S/PV.6476 Security Council

I thank Mr. Meece for his briefing. I give the floor to the representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Allow me at the outset to express my satisfaction at seeing you, Madame, presiding over the Security Council this month. You represent a country, Brazil, with which the Democratic Republic of the Congo enjoys excellent relations based on mutual respect and esteem. I take this opportunity to join you in thanking your predecessor, the Permanent Representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the masterly manner in which he led the work of the Council last month, as well as for his zeal, expertise and competence in discharging his duties. In reiterating my best wishes for his success, I pay a well-deserved tribute to Ambassador Roger Meece for his work in his capacity as Special Representative of the Secretary-General at the head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). I thank him for his exhaustive briefing and introduction of the Secretary-General’s report in document S/2011/20, before the Council today. The Council has heard the Special Representative of the Secretary-General describe the good relationship between my Government and MONUSCO as it fulfils its mandate, which I can confirm. The joint assessment has yet to suggest the need for a new configuration of MONUSCO’s mandate or deployment. That in itself speaks volumes. While a great many things have been accomplished, significant challenges remain, as the Special Representative eloquently stressed. Eleven years ago, during the Security Council’s debate of 10 January 2000 on the impact of AIDS on peace and security in Africa (see S/PV.4087), although I was not yet Ambassador I drew the Council’s attention to and denounced the use of rape as a weapon of war in my country. As I recently stressed at the first regular session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, held from 24 to 26 January, for the Democratic Republic of the Congo violence against women remains a real scourge, a dark reminder and a sinister legacy of a decade of ruptured international peace and security, of which my country was the expiatory victim. The third International Action of the World March of Women, held in Bukavo from 13 to 17 October 2010, and the opening just a few days ago, also in Bukavo, of the City of Joy for Congolese women who have escaped sexual violence are among the significant indications that it is time to put an end to that barbaric practice. I reiterate once again the unfailing commitment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to eliminating the scourge of sexual violence. The fight against violence against women, particularly sexual violence, is a shared but differentiated responsibility of the international community and the United Nations, whose management of the Great Lakes crisis a decade ago was not one of its shining moments. It is, of course, also the responsibility of the Congolese Government, which is primarily responsible for security, the protection of civilians and ensuring respect for the rule of law, international humanitarian law and human rights in our country. I am quite optimistic and confident about the outcome of the visit now under way by Ms. Margot Wallström, Special Representative of the Secretary- General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, particularly regarding the preparation of strategies for preventing and deterring sexual violence against women. However, these crimes against humanity, by whosoever committed — nationals, foreigner or even messengers of peace — call for reparations. They require us to put an end to this impunity. We should also stress that, despite these shortcomings, the Democratic Republic of the Congo remains one of the rare countries where senior officers have been prosecuted and incarcerated for acts directly related to sexual violence. The assistance provided to us by MONUSCO, particularly in apprehending perpetrators and setting up early warning systems with a view to preventing possible cases of rape, should also be highlighted. In that regard, I am very reassured by the fact that the process aimed at providing a response to the report of the mapping exercise documenting the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed between March 1993 and June 2003 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has made substantial progress. The judicial architecture to be established, while delivering justice to the millions of Congolese who fell victim to the rupture in international peace and security, will certainly be built in such a way as to enable us to know which cases of rape are still being committed. The return of peace, of total peace, is the best guarantee for putting an end to these acts that we deplore. That is why, in areas where insecurity persists, the fight against foreign and Congolese armed groups must be pursued, with the support of MONUSCO and other interested partners. In the northern part of the country, the fortunate developments in the Central African Republic and the Sudan should enable us to better coordinate to effectively combat the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Those developments will also help us in the eastern part of the country, in the North and South Kivu provinces, in the fight against the remnants of foreign armed groups, most of Rwandan origin, and against those of my Congolese countrymen who have become outlaws. The fight against armed groups must be waged in tandem with security sector reform. Organic laws to reform the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (FARDC), the organization and functioning of the armed forces and the organization, funding and functioning of the Superior Council of Defence, as well as a draft organic law on the police, were recently enacted by Parliament. We should now expedite the security sector reform process with a view to meeting the requirements of a national, republican and apolitical army that is subject to constitutionally