Summary: July 18, 2003: Intervention by Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Public meeting of the UN Security Council on the "Democratic Republic of Congo" (New York)
Mr President, Permanent Representatives, Colleagues,
I am speaking to you just after completing a mission to the Great Lakes region during which I was able to hold talks with Presidents Kabila, Kagame and Museveni and to travel to Bunia where the interim emergency multinational force, Artemis, is deployed under the aegis of the European Union. I should like to share with you some thoughts, some commitments and some concerns.
In response to the appeal from the UNSG, the EU decided to deploy a multinational force in Bunia. This operation, a first for the European Union, which had never before sent military units outside Europe, succeeded in stopping the massacres in Bunia and helped to relaunch the peace process which had stalled in Kinshasa.
In fact, the peace process in the DRC had from the outset been characterised by a major anomaly, namely the co-existence of the political option and the military option. On the one hand, the hostile parties negotiate and sign ceasefire agreements and on the other hand these same parties continue their military operations on the ground in the hope of achieving a military victory. This ambiguity has been perpetuated by "negative forces" present in all the armed units, for whom maintenance of the
status quo seems more desirable than application of the peace agreement, resulting as it would in the loss of their personal power.
These "negative forces" have done everything possible to defeat the peace process on several occasions. They have not succeeded, thanks to the determination of the Congolese people and their leaders who wanted peace and to the vigilance and resolve of the international community. They have not, however, given up completely. The escalation of the Ituri crisis offered these forces a further opportunity to put the peace process at risk: the recapture of Bunia by the UPC, the reaction of the
Kinshasa government which had stationed units of the Congolese Armed Forces in Beni to dislodge the UPC from the city of Bunia and the offensive launched by the RCD on Beni with the risk of direct intervention by Uganda and Rwanda all led inevitably to the Sun City agreements being undermined.
The rapid deployment of the European multinational force halted this dangerous downward spiral and made it possible to relaunch the negotiations which had been bogged down for weeks. The agreement on the headquarters of the armed forces was finally concluded, creating the conditions for the setting up of a government of national unity and institutions of transition involving all the Congolese parties. This was a crucial step which was possible thanks to the commitment of the UNSG's Special
Envoy, Mr Moustapha Niasse, and to the delegation of facilitators from the Republic of South Africa. I should like to pay tribute to them on behalf of the European Union which assisted them through its Special Representative throughout the whole period of negotiation in Pretoria and Kinshasa. An important role was also played by the International Committee for support to the Transition (CIAT), which paved the way for the agreement on the military question.
This European Union mission to Bunia is going well so far. After the minor incidents which marked the beginning of the operation, and which resulted in the force having to use its weapons, the situation rapidly stabilised. The force was able to secure the airport and the refugee camps, to prohibit the open bearing of arms in Bunia from 24 June onwards, and to establish checkpoints at the entrances to the city. The force was fully deployed at the beginning of July, one week ahead of the original
plans. The objectives set for the force have been fulfilled.
The improvement in security conditions is obvious and there are many very positive indicators: the humanitarian organisations are able to travel outside Bunia to visit people they could not reach before, there is a regular influx of refugees into the city (1 000 to 1 500 per day), and the Ituri interim administration is again able to conduct some of its activities. During my trip to Bunia I was able to see the improvement for myself. The smiling faces of the children in the refugee camps,
despite the still precarious conditions, the warm thanks expressed by the members of the Ituri interim administration and the gratitude of the non-governmental organisations all bear moving testimony to the action of the European Union force.
We must preserve what the European Union force has achieved. For that reason, as stated in the report by the United Nations Secretary General on 27 May, it is essential that a reinforced MONUC presence be deployed in Bunia within the planned timescale. That force should have a mandate and rules of engagement similar to those of the European Union force, i.e. a mandate under Chapter VII. It should also have the equipment and military resources necessary to accomplish its mission and implement
the mandate and rules of engagement. If we wish to secure the region beyond the city limits, we will also have to deploy larger forces..
We believe that this point is of crucial importance if we wish to avoid further difficulties being created by the departure of the European force. The commander of Operation Artemis has done everything required to ensure that the transition to the strengthened MONUC force takes place under the best possible conditions.
At the same time, strong pressure should be brought to bear on the warlords who are leading the militias. The EU resolutely backs the proposal for an embargo on arms destined for North and South Kivu and Ituri. It intends to promote initiatives to prevent those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and acts of genocide committed in the DRC from escaping punishment.
