NORTH KIVU, DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of
Congo has asked the spokesperson of the UN peacekeepers’ mission (Monusco) to
leave the country, signaling a collapse in relations spiked by
demonstrations against the foreign troops.
Mathias Gillmann, who has been
the face of the mission as it battles against protests by locals, is being
kicked out over “indelicate and inappropriate remarks” he made, the authorities
say in a letter.
“The government would very
much appreciate that action be taken for Mr Mathias Gillmann to leave Congolese
territory as soon as possible,” it added.
In the letter, Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula wrote to Monusco
that "in view of the current regrettable exacerbation of tensions between
the civilian and Monusco in North Kivu, tensions due to the indelicate and
inappropriate statements of the Monusco spokesman, Mr Matthias Gilmann, the
government of the DRC considers that his presence on national territory is not
likely to promote a climate of confidence and serenity, which is so essential
between the Congolese institutions and Monusco".
Protests against Monusco
erupted in parts of eastern Congo last week, leading to the death of 36 people,
including four UN peacekeepers. Some 170 people have also been injured,
according to official figures.
The anger has been fuelled by
perceptions that peacekeepers have failed to do enough to stop decades of armed
conflict in the region.
More than 120 militias operate in the troubled east, where civilian massacres remain common.
Now the DRC says it will also
speed up the withdrawal of the UN mission.
Congolese government spokesman
Patrick Muyaya said Kinshasa would accelerate the planned exit of the forces
set for 2024 with the UN Security Council.
Mr Muyaya said that the breakdown of trust between the peacekeepers and civilians, the persistence of insecurity and recent statements by the Monusco spokesman that the mission does not have the military means to fight the M23 had pushed the Congolese authorities to shorten the deadline for the withdrawal of the UN troops.
The M23 militia had lain
mostly dormant for years before resuming fighting last November. The
resurgence has also damaged diplomatic relations between the DRC and its
smaller neighbour Rwanda, which the Congolese government accuses of backing the
M23, claims Kigali denies.
Mr Gillmann had told the media
on July 13 that Monusco has "the means to fight against armed groups and
militias, but not against a conventional army that has night-time equipment.
The concern we have is that if this M23 situation continues, it could create a
security vacuum in other areas where the ADF [Ugandan rebels based in Congo],
in particular, are present or Codeco [a Congolese armed group that is
active in Ituri] and other armed groups. We need de-escalation to happen as
soon as possible with the M23 because both the Congolese army and we [Monusco]
do not have scalable means, and we cannot guarantee an ultra-efficient presence
everywhere at the same time".
The Congolese government
termed the statement "an admission of impotence".
"For the Congolese, there
is no longer any reason to keep those who say they are incapable of dealing
with the rebellion," said Mr Paluku, the former governor of North Kivu.Mathias Gillmann
A commission will be set up to
define the structure of this withdrawal, Mr Muyaya announced during a press
conference on Tuesday televised on RTNC, the state TV. He was flanked by Julien
Paluku, the Minister for Industry, a former governor of North Kivu, and Modeste
Mutinga, Minister for Social Affairs.
They had returned from Goma
and Butembo, the epicentres of protests in eastern Congo. They said they had
examined the situation and “listened to the protesters’” demands for the
withdrawal of Monusco.
The initial plan of the UN
Security Council had already begun, however. It has seen Monusco completely
withdraw from Tanganyika Province in the south of the DRC and Kasai Central in
central DR Congo.
The United Nations first
deployed an observer mission to eastern Congo in 1999 and established Monusco
in 2010 with a mandate to conduct offensive operations. The peacekeeping
operation is one of the largest and costliest in the world, with an annual
budget of around a billion dollars.
DRC, in the meantime, decided
to open investigations with Monusco to determine the perpetrators of the fatal
shootings. Monusco has admitted that its soldiers “returning from leave” shot
and killed three civilians on the border with Uganda. Congolese authorities
have not disclosed the identity and nationality of the intervention brigade
soldiers who killed three civilians on Sunday in Kasindi, North Kivu. Several
sources say they were Tanzanian peacekeepers.
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