UN envoy urges parties to ‘stay the course’ towards peace in eastern DR Congo
James Swan delivered his first briefing to the Security Council nearly a year after the DRC and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington, DC
James Swan delivered his first briefing to the Security Council nearly a year after the DRC and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington, DC. Tweet URL Together with the Doha Framework for a Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in Qatar and mediation efforts led by the African Union (AU), these processes have created “an agreed pathway” to address the protracted conflict in eastern DRC. “It is now imperative that momentum be maintained, and that the commitments agreed to by the signatories be fully implemented,” he said. Fighting continues in key areas Swan who was appointed in March to head the United Nations Stabilization Mission in the DRC, known by the French acronym MONUSCO. He warned that the security situation in the east remains highly unstable and civilians continue to pay a heavy toll amid ongoing clashes in North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. Heavy fighting has continued between the Alliance Fleuve Congo/23rd of March Movement (AFC/M23), supported by Rwandan forces, and the Congolese Army (FARDC) allied with the Wazalendo armed group. In some areas, the Congolese troops are backed by the Democratic Forces for the Freedom of Rwanda (FDLR), a largely ethnic Hutu armed group founded by former perpetrators of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.
Clashes are mainly occurring in two locations in North Kivu, namely Rubaya, an important mining centre, and in the area around Rutshuru, but also in the high plains of South Kivu. He said the use of offensive drones, artillery and heavy weapons has sharply increased risks to civilians and infrastructure. Although the AFC/M23 has partially withdrawn from some areas, the group continues to consolidate parallel administrative structures in territory under its control. Swan called for the swift deployment of the mechanism for monitoring and verifying ceasefire commitments under the Doha process. MONUSCO has provided the mechanism with office space in the city of Goma, along with equipment and furniture, and is preparing logistical and security support for ceasefire monitoring missions. Civilians under fire The envoy also highlighted the continuing threat posed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). Since the Council last met on the DRC, the armed group has killed 287 civilians in Ituri, including 44 women. In North Kivu, ADF violence eased temporarily earlier this year but resumed recently in Beni territory, where 66 civilians have been killed, including 17 women and three children. Since 19 March, MONUSCO has documented 632 civilian deaths linked to armed conflict in North Kivu and Ituri.
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