Kinshasa May 19, 2009 - The delegation of the United Nations Security Council arrived yesterday in Kinshasa via Goma in North Kivu, and left the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo after meeting with high-level officials of the DRC, including President Joseph Kabila Kabange.

During a press briefing on Tuesday May 19 at the conclusion of this short but intense visit, the head of the delegation, the Permanent representative of France to the United Nations, Ambassador Jean Maurice Ripert, reported on the delegation's tour of the sub-region and the various meetings between the delegation and Congolese authorities. He stressed that the Security Council generally made an annual trip to Africa and it was customary to visit the DRC which has a large mission peacekeeping mission that was a most costly and difficult operation. For him, it was important that the Security Council come to see for itself, check on the mission and meet with those responsible for MONUC in order to see how things were progressing.

During the day, the Security Council delegation met the Head of State Joseph Kabila, the Presidents of the upper and lower houses of Parliament, Kengo Wa Dondo and Evariste Boshab, and their respective bureaux, as well as Prime Minister Adolphe Muzito and members of his government.

As for the meetings with the Head of State, the Prime Minister and other elected officials, Jean Maurice Ripert stressed that what emerged was a understanding of mutual concerns, notably the difficult situation facing the DRC, reconstruction and the war effort in the East, the fight against sexual violence and for the respect of the human rights in general, army reform, and peace with neighbouring countries. According to Ambassador Ripert, the Congolese authorities, with Joseph Kabila at their head, expressed their commitment to take appropriate measures to confront all these problems.

Responding to a question about the latest communiqué by FDLR leaders calling for inter-Rwandan talks under the aegis of the Security Council to solve the security crisis in the Great Lakes region of Africa, and particularly at the East of the DRC, Mr. Ripert said: "I would say, cease your exactions, your violence, lay down your weapons, join the reintegration process and do what is necessary to enable you to return home in accordance with the conditions set out by international community, the Congolese government, the United Nations countries concerned with this situation". But, he added: "The position of Security Council members is to tell the members of the FDLR who wish to join this process that they are welcome and that they should take part in it, but that in order to do so they must accept at same time disarm and cease the violence."

"With respect to the Security Council, we adopted in March 2008, a resolution which required the entire international community to take measures against the FDLR, authorizing MONUC to support the Congolese forces." But, he explained, "MONUC is not here to substitute for the forces of the DRC. The mandate the Mission received from resolution 1856 requires it to protect civilians within its capacity".

As for General Bosco Ntaganda sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Jean Maurice Ripert stressed that the question was overlooked and had been raised with the Congolese authorities. The delegation, he said, had "above all pointed out the obligation to cooperate with the International Criminal Court". He nonetheless pointed out that "Congo has played an exemplary part with regard to the ICC. It is the country which is cooperating best with the ICC. It embraced the ICC. It had helped turn over to the ICC those accused of criminal acts notably the recruitment of of children into armed groups". However, said the French diplomat, "within the Security Council we believe that 'ONUC's support for the DRC and its authorities should not be subject to conditions in the current situation where it is necessary above all to protect civilians and to put an end to these insurgencies and rebellions".

With regard to the message to displaced populations in the East which suffer enormously from this crisis, the head of the Security Council delegation noted that it was difficult to reassure people living in difficult conditions with the constant wish to return home. He nonetheless welcomed the humanitarian community's work to provide relief to these populations, and stressed that it was important to have confidence in MONUC which had at the protection of civilian populations at the core of its current mandate.

Before arriving in Kinshasa, the delegation stopped in Addis Ababa where it met former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region. It then met in Kigali with President Paul Kagamé. The former gave a progress report on mediation efforts to bring about the reintegration of the armed groups, while President Kagamé expressed the hopes he placed in regional co-operation and in the newly re-established ties between his country and the DRC.

The delegation also visited Goma yesterday, where it held discussions with civil and military authorities, in particular the Governor of North Kivu and the commanders of the FARDC and the PNC. It then visited the HealAFRICA centre in Goma where it met with women victims of sexual violence, a plague which eats away at the DRC. On this question, Ambassador Ripert said that the delegation appealed to the country's authorities "that the torturers and criminals be pursued, should tried and imprisoned. It is essential that these crimes do not go unpunished. " Finally, the delegation went to Kiwanja, near Rutshuru, where it met with displaced persons as well as Blue Helmets and MONUC personnel working in protection teams. During this visit the delegation held discussions with these interlocutors regarding measures taken to improve protection in this zone of Rutshuru.