By Patrick Ilunga, KINSHASA DR
Congo
United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo will begin departing the country in an “accelerated withdrawal,” the global body’s Secretary General Antonio Guterres says, confirming the departure of one of the missions first deployed 25 years ago.
In a report tabled to the UN
Security Council, Guterres says the Stabilisation Mission deployed to the DR
Congo, and known by its French acronym Monusco, will leave the country, concluding a controversial
chapter but potentially leaving behind a void that could worsen the country’s
violence.
Monusco’s mandate had been
extended last year in December, by a year, “on exceptional basis” of its
intervention brigade. But the mission with more than 15,000 soldiers and police
officers has been controversial, eliciting protests in parts of Eastern Congo
where it operates.
Some civilians accuse the
mission of being lethargic in an area where more than one hundred-armed groups
roam and maim at will.
Guterres says Monusco, is
entering “its final phase” in the DR Congo. And according to a plan set out in
his report, the Mission will have to begin “an accelerated withdrawal,” even
though the security and humanitarian situation “deteriorating sharply.” In the
same report, the UN Secretary-General warns that “a premature departure of
Monusco could have consequences for the protection of civilians.”
December was also the month when the DRC is expected
to hold its General Election which may see President FĂ©lix Tshisekedi defend
his seat and become the first president in the country’s history to win back
the seat at the ballot.
But the election is coming as
armed groups renewed fighting in eastern DRC, a restive region of the country
for the last three decades.
Primarily, Congolese
forces FARDC accuse M23, an armed group it says are fanned by Rwanda. Rwanda has often denied the charge, even
though both Kigali and Kinshasa are accused of fomented certain rebel groups
inside the DRC, ostensibly to destabilise each other’s peace.
Monusco, whose mandate has
morphed over the years, was first deployed 25 years ago. But its success is a
matter of contest. The Congolese authorities agreed with the United Nations
that the Mission entirely leaves the end of 2024. This gradual and phased
withdrawal of Monusco by 2024 was laid down by the UN Security Council
resolution in 2020. Guterres announcement means there won’t be debate on
whether the mandate can be extended.
In fact, Several Monusco
offices in the provinces of Kasai and Kasai-Central, in central DRC, have
already closed. In June 2022, some troops under Monusco and operating in
Tanganyika province, in the south-east parts of the country, departed.
After a spate of violence that
marked the protests against Monusco’s presence in North Kivu in July 2022,
which left 36 people dead, including 3 peacekeepers; Monusco also closed shop
in Butembo, in North Kivu province.
Following the protests,
Tshisekedi also said that “after the presidential election in December 2023...
there will be no reason for Monusco to remain in the DRC.” For now, however, there
is uncertainty on whether the elections will be held as scheduled. The country
is struggling to raise the budget needed for the elections. At least $500
million is needed to secure the elections across the country.
Paradoxically, this defiance
of the peacekeeping mission comes at a time when security and humanitarian
conditions are deteriorating, particularly in North Kivu and Ituri, where armed
groups regularly attack civilians.
The biggest challenge is in
eastern DRC, where Monusco forces incidentally still operate. When the UN
Security Council extended the mandate of the Mission, it cited the prevalence
of armed groups and pledged to support Kinshasa’s continued search for a
political solution and rebuilding institutions.
The Council urged “all Congolese
armed groups to participate unconditionally in the East African Community
led Nairobi process to seek political conditions in
preparation for the disarmament, demobilisation, community recovery and
stabilisation programme (P-DDRCS), and foreign armed groups to return to their
countries of origin…”
It also called on the “the
Government of the DRC to take further action to address the threat posed by
armed groups, combining military and non-military approaches consistent with
international law, including international humanitarian law and international
human rights law.”
As the year ticks away, even
Antonio Guterres highlighted the problem in his report. He said,
“Regional tensions have further worsened” in eastern DRC and that the “the
humanitarian situation has deteriorated considerably…hundreds of thousands of
civilians have been forcibly displaced.”
“The number of acts of sexual
violence against children more than doubled between 2021 and 2022,” he
reported.
Renewed violence between FARDC
and allied groups versus M23 is blamed for it. Some of the rebels have
carried out arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial executions,” he said.
Yet Guterres raised concerns
about the proliferation of self-defence groups who claim to be fighting the
M23. This, the UN boss said, raises other security concerns and could
contribute to a new cycle of violence, including ethnically motivated attacks
and reprisals.
A recent report by the UN
Group of Experts on the DRC had accused Rwanda of sending its troops into DRC
illegally to support M23. Guterres’ report doesn’t mention that.
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