France-Africa
DRC: Peace deal with pitfalls
There was obvious relief in the international community when all the warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) signed a peace accord in Pretoria, South Africa, in December 2002, calling for power-sharing during a transition period leading up to general elections. But the road ahead has many pitfalls.
The job has still not been completed. Insecurity and violence continue to prevail in the DRC’s far east, although all foreign troops that backed respectively the government and the rebels have officially been withdrawn, and the various parties are still quarrelling over the practical implementation of the agreement. Angola and Zimbabwe, which moved in to support the late President Laurent-Désiré Kabila, assassinated in January 2001, and his son Joseph who succeeded him, have indeed repatriated their contingents, according to many European diplomatic observers.
Rwanda, on the other hand – obsessed by security along its frontiers and the designs of the Hutu Interahamwe extremists responsible for the 1994 genocide who have sought refuge in the DRC – has reportedly left behind several thousand men, who have swapped their uniforms for other disguises, alongside the RCD-Goma rebels. There is also suspicion as to whether Uganda, which has back other rebel groups, in particular Jean-Pierre Bemba’s MLC, has effectively pulled out.
More than three million victims
"The entire international community has mobilised to bring peace back to this strategic region which has an enormous potential," says a veteran diplomat. He also welcomes the tenor of the latest report of a United Nations panel on the plunder of DRC natural resources, "which didn’t hesitate to put people from all sides in the pillory," and which accelerated the efforts to strike an agreement. Rwanda and Uganda and their Congolese allies came under particularly sharp criticism in the report, but Zimbabwe and accomplices on the government side were not spared. The DRC is richly endowed with diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt and other precious minerals coveted by industrialists across the world.
The UN and such countries as the United States, France, Britain and Belgium, the former colonial power, as well as the African Union, South Africa and Angola all worked to put an end to the war in the DRC. The conflict, which followed years of mismanagement, nepotism and corruption under the dictatorship of Mobuto Sese Seko not only took a toll of over three million, cut down by arms, war-related illness and malnutrition, but also destabilised the entire Central African region bordering on Southern Africa.
The international mobilisation enabled Joseph Kabila, who now enjoys the support of the main donor countries and institutions, to sign separate peace agreements with Rwanda and Uganda. The first, sponsored by South Africa, was concluded in Pretoria at the end of July 2002. The second was signed in Luanda, the capital of Angola, which has just emerged from a 27-year civil war and wants to assume henceforth the role of a mediator commensurate with its military and political weight in the region.
Moustapha Niasse’s efforts
U.S. President George Bush has officially endorsed the Pretoria agreement, and France and Belgium are encouraging the youthful Congolese president to carry on with his peace efforts. The DRC has been awarded substantial debt relief by its official creditors in the Paris Club, chaired by France. And French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin visited Kigali and Kinshasa in September 2002, in the course of a tour of the Great Lakes region that also took him to Tanzania and Burundi. On this occasion he emphasised that the July 2002 agreement opened up "new prospects" and voiced hopes "that political dialogue will prevail over the arms."
The global agreement in Pretoria was secured through the efforts of Moustapha Niasse of Senegal, the special envoy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and his continuous shuttling between the capitals and the regions concerned. Kofi Anna in January 2003 renewed the mandate of Moustapha Niasse "for an indefinite period of time". The latter has expressed his hope that elections may be organised within 24 to 36 months. Before that, Botswana’s former president, Ketumile Masire, the international mediator for the inter-Congolese dialogue, must formally close it so that a transition government may be formed.
Early transition government urged
The UN forces on the ground – the MONUC – rejoined by South African observers, are seeking to deploy into the sensitive areas. Under a Security Council resolution adopted in December 2002 their strength is to be raised from 5,500 to 8,700 men. But there is no question of modifying their mandate, in spite of continuing violent fighting and exactions. This mandate stipulates that MONUC should monitor the withdrawal of foreign troops and the disarmament of the Interahamwe militias, and provide assistance for the reintegration of former combatants. But it is not supposed to maintain order or undertake any armed intervention between the fighting parties.
