CONGO: AMID MILITARY GAINS, ROOT CAUSES OF VIOLENCE MUST BE ADDRESSED, SAYS UN OFFICIAL

From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 31 Jan 2014 17:00:00 -0500
Subject: DR CONGO: AMID MILITARY GAINS, ROOT CAUSES OF VIOLENCE MUST
BE ADDRESSED, SAYS UN OFFICIAL
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

DR CONGO: AMID MILITARY GAINS, ROOT CAUSES OF VIOLENCE MUST BE
ADDRESSED, SAYS UN OFFICIALNew York, Jan 31 2014 5:00PMAn action plan
to stabilize the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has made
important progress thanks to the support United Nations peacekeepers
have given the Congolese army in the fight against rebel groups, but
military means alone are not the solution, a top UN official said
today.

"We must pursue a comprehensive strategy that addresses the root
causes of the violence," Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson
<"http://www.un.org/sg/dsg/statements/index.asp?nid=485">told a
meeting of regional leaders in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, citing the
"urgent priority" of extending State authority to the areas retaken
from rebels and security sector reforms.

"The answer to instability in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
cannot be purely military," he said, noting the "critical" need to
swiftly adopt an amnesty law and launch a comprehensive disarmament,
demobilization and reintegration process for the rebels, repatriating
those who are in neighbouring countries.

Mr. Eliasson was addressing the Regional Oversight Mechanism of the
Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic
of the Congo and the Great Lakes region, sometimes nicknamed "the
framework of hope," on the margins of an African Union (AU) summit
meeting.

Eleven countries - Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic (CAR),
DRC, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan,
Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia - signed the Framework in Addis Ababa last
February, and Kenya and Sudan joined at the current session.

Mr. Eliasson said military developments on the ground have prompted
many members of armed groups, primarily M23, to surrender, following
the UN Security Council's decision in March that the UN peacekeeping
mission in DRC (MONUSCO) deploy an intervention brigade over
3,000-strong, for offensive operations, with or without the national
army, against armed groups threatening peace.

"The FARDC (national army), supported by MONUSCO, have also begun
operations against other armed groups, notably the Forces
démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR) and the Allied Democratic
Forces (ADF)," he added. "These are important and positive
developments."

The DRC has been torn apart by civil wars and factional fighting since
it became independent from Belgium in 1960, but with the support of a
series of UN missions a measure of stability has been restored to much
of the vast country over the past decade. But fighting between the
Government and a variety of rebel and sectarian groups has continued
to devastate the eastern regions, particularly North and South Kivu
provinces.

"At the regional level, I invite you, the signatories, to renew your
commitment to the Framework and accelerate the implementation of all
commitments," Mr. Eliasson stressed. "In the past, too many agreements
were signed but not honoured. The Action Plan's priority projects
contain concrete steps for taking the process forward. We now need a
collective effort to promote dialogue and build trust among the
leaders of the region."

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes
region Mary Robinson noted that much still remains to be accomplished,
including consolidating gains made in North Kivu following the end of
the M23 rebellion, restoring state authority, tackling the issue of
refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and promoting
sustainable dialogue among the signatories.

"It will further require the involvement of the widest possible
participating constituency and new thinking around livelihoods," she
told the meeting, urging the signatories to the Framework to "give
renewed impetus to all their commitments in order to generate the
required peace dividends and effect the promised changes in the Great
Lakes region."

Meanwhile yesterday, the UN Security Council renewed until 1 February
2015 the arms embargo and related sanctions imposed on the DRC, also
requesting the Secretary-General to extend the mandate of the Group of
Experts monitoring the implementation of those measures.

Unanimously adopting a new resolution, the Council further defined the
criteria for the application of targeted travel and financial
measures, deciding to review them no later than 1 February 2015, with
a view to adjusting them as appropriate.

Strongly condemning all armed groups operating in the region, the
Council demanded, by the text, that the Democratic Forces for the
Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) and various Mayi Mayi groups immediately cease
all violence, disband permanently and demobilize children from their
ranks.

By other terms, the Council called on all States, especially those in
the region, to take steps to ensure there was no support within or
from their territories for armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic
of the Congo. It demanded that the Congolese Government, per its
commitments contained in the 12 December 2013 Nairobi declarations,
accelerate implementation of its disarmament demobilization and
reintegration programme.

The Council requested the UN and others urgently to address the
situation of former combatants of the M23 in their territories,
stressing the importance of ensuring that M23 did not regroup and
resume its military activities. Jan 31 2014 5:00PM
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