Democratic Republic of Congo / The Security Council replaces the MONUC by MONUSCO and puts the protection of civilians and the rule of law at the forefront of its new mandate
KINSHASA, Dem. Rep. of Congo (DRC) June 1, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ — FIDH and its member organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Groupe Lotus, ASADHO and the Ligue des Électeurs are pleased that, on 28 May 2010, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1925 (2010) which renews the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) which, as of 1 July 2010, will be renamed United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). Our organisations salute this decision which authorises the withdrawal of military personnel under strict conditions and makes the protection of civilians and the consolidation of the rule of law central to the mandate.
Our organisations share the United Nations Security Council’s concern regarding the continuing human rights violations in DRC and approve of the fact that the protection of civilians remains at the forefront of the mandate of MONUSCO.
“We are particularly pleased that this mandate specifically includes the protection of human rights defenders who continue to face threats, harassment and unfair judicial proceedings,” said Dismas Kitenge, Vice President of FIDH and President of the Groupe Lotus.
Although the mandate provides a sequenced withdrawal of the military component of MONUSCO under certain conditions, our organisations welcome the fact that, if need be, it will be possible for the peacekeepers to be redeployed rapidly throughout the country. This procedure is important considering that the risks of insecurity in the country go beyond the Eastern regions.
Our organisations also approve of the emphasis, in the Resolution, that the UNSC put on the fight against impunity for the perpetrators of human rights violations as a means to protect civilians and call on the Congolese authorities to fully comply with this obligation. In this regard, our organisations denounce the lack of cooperation of the Congolese authorities with the International Criminal Court concerning the arrest and transfer of Bosco Ntaganda to the Hague, despite the international arrest warrant issued against him.
Our organisations also welcome the emphasis put on the consolidation of the rule of law and more specifically, that concrete recommendations on the reform of the judicial and penitential system and of security services were put forward by the UNSC. Our organisations also welcome that the Security Council has considered it necessary to give the MONUSCO an important role in the facilitation and stabilisation of the upcoming national and local elections.
Our organisations, pleased to see that the mandate of the MONUSCO has been conditioned to the completion of certain concrete objectives regarding peace, security, protection of civilians and rule of law by the Government of the DRC, hereby urge the said Government to provide the international community with measurable impact indicators for the next evaluation.
Background information: In March 2010, FIDH and its member organisations in DRC were part of an Arria meeting at the Security Council where they developed several benchmarks regarding the implementation of the MONUC mandate, (especially with regards to the protection of civilians, including that of human rights defenders, and the issue of impunity) and the necessity of developing an international and national plan for the consolidation of the rule of law that would go hand in hand with the mandate of the MONUC.
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International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) Association africaine des droits de l’Homme (ASADHO) Ligue des Electeurs (LE) Groupe Lotus (GL)
