YouSaid · the spoken record

Holbrooke

lines on the record: 676
first: 1999-09-11
most recent: 2001-01-19
sittings or episodes: 43
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“And it will be harder to fund those efforts because of what happened in Kisangani. So let us be honest about that in this Chamber. I personally am not interested in a court of inquiry into who started Kisangani. The leaders of both sides have been very clear with all of us that it was the other side that started it. Based on similar experiences that I have been involved with in places like Bosnia, Kosovo and Cambodia, I am certain that we will never get to the bottom of who started it. The issue is to stop it permanently and never to let it happen again. That can be done only with the highest level of political leadership. I salute you, Mr. Secretary-General, for your around-the-clock and tireless efforts with the leaders in the region to stop that fighting.”
2000-06-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4156 (2000) · source
“That resumption is one of the most troubling things I have ever seen in my career in diplomacy. I am talking now not about the initial fighting, but about the resumption of fighting a few weeks ago. I agree With Minister Mbabazi that there is now a ceasefire in place and that we have to lock it in. But it is a fragile ceasefire, and as the Secretary-General has so correctly warned us in meeting after meeting, we are facing a gap between the ceaesfire, which took effect a few days ago, and the arrival of any peacekeeping forces. We must be honest with ourselves: it is more difficult now to get peacekeeping forces than it was a few weeks ago precisely because of the events in Kisangani. It is more dangerous. It is more problematical. Governments and their populations have more reservations.”
2000-06-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4156 (2000) · source
“Let me start, as you did, Sir, with Kisangani, and let me be honest with my friends from both Rwanda and Uganda. There is no excuse for what happened in Kisangani. There was no excuse when the fighting began around 3 or 4 May. The immediate cessation of that fighting, after the 8 May ceasefire negotiated by the Security Council, was promising, but in the last few weeks the fighting resumed with an extraordinarily high level of intensity, leaving hundreds of people killed and thousands wounded and causing enormous damage to the infrastructure of Kisangani- damage that the international community will have to pay to clean up, otherwise it will not be done, thereby diverting resources from long-term reconstruction and essential health and education needs.”
2000-06-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4156 (2000) · source
“We were greatly honoured to represent all of you, and I think we did a fairly good job in carrying the weight of the United Nations into the Great Lakes. However, I am not sure where we are today. Nonetheless, I do note that the delegation - comprised of three African nations, three European nations and one country from neither Europe nor Africa, the United States - symbolized our common commitment. I would stress again that the reason that the Latin American and Asian representatives were not with us was that they had gone to Kosovo on a parallel mission. When you decided last month to convene today's meeting, Mr. President, we had anticipated that we could build momentum. But the events of the last two weeks have changed the nature of this meeting.”
2000-06-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4156 (2000) · source
“But the problems remain, and they have become more serious in recent days in at least two areas, as Minister Mbabazi's comments made clear. The people of the Congo are looking to us to help find a way out of the hell in which they have been living for so long. They look to us to help them build lives not defined by conflict. There have been a lot of statements in recent months about how the people of the Congo need peace, but these statements - many of them made here around this historic horseshoe in this historic Chamber - have not yet been acted on. Thirty-six days ago, Mr. President, you and I were in the region with out colleagues from Great Britain, the Netherlands, Mali, Tunisia and Namibia on behalf of the entire Security Council.”
2000-06-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4156 (2000) · source
“Although Minister Mbabazi was gracious in referring to the American month, in January, discussions really began earlier than that. I want to pay tribute to the presidency of the British in the month of December, and to Sir Jeremy Greenstock and Ambassador Eldon, for starting the process. This process has now gone on for many months. Let the world see that the United Nations is not turning away from Africa, and let the world see that there is no double standard. Africa is at the centre of our attention. This is doubly true, as today as we are dealing simultaneously with two other major African issues: Sierra Leone and the Ethiopia/Eritrea problem. There will be separate meetings going on concurrently on the latter issue, in conjunction with the Organization of African Unity (OAU).”