established civilian authority at all levels of power. That authority should respect and protect the dignity and fundamental freedoms of the individual, particularly of women, while also taking into account the country’s geopolitical and geostrategic importance. Everyone agrees that such reform is essential to the stabilization and post-conflict consolidation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I would now like to briefly review the humanitarian situation. The report of the Secretary- General (S/2011/20) is quite detailed in that sense, particularly in regard to the eastern and southern provinces. Overall, the situation remains a source of concern, although we should recognize the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and MONUSCO. The situation is particularly worrisome not only in the east, but also in the west. In the north-west, the Government signed a tripartite agreement with the sisterly Republic of the Congo and UNHCR, and adopted a timetable establishing 20 April as the date on which operations would begin to repatriate my country’s displaced from northern Republic of the Congo. The rainy season has made the living conditions of the displaced quite precarious. The UNHCR requires additional resources to help both Congos to provide assistance to the displaced. Further to the west, the Democratic Republic of the Congo recognizes the sovereign right of all countries to manage their immigration policies as they deem fit. However, as we do with other countries on a daily basis, particularly those in the northern hemisphere, we would ask that the expulsions of Congolese nationals be carried out with dignity and in accordance with the relevant commitments made more than 10 years ago. The year 2011 will certainly be an election year in Africa. The Democratic Republic of the Congo plans to hold elections in late November. All Council members have followed the discussions that led to the constitutional review. It is important to emphasize that no one in the Democratic Republic of the Congo questions the constitutionality of that review. Regardless of the real or alleged intentions of those who initiated the review, it is worth emphasizing that they did so in full compliance with articles 218 and 219 of the Constitution of 18 February 2006. It is equally useful to recall that the debate on the review of the Constitution dates back to 2006, when it was promulgated by the President of the Republic. The hardliners still hope that Parliament — which was newly elected at the time and on which the people, the supreme leaders, will be voting again this year — will review the entire Constitution, which was the result of trade-offs, negotiations and even bargaining among non-elected entities during the political transition period. The minimalists, for their part, are in favour of making adjustments as and when necessary as institutions grow stronger and reassert themselves. In any case, the Government is firmly convinced that the review will enable it to assume its historic responsibility to adjust the ambitions of our young democracy, which is still finding its voice, to match its own resources and to learn from other African experiences. Moreover, as highlighted in the report of the Secretary-General, my Government has made a commitment to covering the majority of the election costs. This is a sovereign decision, dating back to 2006, that was presented to and accepted by the Steering Committee. Given our current economic difficulties, this is a significant sacrifice that will be useful and necessary if one day we wish to organize elections as they are organized in all democracies worthy of that name. The Congolese Government will be responsible for the security of candidates, polling stations and results. We have already requested logistical support from MONUSCO. It is thanks to MONUSCO that we have already begun to distribute various electoral materials. My country has assumed the fuel and maintenance costs of the distribution. We are now awaiting detailed instructions from the newly established Independent National Electoral Commission on how to organize the electoral process, in particular voter registration, electoral lists, voting operations and ballot counting. In short, we ask the Commission to shine a light on our path towards these elections. These are the few points that I wished to raise in this morning’s meeting. I cannot conclude, however, without first expressing my gratitude to you, Madame President, in your other, high capacity as Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Relations between my Government and the various groups of experts we have seen since 2001 have rarely been contentious and have been characterized by respect for the scope of action of all actors involved, despite our differences. Often, and this was again the case last year, the reports of the Group of Experts have largely strengthened the peace process. One can readily identify the modest contribution of the Group of Experts in the resolutions and decisions adopted at the summit of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region on mineral resources management and certification, which was held in Lusaka, Zambia, on 15 December 2010. The collaboration between the Group of Experts and the Government, through the Ministry of Mining, is far from over. We hope to continue benefiting from the Group’s expertise, particularly this year, during which the Democratic Republic of the Congo will chair the Kimberley process. The same holds true for other areas, such as the fight against the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, in which the Group’s ideas have certainly held our attention. In other words, my country hopes to continue to work closely with the Council and the Group of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1952 (2010) in a spirit of mutual respect. That is our request.

There are no further speakers inscribed on my list. I should now like to invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject.