UN troops to stay in DRC
2007-01-22 21:08
Kinshasa - The 17 600-strong United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) must stay in place to protect civilians until the country's military can be overhauled, said the force's commander on Monday.
"The problem is that of reforming the army," said General Babacar Gaye of Senegal, adding that the solution depended, in part, on enhanced financing.
"Until this army is more solid, there are clearly risks in letting it secure territory on its own," especially in the far east where local militias and renegade forces have terrorised civilian populations, leaving thousands dead.
Gaye's comments came five days ahead of a scheduled visit by Ban Ki-moon to Kinshasa, the new UN secretary-general's first stop on an African tour.
The general pointed out that Monuc had improved overall security for civilians.
UN forces played a critical role in maintaining order during a three-year interim government and were joined by EU troops in the run up last year to general and presidential elections.
'Army not acting on orders'
Monuc has made particular progress in demobilising militias, especially in the regions of Katanga in the southeast and in Ituri in the northeast, said Gaye. "It was military pressure that led them to see that the only way out was political."
"But there is still violence," he said, pointing out that the peace process set in motion in 2003 after a brutal five-year war across the vast central African country was not yet complete.
Some of the continuing violence comes from the regular army itself, he pointed out.
"The FARDC" - the army of the DRC - "are among the worst violators of human rights in the country", he said. "The difference with the armed groups is that they (the army) are not acting on orders. The lack of discipline and the violence come from individuals."
"Soldiers who are malnourished, poorly paid, without uniforms - it is a difficult army to command," he added.
MONUC has played a role in reforming the country's military through joint training exercises, and has the full logistical backing of FARDC, said Gaye.
UN forces slow to respond
At the weekend, the regular army announced that it had begun integrating dissident soldiers loyal to a renegade general, Laurent Nkunda, after clashes which left more than 170 dead in Nord-Kivu province at the end of December.
The fighting also displaced more than 40 000 people in the eastern region.
Congolese officials have spoken of a "political or judicial solution" over an arrest warrant out for Nkunda for war crimes allegedly committed by his troops in 2004 during a siege of the town of Bukavu, the capital of the neighbouring province of Sud-Kivu.
UN forces were accused of being slow to respond on that occasion, but Gaye pointed out that when insurgent troops marched on Nord-Kivu's capital Goma in November last year, "Monuc implemented its mandate in a very robust way to protect civilians", with ground forces and attack helicopters.
"You have to establish priorities, and the priority for Monuc is the (civilian) population," said the general.