2000-06-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4156 (2000) · source
“Their presence here represents their commitment to finding a solution to the problems of the Congo. I hope that the world, which is focused on those problems, understands that everyone is here voluntarily to help solve them. I am particularly honoured in that regard to speak after my friend, Minister Amama Mbabazi of Uganda, one of the most distinguished statesmen of Africa, whom I have now had the pleasure to work with increasingly in recent months and whose speech deserves careful perusal by all of us. And, of course, I am delighted at the presence of the other representatives in the Chamber, and of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Morjane, who is doing an extremely good job under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. This is an important day for all of us, as we proceed with this long odyssey.”
2000-06-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4156 (2000) · source
“I thank the Secretary-General for joining us today. I thank you, Mr. President of the General Assembly, for descending from the high podium to join us to represent your own country. It is an honour to have two Presidents in the room today, you and Ambassador Levitte. I take your presence here as being of enormous significance to all of us. I would like to express to you, Ambassador Levitte - the President of the Security Council - our country's very great appreciation for the leadership that you and France have taken on behalf of peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I want to thank all of our friends and colleagues from the Lusaka process, who hosted us with such graciousness and generosity in Lusaka on 6 and 7 May, for again making the long journey to New York.”
2000-06-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4156 (2000) · source
“Incidentally, last night the Senate unblocked the funds on East Timor, as well as Sierra Leone. Thus, we are making substantial progress. There are still blocks in the House of Representatives, and the Congo is still blocked for reasons we have discussed. This means that a very substantial amount of funds is now flowing from the United States to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) across the board. I will submit to you, Mr. Secretary- General and President Levitte, exact figures later in the day for you to distribute to the Security Council. Again, cher Bernard, welcome back to New York. Go back to Kosovo with our best wishes for your continued success.”
2000-06-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4153 (2000) · source
“I have also met with the Serb delegation today, as I have on all of my trips to Kosovo, going back over more than two years. That is an appropriate thing for all of us to do. But I stress again that we do not wish to leave a false impression. Only one of the two major parties to the process is here in this room, and I feel that this was unfortunate; it is nobody's fault; it just happened. I want the world to understand this point, so that no one misunderstands who is and who is not in this room. On every other point, I am in 100 per cent agreement with my friend, Bernard Kouchner, and with what he is trying to do. I believe that the elections are historically important, and I am delighted to say, Mr. Secretary-General, that since we last met on this subject the United States Congress has unblocked the funds for Kosovo.”
2000-06-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4153 (2000) · source
“This is a constant provocation, and the Serb authorities in Belgrade have simply failed to address it. If any impression is left in this room today that this Chamber accepts only one version of an issue on which every single detail is disputed, we will undermine Dr. Kouchner's mission. I do not believe that this is the way to approach our responsibility on the first anniversary of this historic resolution. Since the Albanians were invited but were unable to attend - and will attend in the future - I would ask you, Mr. President, to make clear to the world today that they will get equal treatment when they come and that the presence in this room of only one of the two main ethnic groups does not in any way, shape or form presage a change in policy or an acceptance of statements that are highly contentious.”
2000-06-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4153 (2000) · source
“Secondly, I would only repeat what you have just heard. I agree with everything that Dr. Kouchner has said, and we support everything he is trying to do. I do, however, have a very serious problem with the presence in this room today only of one side to the party. I must say that it is simply a terrible mistake to leave the impression that we are only on one side. I do not dispute the fact that Serbs have been extremely badly treated and have been driven out of the area. Repeatedly, my Government has condemned these actions. NATO troops are taking great risks with their own lives to protect Serbs in such areas as Mitrovica and elsewhere - and they will continue to do so. But this is a one-sided approach to the problem. Four thousand Albanians, as Bernard Kouchner mentioned, are missing, either dead or detained.”
