UN
United Nations Peacekeeping
3 Mar
2009
Monuc hails the signing of a tripartite agreement between DRC, Rwanda and Uganda
The United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo hails the signing of a tripartite agreement on regional security in the Great Lakes between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. The agreement was signed in Kigali on 26 October 2004 at the end of a meeting held by foreign ministers from the three countries. The news was announced by MONUC?s spokesman, Mr. Mamadou Bah on Wednesday during the UN Mission?s weekly news conference in Kinshasa.
The Kigali meeting was sponsored by USA and facilitated by American Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Don Yamamoto. MONUC participated as an observer, alongside the representatives of the European Union and Burundi, the Spokesman added. He recalled that a previous meeting on the same issue was held in Washington last September at the end of which the Congolese, Rwandan and Ugandan governments reached an agreement to establish mechanisms to sort out security problems along their common borders.
Mr. Bah further apprised the press of MONUC?s indignation at repeated acts of abuses perpetrated by some members of the DRC presidential Special Guard known as ?Groupe Spécial de la Sécurité Présidentielle (GSSP)? against the UN Mission?s staff members in Kisangani. ??The 2,500 GSSP who stayed in Kisangani after President Kabila?s visit, are the ones harassing MONUC?s staff members??, the Spokesman said, highlighting that the harassment consists in searching vehicles and residences, arbitrary detentions, sequestrations, confiscation of working tools as well as acts of brutality. He recalled that ??the search of MONUC?s vehicles or its staff members? residences and obstructions to the UN Mission?s work constitutes a gross violation of the UN Security Council resolutions??.
MONUC spokesman also announced that a UN team of experts arrived in Lubumbashi on Tuesday to probe into the killing of a dozen people in Shinkolobwe uranium mining site as a result of its partial collapse in July. The delegation, comprised of the International Atomic Energy Agency (AEA) investigators, the UN Environment Programme and the World Health Organisation, is tasked to identify the cause of the collapse, to assess the degree of contamination and the level of contamination as well as the extent of the tragedy?s impact on the environment and the population.
Referring to the Gatumba massacre in Burundi, Mr. Bah indicated that the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, would shortly present a report on this tragedy to the Security Council. The report jointly produced with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights? office, the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) and the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) was published on Monday 25 October, he said, declining any comment regarding its content.
Responding to a question about the presence of a UN expert to investigate the alleged sexual abuses committed in Bunia, Ituri by some MONUC staff members, Mr. Bah said that Prince Zied of Jordania was mandated by the UN Secretary-General to bring the truth about those allegations to light. He underscored that the Secretary-General?s policy about sexual abuses is zero tolerance, recalling that, in this regard, MONUC recently repatriated two Tunisian peacekeepers following acts of misconduct and severe sanctions will be taken against anyone found guilty, whether civilians or militaries.
The head of the DDRR (Disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration) Division, Mr. Peter Swarbrick, in turn, updated the news conference on the repatriation of the foreign armed groups. He said that as of 25 October, 62 Ugandan ex-combatants were repatriated to their homeland along with their dependants: 14 children and 17 women. 11 Rwandan ex-combatants arrived in Goma on Wednesday to be repatriated to Kigali, whilst 20 Ugandan ex-combatants were assembled in Katanga to be repatriated shortly. Altogether 11,185 people have been repatriated by MONUC thus far within the framework of the
Mr. Bah further apprised the press of MONUC?s indignation at repeated acts of abuses perpetrated by some members of the DRC presidential Special Guard known as ?Groupe Spécial de la Sécurité Présidentielle (GSSP)? against the UN Mission?s staff members in Kisangani. ??The 2,500 GSSP who stayed in Kisangani after President Kabila?s visit, are the ones harassing MONUC?s staff members??, the Spokesman said, highlighting that the harassment consists in searching vehicles and residences, arbitrary detentions, sequestrations, confiscation of working tools as well as acts of brutality. He recalled that ??the search of MONUC?s vehicles or its staff members? residences and obstructions to the UN Mission?s work constitutes a gross violation of the UN Security Council resolutions??.
MONUC spokesman also announced that a UN team of experts arrived in Lubumbashi on Tuesday to probe into the killing of a dozen people in Shinkolobwe uranium mining site as a result of its partial collapse in July. The delegation, comprised of the International Atomic Energy Agency (AEA) investigators, the UN Environment Programme and the World Health Organisation, is tasked to identify the cause of the collapse, to assess the degree of contamination and the level of contamination as well as the extent of the tragedy?s impact on the environment and the population.
Referring to the Gatumba massacre in Burundi, Mr. Bah indicated that the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, would shortly present a report on this tragedy to the Security Council. The report jointly produced with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights? office, the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) and the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) was published on Monday 25 October, he said, declining any comment regarding its content.
Responding to a question about the presence of a UN expert to investigate the alleged sexual abuses committed in Bunia, Ituri by some MONUC staff members, Mr. Bah said that Prince Zied of Jordania was mandated by the UN Secretary-General to bring the truth about those allegations to light. He underscored that the Secretary-General?s policy about sexual abuses is zero tolerance, recalling that, in this regard, MONUC recently repatriated two Tunisian peacekeepers following acts of misconduct and severe sanctions will be taken against anyone found guilty, whether civilians or militaries.
The head of the DDRR (Disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration) Division, Mr. Peter Swarbrick, in turn, updated the news conference on the repatriation of the foreign armed groups. He said that as of 25 October, 62 Ugandan ex-combatants were repatriated to their homeland along with their dependants: 14 children and 17 women. 11 Rwandan ex-combatants arrived in Goma on Wednesday to be repatriated to Kigali, whilst 20 Ugandan ex-combatants were assembled in Katanga to be repatriated shortly. Altogether 11,185 people have been repatriated by MONUC thus far within the framework of the