The operation to stabilise the military situation must be accompanied and supported by a process of political normalisation through consolidation of the interim institutions set up by the Ituri Pacification Commission (CPI), return to the rule of law, observance by the various militias of the ceasefire agreement signed in Dar es Salaam last May, control, and ultimately abolition, of the militias and an end to external interference. We therefore believe it is essential for MONUC to succeed in
setting up in Bunia a political unit capable of administering this particularly delicate and complex process.
The European Union, for its part, is determined to make use of all its means to support the political process now under way. This involves technical and financial support for the Ituri Interim Administration and the Ituri Pacification Commission as well as for the process of disarming, demobilising and reintegrating the combatants in the district. It also undertakes to support the Ituri socio-economic rehabilitation programme and the local reconciliation process.
The European Union is further determined to continue backing the transitional process in the DRC until elections are held. Throughout that period, the Union will undertake to make a substantial contribution to funding for the reconstruction, rehabilitation and development of the DRC in all areas, in line with the priorities to be set by the Government of National Unity. In this context, I am pleased to announce the adoption on 9 July of a programme of strategic support amounting to EUR 205
million.
One of the new government's priorities will be to create the integrated and restructured National Republican Army in tandem with the demobilisation and reintegration programme for all combatants not incorporated in that army. The international community will have to give its support to these priority projects. The European Union undertakes to provide substantial backing for the demobilisation and reintegration programme. It has also begun discussions on support for the peacekeeping forces of
the African Union, which have just borne fruit with the adoption of the financing mechanism announced at the Maputo Summit.
Another urgent matter is that of security for the institutions of transition and those who run them. Three instruments were envisaged at Sun City: bodyguards, the international neutral force provided by MONUC and the integrated Congolese police unit. There are still problems regarding the MONUC forces personnel and mandate. These matters should be resolved without delay in order to reassure the parties concerned and make possible the setting up and operation of all the institutions of
transition. The number and training of bodyguards and the setting up of the integrated Congolese police unit are also questions which should be settled as quickly as possible. The guiding principles here are flexibility and the desire to remove any obstacles or pretexts which might enable "negative forces" to put the peace process at risk.
The organisation of elections within the time limits set by the peace agreement is a further challenge which the transitional government will have to take up. President Kabila again put to me the request for assistance which he has already made more than once. The EU is in the process of examining arrangements for providing aid, which could involve support for the independent electoral commission whose first task will be to conduct a census on which future electoral lists will be based. Such a
task is immense in a country that is the size of a continent and lacks resources, infrastructures and communication links. That is why it is necessary to begin the operation immediately even though elections will not be held for another two or three years. For the same reason also, logistical support of MONUC seems indispensable. Here too the example of Mozambique, where the UNOMOZ made its logistics and means of transport available to the national electoral commission, could serve as a
precedent.
Mr President, Permanent Representatives, Colleagues,
Before concluding, I would like to make a final point. Progress with the peace process in the DRC and its positive effects throughout the central African region make it possible to envisage organising a regional conference on the peace, security and development of the Great Lakes region. I would remind you that the EU has been calling for such a conference for many years. Its preparation has been entrusted by the UNSG to Mr Ibrahima Fall, whose already considerable work is to be applauded. The
holding of such a conference clearly depends on consolidation of the peace processes in the DRC and Burundi, where regrettably the situation is still deteriorating and where there is still a considerable way to go. The conference should, however, remain a priority objective for all.
With the establishment of the Government of national unity in Kinshasa, a window of opportunity has been opened for the DRC and for the whole Great Lakes region. This fundamental step in the peace process has been made possible not only as a result of the desire for peace of the Congolese people and its foremost leaders - beginning with President Kabila, to whom my respect is due - but also because of to the unfailing commitment of the international community, which has been able to speak with
one voice and bring the necessary pressure to bear on the warring factions to defeat the resistance put up by the enemies of peace. This commitment must be maintained and indeed reinforced now that the new Government of national unity is setting out on the difficult road of the transition towards elections. For our part, I wish to restate the firm intention of the EU to step up its efforts to give the new Congolese Government the political, economic and financial support it needs to
successfully complete the transition process, put an end to the suffering of the Congolese people and guide the country towards democracy.
Thank you Mr President.
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