The continuing violence worries the UN and the DRC’s main partners in the donor community, but no one believes the clock can be turned back at this stage. "The momentum for peace seems irreversible," says a Kinshasa-based European diplomat. However, he is somewhat worried about the inclination of South Africa, which sponsored the Pretoria agreement, to seek to influence the course of developments, all the more so since the South Africans have long shown a close interest in the DRC’s mining wealth. He therefore believes the transition government must be formed without delay. For genuine peace can be restored only by gradually extending the presence of the new Congolese administration throughout the vast country – an immense territory.
Rwanda, on the other hand – obsessed by security along its frontiers and the designs of the Hutu Interahamwe extremists responsible for the 1994 genocide who have sought refuge in the DRC – has reportedly left behind several thousand men, who have swapped their uniforms for other disguises, alongside the RCD-Goma rebels. There is also suspicion as to whether Uganda, which has back other rebel groups, in particular Jean-Pierre Bemba’s MLC, has effectively pulled out.
More than three million victims
"The entire international community has mobilised to bring peace back to this strategic region which has an enormous potential," says a veteran diplomat. He also welcomes the tenor of the latest report of a United Nations panel on the plunder of DRC natural resources, "which didn’t hesitate to put people from all sides in the pillory," and which accelerated the efforts to strike an agreement. Rwanda and Uganda and their Congolese allies came under particularly sharp criticism in the report, but Zimbabwe and accomplices on the government side were not spared. The DRC is richly endowed with diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt and other precious minerals coveted by industrialists across the world.
The UN and such countries as the United States, France, Britain and Belgium, the former colonial power, as well as the African Union, South Africa and Angola all worked to put an end to the war in the DRC. The conflict, which followed years of mismanagement, nepotism and corruption under the dictatorship of Mobuto Sese Seko not only took a toll of over three million, cut down by arms, war-related illness and malnutrition, but also destabilised the entire Central African region bordering on Southern Africa.
The international mobilisation enabled Joseph Kabila, who now enjoys the support of the main donor countries and institutions, to sign separate peace agreements with Rwanda and Uganda. The first, sponsored by South Africa, was concluded in Pretoria at the end of July 2002. The second was signed in Luanda, the capital of Angola, which has just emerged from a 27-year civil war and wants to assume henceforth the role of a mediator commensurate with its military and political weight in the region.
Moustapha Niasse’s efforts
U.S. President George Bush has officially endorsed the Pretoria agreement, and France and Belgium are encouraging the youthful Congolese president to carry on with his peace efforts. The DRC has been awarded substantial debt relief by its official creditors in the Paris Club, chaired by France. And French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin visited Kigali and Kinshasa in September 2002, in the course of a tour of the Great Lakes region that also took him to Tanzania and Burundi. On this occasion he emphasised that the July 2002 agreement opened up "new prospects" and voiced hopes "that political dialogue will prevail over the arms."
The global agreement in Pretoria was secured through the efforts of Moustapha Niasse of Senegal, the special envoy of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and his continuous shuttling between the capitals and the regions concerned. Kofi Anna in January 2003 renewed the mandate of Moustapha Niasse "for an indefinite period of time". The latter has expressed his hope that elections may be organised within 24 to 36 months. Before that, Botswana’s former president, Ketumile Masire, the international mediator for the inter-Congolese dialogue, must formally close it so that a transition government may be formed.
Early transition government urged
The UN forces on the ground – the MONUC – rejoined by South African observers, are seeking to deploy into the sensitive areas. Under a Security Council resolution adopted in December 2002 their strength is to be raised from 5,500 to 8,700 men. But there is no question of modifying their mandate, in spite of continuing violent fighting and exactions. This mandate stipulates that MONUC should monitor the withdrawal of foreign troops and the disarmament of the Interahamwe militias, and provide assistance for the reintegration of former combatants. But it is not supposed to maintain order or undertake any armed intervention between the fighting parties.
The continuing violence worries the UN and the DRC’s main partners in the donor community, but no one believes the clock can be turned back at this stage. "The momentum for peace seems irreversible," says a Kinshasa-based European diplomat. However, he is somewhat worried about the inclination of South Africa, which sponsored the Pretoria agreement, to seek to influence the course of developments, all the more so since the South Africans have long shown a close interest in the DRC’s mining wealth. He therefore believes the transition government must be formed without delay. For genuine peace can be restored only by gradually extending the presence of the new Congolese administration throughout the vast country – an immense territory.
par Marie Joannidis
Article publié le 17/02/2003
