IPS

POLITICS: Congolese Fighting Jeopardises UN Mission

By Jim Wurst

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 13 (IPS) - With the military, political and humanitarian situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo continuing to deteriorate, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is casting new doubts on the body's ability to deploy a peacekeeping mission to central Africa.

In a report issued Tuesday, Annan wrote cease-fire violations and a breakdown in negotiations "augur ill for the timely deployment" of the mission.

In his report to the Security Council, Annan suggests the Council consider new actions, including imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions against Rwanda and Uganda, the two countries responsible for the latest outbreak of violence in the DRC.

For his part, Annan wrote, he has "ordered a full review and reassessment of the troop levels and other requirements before deployment takes place."

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan "hopes conditions will eventually develop ... in a way to let peacekeepers be deployed."

He added, "Clearly the conditions do not exist today."

Annan urged the Council to first use sanctions to force Rwanda and Uganda to leave the Congo, followed by pressure for "the subsequent early withdrawal of all other foreign forces." Eckhard said Annan "wants to bring economic and diplomatic forces to bear" on the two countries that spent a week earlier this month fighting in the key interior city of Kisangani.

"This is, in effect, a new war in the Congo," Eckhard said, "Let's clean up this new one first."

The two armies, which had been allies in fighting the government of Laurent Kabila - in turn a former ally - ended their battle and withdrew from the city on Jun. 12.

Last week, while the fighting was still underway, Annan said, "There can be no possible justification for this reckless victimisation of the civilian population, who are trapped in a conflict not of their own making."

The United Nations estimates that 100 civilians, including 19 schoolchildren, were killed and more than 1,000 were injured. The two sides shelled schools, hospitals and other civilian locations.

The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) called the fighting "deplorable" and "in total violation of the Lusaka Cease-fire Agreement."

The Security Council is scheduled to discuss the Congo on Thursday and Friday. This will be "a welcome chance for all the parties to undertake a serious re-evaluation of the deteriorating situation" in the DRC, Annan wrote. "It is also an opportunity for the members of the Security Council to make it clear to the parties that their assurances of support for the peace process and guarantees of security and freedom of movement can no longer by taken at face value, but must be reflected in their actions."

The Council voted in February to enlarge the small UN observer force in the country into a 5,537 member peacekeeping force, called the UN Observer Mission in the DRC (MONUC). The Council stressed the mission was not meant to protect civilians, but only to monitor the Lusaka Accords, the cease-fire agreement among the numerous warring parties.

Violations of the cease-fire, charges of bad faith from all sides, lack of money, a shortage of fully equipped troops, and the crisis in Sierra Leone have all delayed any meaningful deployment. There are currently 228 military observers in the DRC, in Kinshasa, Kisangani and 10 other sites and in neighbouring countries.

Annan also charged the Kabila government with refusing to honour a status-of-forces agreement with the United Nations that is supposed to give MONUC freedom of movement around the country. This, coupled with violent demonstrations outside MONUC headquarters in Kinshasa, "cast further doubt on the government's attitude towards the deployment of United Nations peacekeeping troops," Annan wrote.

He noted that continued deployment of MONUC in Kisangani required three conditions to be met: strict adherence to the cease-fire; security for MONUC personnel; and "the readiness of the troop-contributing countries to ensure that the units they contributed possessed adequate strength, equipment and training."

"Unfortunately, none of those conditions has been met," he concluded. This is only a part of a long list of concerns Annan has about the situation in the DRC.

Besides Kisangani, Annan noted that fighting continues in Mdbandaka - which has cut off a river link to the capital of Kinshasa - and in the Equateur, North and South Kivu provinces among government troops, the various Congolese rebel forces, the former Rwandan and Burundi government fighters and foreign troops.

The United Nations estimates 16 million people - one third of the population - in the country are "in critical need of food" and 1.3 million people are displaced.

"The human rights situation throughout the [DRC] continues to give serious cause for concern," Annan said. "The pace of military executions continues unabated in both government-controlled territories and rebel-held areas."

On Jun. 9, the DRC government announced that it no longer considered the OAU facilitator, former Botswana president Ketumile Masire, neutral and would not work with him. The government refused to attend a meeting earlier last week called by Masire.

Annan also noted that funds due to the mission have not been paid and some of the troops promised have been withdrawn or are not adequately equipped.