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EU Wants UN Force in Congo Expanded

The East African (Nairobi)
NEWS
December 20, 2004
Posted to the web December 21, 2004

By David Kaiza
Nairobi
THE EUROPEAN Union has called for an enlargement of the mandate of the UN
forces deployed in eastern Democratic of Congo, at a time when it looks like
war is likely to break out.
The European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Assistance, Louis Michel,
said last week that the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (Monuc) must be prepared to use force rather than persuasion in disarming
rebels in the vast country.
He said that its current mandate is too narrow, too and soft and cannot
effectively control the rebel forces in the east of that country. Currently,
there are an estimated 16,000 Monuc troops in Congo. An extra 600 are expected
soon from India and Pakistan.
"The UN should be able to disarm the ex-FAR by arms if possible," Mr Michel
said referring to the remnants of assassinated Rwandese president Juvenal
Habyarimana's disbanded army, Forces Armees Rwandaises. "Monuc has to be
reinforced and we think that the mandate has to be changed.
"The first thing we have tried is the carrot. Now if those people don't want to
disarm and continue with extortion, raping and killing, we have to take the
necessary means to disarm them."
Under the disarmament, demobilisation and Re-integration (DDR) programme
operated by Monuc, rebels are encouraged to hand over their guns whereupon they
are re-integrated into their home countries under a World Bank-funded
programme. This has not been successful, and with Rwanda's political stances
hardening Uganda, Rwanda and Congo, there are fears of fresh fighting in the
three countries.
The governments of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi want the rebels forcibly
disarmed. But while Mr Michel warned that the failure of the UN to disarm the
rebels in the region would result in war, he cautioned President Paul Kagame
against military interference in Congo.
Said Mr Michel, "I think that President Kagame, with the elections, has won
some credibility. I believe President Kagame will never risk losing this
credibility by penetrating Congo."
Uganda's State Minister for Security, Ruth Nankabirwa, told The EastAfrican
that Uganda has always demanded that Monuc disarm the rebels more forcibly. The
government claims that claims that a Ugandan rebel group, which it claims has
links to the opposition in Uganda, is operating from bases in the Congo.
Mr Michel, who as Belgian foreign minister was deeply involved in the Great
Lakes crisis, was touring the four crisis-hit countries - Uganda, Rwanda,
Burundi and Congo - holding discussions with the heads of state.
Both Uganda and Rwanda have in the past sent troops into Congo, that their
national security was at the risk from rebels operating from Congo. The Kigali
government says that Hutu rebels are still active in the Kivu area, eastern
Congo.
In a sign that the UN mission in Congo has failed, on August 16 this year,
rebels attacked a refugee camp in Gatumba, Burundi, near the Congo border and
killed at least 156 mainly Banyamulenge refugees, the ethnic Tutsi residing in
the Kivu area. The Burundi rebel group, the National Liberation Forces, NFL
claimed responsibility for the massacre.
The attack raised concerns that eastern Congo remained a hotbed of rebellion.
Following the attack, President Kagame threatened to send his forces into the
area.
The Congo government has accused Rwanda of already invading its territory and
has vowed to dispatch troops to the area.
For its part, Uganda says that a rebel group known as the People's Redemption
Army is training forces in Congo to deploy in the country. The army says it has
recovered a cache of weapons in the West Nile town of Koboko, which it claims
belong to the PRA.
"We have been putting pressure on the UN and the government of Congo to make
sure that all the rebels are disarmed," Ms Nankabirwa told The EastAfrican last
week. She said she welcomed the idea of deploying more troops in the troubled
country.

   

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