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Sanctions on Democratic Republic of Congo, deployment of intervention brigade
Topic Started: Jun 20 2014, 12:36 PM (551 Views)
Vonar Roberts

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Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta
Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to call upon the United Nations to lift the Arms embargo on the Democratic Republic of Congo and move to deploy the United Nations intervention brigade to stamp out the rebel groups who have refused to listen to reason.

One of the arguments used by the Rwandan representative was that the sanctions against the legitimate government of the Democratic Republic of Congo was of utmost importance in the fight against armed groups, especially FDLR. Unfortunately this is not the case as why would we support a rebel group seeking to pillage and rape our country's natural riches and topple our own government? Contraire to this claim only a strong centralized government backed up by the United Nations intervention brigade can hope to defeat rebel forces.

On October 4, 2005, the United Nations Security Council issued a statement demanding the FDLR disarm and leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo immediately. Under an agreement reached in August, the rebels had pledged to leave Congo by September 30. It is long after the September 30th deadline, and according to our sources FDLR has neither complied with the demands of the United Nations or made any tangible moves to disarm.

We also call upon the United Nations to utilize the intervention brigade that is attached to the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo to systematically Neutralize and Disarm Congolese rebels, and foreign armed groups that are operating within our territory. The United Nations should also move to take steps to make certain that outside groups who are actively supporting the rebels and terrorists who have wrought havoc inside the Democratic Republic of Congo for so long are brought to justice for their enabling of the rebel groups that bring chaos to our country.

I yield the floor.
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Vonar Roberts

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Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta
Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations
I would like to thank Germany for its support, and our Minister of defence will be in contact with your government shortly to discuss the proposed arrangement as well as a delegation to discuss other matters.
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Jos1311
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Posted Image Geir O. Pedersen
Faste representant til De forente nasjoner | Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations

High Representatives,

I would like to emphasize that the sanctions placed upon Kinshasa has been active since 2003 due to continued violence in many regions. I would however like to emphasize that the embargo itself covers the complete territory of the DRC, as well as certain groups in the country. It has most recently been extended, and only allows for transfers to the government of DRC. WIth that in mind I therefore fail to see why Kinshasa exactly is calling for the lifting of the embargo, as I believe such a step would only serve to strengthen anti-government groups within the country. I therefore ask Mr. Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta to clarify why Kinshasa is calling for the lifting of sanctions that would undemrine the position of the government, as I do not believe that such is beneficial to the DRC, nor its people.

That said I do support the calls for a more active role of the United Nations Force Intervention Brigade, and call upon the MONUSCO leadership to utilize the brigade more actively to carry out targeted offensive operations to neutralize armed groups that threaten State authority and civilian security in the eastern DRC. I do however also like to indicate that the intervention brigade can also be deployed with or without the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (the Congolese Army). I therefore suggest that Kinshasa will initiate to organize operations in eastern Congo, and contact General James Aloisi Mwakibolwa, commander of the intervention brigade, in order to support these operations.
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Vonar Roberts

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Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta
Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the United Nations
I will quote my President who said in 2012 And this was the state of arms embargo that DRC has been facing from the international community. My question has since been, ‘how a sovereign country can be not allowed to equip itself appropriately when its territory is persistently a theatre of external aggression through the tens of armed groups and militias, particularly in Eastern provinces close to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi?’.

Our government as been the continued target of a arms embargo that started in 1993, and this policy has been coordinated with broad United Nations sanctions against other groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Resolution 1596 which was passed in 2005 also indirectly directly targets the legitimate government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the Security council declared that the arms embargo would be expanded to include all recipients of weapons in the country.

Given how vaguely that general policy statement is worded you can understand our position that the council should move to clarify its position, and remove sanctions on the legitimate government of the Democratic Republic of Congo that are making it more difficult for our government to deal with rebel groups operating in the east.

With regards to the intervention brigade we will request its support for operations against rebel groups in short order.
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Jos1311
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Posted Image Geir O. Pedersen
Faste representant til De forente nasjoner | Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations

Mister Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta,

please note that Security Council Resolution 1596 indeed expanded the embargo's coverage to include 'any recipient in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo'. However, the resolution states that these measures shall not apply to:
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(a) Supplies of arms and related materiel or technical training and assistance intended solely for support of or use by units of the army and police of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, provided that the said units:
- have completed the process of their integration, or
- operate under the command, respectively, of the état-major intégré of the Armed Forces or of the National Police of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or
- are in the process of their integration, in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo outside the provinces of North and South Kivu and the Ituri district,

(b) Supplies of arms and related materiel as well as technical training and assistance intended solely for support of or use by the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC),

(c) Supplies of non-lethal military equipment intended solely for humanitarian or protective use, and related technical assistance and training.

I believe that the wording on the matter is not vague and fail to see why it should be amended, when it explicitly states that units of the army and police of the Democratic Republic of the Congo do not fall under said embargo. this being elaborated I again ask why Kinshasa is calling for the lifting of these sanctions, as such would in my eyes only deteriorate the safety situation in the DRC.
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