering both troops and logistical and financial support.
In his letter, Mr. Annan expressed his "deep concern" about the
rapidly deteriorating situation in and around Bunia, which has
become the stage for major violent clashed between rival Lendu and
Hema militia groups, which has been exacerbated by outside
interferences.
"This force would be deployed for a limited period until a
considerably reinforced United Nations presence could be deployed,"
Mr. Annan writes, adding that it would be authorized under the
Chapter VII enforcement provision of the UN Charter.
Because the situation in Bunia threatens to undermine the peace
process in the DRC, and thereby threaten international peace and
security in the region, Mr. Annan said, "the international
community must act decisively."
The Council met Friday in closed session to discuss the situation
in the DRC. During its meeting, Under-Secretary-General for UN
Peacekeeping Operations Jean Marie Guehenno reported that the
situation in Bunia continued to be volatile, UN spokesman Fred
Eckhard said. Attempts by the UN to broker a local ceasefire have
so far been unsuccessful, although there was no fighting in the
town today.
Meanwhile in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the Secretary-General's
Special Representative for the DRC, Amos Namanga Ngongi witnessed
the signing of an agreement to cease hostilities in Bunia and
re-launch the Ituri peace process.
The signatories included President Joseph Kabila, representatives
of the democratically elected Ituri Pacification Commission - which
rival militia and tribal groups agreed to set up late last month to
manage the region until a new post-war national government takes
over - and leaders of the various armed groups who have been
fighting for control of the region's administrative capital, Bunia.
By the agreement, the parties also recommitted themselves to the
political process, agreed to canton their troops within their
respective headquarters and supported the immediate deployment of
a multinational force.
In his press statement, Ambassador Akram also said that Council
members demanded that all states in the region express their
commitment to extend support for the possible deployment of this
force.
Ituri Factions Recommit Themselves to Peace
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
http://www.irinnews.org
NEWS
May 16, 2003
Dar Es Salaam
Following a week of heavy fighting in eastern Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC), five armed groups that have been involved in
battles around the town of Bunia on Friday signed an agreement to
cease hostilities and re-launch the beleaguered Ituri peace
process.
According to the agreement, all five parties have committed
themselves to observe an immediate ceasefire. They will begin the
process of cantonment of their troops, and they have welcomed the
proposed deployment of an international intervention force.
The deal comes after a week of heavy fighting between ethnic Lendu
and Hema militias in Bunia following the withdrawal of Ugandan
troops from the town. Humanitarian organisations say that hundreds
have been killed in the fighting and tens of thousands have fled
their homes.
The belligerents also agreed to demilitarise areas that are densely
populated and to "create and maintain the necessary conditions" to
allow humanitarian organisations to operate.
Furthermore, in what analysts said was a caveat to Rwanda and
Uganda, foreign countries were called upon to stop supporting the
different armed groups in the Ituri district of northeastern DRC,
of which Bunia is the principal city.
The five parties involved in the talks were the Parti pour l'Unite
et la Sauveguarge de l'Integrite du Congo (PUSIC), Front des
Nationalistes et Integrationnistes (FNI), Forces Populaires pour la
Democratie au Congo (FPDC), Forces Armees du Peuple Congolais
(FAPC) and the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC). Also present
were members of the Ituri Pacification Commission and
representatives of the DRC government and the United Nations.
Both observers and interested parties welcomed the agreement as an
initial step, but concern remains that unless an international
force is deployed immediately, the signatures will mean nothing and
insecurity will continue in the region.
Brig Kale Kaihura, the commander of the Ugandan troops that left
Bunia and the Ugandan representative at the talks said he was glad
that the UN had "woken up" but said he regretted that it had taken
so long for people to listen to them.
"Why did they wait until people die before they do something? It is
only after the crisis that we see people reacting," he said.
Kaihura said that while there had been enormous pressure on him to
remove his troops, he had anticipated and warned people of the
potential dangers that the power vacuum following their withdrawal
would create.
DRC President Joseph Kabila, who met all the groups individually
over the course of the two days, said that he hoped the groups
would abide by the agreement and that the international force would
arrive soon "to stop the massacres".
However, there was still confusion over the implementation of the
agreement as, according to the UN Mission in the DRC, known as
MONUC, the forces are to be cantoned in "their own headquarters"
and debates continue over where each group's headquarters are. They
cited the example of the UPC, which is currently in control of
Bunia and says that the town is their headquarters so they are
entitled to stay.
Confirming these suspicions, UPC leader Thomas Lubanga told
journalists after the ceremony that his troops "wouldn't move out
of Bunia as they were in control, responsible for keeping the peace
and had been told they could stay".
Although he arrived only late on Thursday evening, Lubanga denied
claims that he was a reluctant signatory. "I have never refused to
participate in any forum that would bring peace to Bunia," he said.
"I am happy with the signing and I hope all the parties respect the
agreement."
The smaller factions also said that they were prepared for peace
and wanted to be integrated into the Congolese army, but they
accused Lubanga's UPC of being the remaining obstacle.
"The problem goes beyond just the Hema and the Lendu. It is
political and the UPC want to cut Ituri off from the rest of the
DRC," FNI chairman Ndjabu Ngabu said on Thursday.
Although no precise date or numbers have been given for the
international intervention force, Behrooz Sadry, deputy special
representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC, told IRIN
that the force was likely to be the size of a reinforced battalion
(at least 750 soldiers) and it was "no longer a matter of months,
but weeks" before they would arrive.
"In the meantime, we hope that the ceasefire will hold until the
details of the agreement today are worked out on the ground," he
said on Friday.
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Date distributed (ymd): 030526
Region: Central Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +security/peace+
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