Bujumbura, Burundi June 4th 2009 - The UN Special Representative for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Alan Doss, today called on regional governments to join forces against those who oppose peace in Congo (DRC) to prevent violence from spreading across their frontiers. "To achieve that, we must all work to reinforce and revitalize regional institutions, to help keep the neighborhood in check and its interests in balance," he said. Mr. Doss was delivering the keynote address to academics and policymakers at the States at Regional Risk (SAAR) Conference.
Mr. Doss underlined that without a threshold level of State authority and rule of law in the DRC, and in the surrounding region, the prospect of recurrent emergency responses would continue to hover over the Great Lakes. "Everyone has a stake in seeing this does not happen," he continued, "the international community must assist the DRC to build credible State institutions capable of safeguarding the country’s resources and the rights and interests of its people."
He said also that if Congo is to win the battle for peace and stability, the army and police must respect human rights and gain the trust of those they are supposed to protect. He said that impunity within Congo's security forces must end and elements who have consistently abused power must be progressively removed. "This will take time, but I can say that of late we have seen a new openness on the part of the Government, to recognize and deal with the problem", he said.
Mr. Doss said that MONUC's first priority was the protection of civilians. "Rooting out the FDLR and other armed groups will not be easy and unless there are further surprises, it will not happen overnight," he said. "These operations are not without humanitarian risk. We are doing our utmost to minimize these risks through “pre-emptive protection”, which means not only putting military pressure on the FDLR but also helping the FARDC to improve its performance, including the conduct and discipline of its armed forces. The same applies for other operations being conducted against the LRA and the remaining militia elements in Ituri".
Mr. Doss said the Congolese security forces are a key part of the solution. "Without effective and accountable military and police, the security and stability of the state will always be at risk," he said. Full text of speech
The SARR Conference was organized by the University of Burundi and the Institute of Critical International Studies (ICIS) at Emory University, with funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the United States Institute of Peace.