2000-06-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4153 (2000) · source
“I want to begin by expressing my high admiration for Bernard Kouchner and for the extraordinary service he has performed in Kosovo for the United Nations and for the world over the last year. I hope you manage to stay forever, Bernard, because nobody could do better than you. But I know you do not intend to stay forever, and I think that it is essential that you give us as much time as you can, as much time as your personal circumstances permit and that you see us through this extraordinarily important election. You have the full support of the United States. Again, I commend the Secretary-General for his extremely wise decision in giving this assignment to Dr. Kouchner. I had prepared a long speech, but I am not going to give it for two reasons. First of all, there are 12 speakers after me.”
2000-06-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4153 (2000) · source
“Similarly, in the Great Lakes region, Rwanda's legitimate security concerns will not be dealt with until the Interahamwe genocidaires are taken care of in the appropriate fashion, and at that point, if not earlier, I hope that Rwanda will be able to take commensurate actions that allow us to move towards stability, particularly in the eastern part of the Congo. Thank you, Mr. President. I look forward to a productive month and particularly to your potentially historic meetings on 16 June.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“I commend the Chief Prosecutor for her efforts to improve the operations ofthe Tribunal. In conclusion, Mr. President, I thank you again for beginning your presidency with this important statement. I want to reaffirm the fact that our country has never wavered in its support of these efforts, even when deals were offered, and I want to conclude by saying that I fully share Chief Prosecutor's Del Ponte's view that men like Radovan Karadzie, Ratko Mladic and, indeed, Mr. Milosevic and the other people who have been indicted in Belgrade must be brought to justice if Europe is ever to see stability.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“I was therefore particularly pleased to see that Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte, in her speech, discussed improving the management systems, speeding up the trial process and the work that she and Mr. Jorda will do. An international tribunal of the sort we are talking about should not be subject to continual questions about its management practices. It undermines the credibility and effectiveness of the court. It raises questions about the use of United Nations monies, which I have had to deal with in another place, and they are very difficult. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has - and I want to stress that it has produced a number of important results, and I think its work is accelerating - set some important international precedents. However, it must make better use of its resources while accelerating its work.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“The presence of these odious elements operating freely within the Democratic Republic of the Congo does not, however, excuse the human rights violations that may have been caused by allies of the Rwandan army, perhaps elements of the Rwandan army itself and its Congolese allies. Still, it is difficult to imagine a settlement of the external dimensions of the crisis without a concerted regional effort that takes into account Rwanda's legitimate security concerns. It is in the interest of peace in the Congo that this issue be settled. Extradition to the International Criminal Tribunal of all those under indictment is a requirement of all Member States, and the smooth effective running ofthe International Criminal Tribunal is a requirement of the United Nations system.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“Our goal should be the transfer of all indictees to Arusha and the effective demilitarization, disarmament, resettlement and reintegration of the remaining personnel. This will involve the need for the Government of Rwanda to create and maintain conditions that are conducive to voluntary repatriation. It will also involve support from other regional Governments. We do not want to label all Rwandan exiles in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as genocidaires. But neither are we prepared to engage with group of exiles that is subordinate to or affiliated with the former Rwandan Armed Forces or the Interahamwe.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“Once again, as this is the first time that I have had a chance to discuss this under the French presidency, I need to reaffirm how important it is that we all support the meetings on 15-16 June under Ambassador Levitte's presidency. Going back to the primary subject here, I do not want to underestimate the destabilizing influence of UNITA and other armed groups operating in the territory of the Congo, but I want to use the visit of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal to focus on the group with which she is primarily occupied. Again, Mr. President, I hope that you will use your role on 15-16 June to engage the Political Committee on this issue. I refer, of course, to the former Rwandan Armed Forces and the Interahamwe.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“I would say to our friends here in the audience who were not with us in Lusaka that Ambassador Levitte and I and our five colleagues consider the meetings on 15-16 June to be potentially as important as what we did in the last week of January here in this Chamber. We re-engaged the Security Council in moving the Lusaka peace process forward. We hope that all the appropriate participants will be here. They all committed themselves to come when we were in Lusaka, but things being what they are, we need to pin this down. We also attach high importance to the political dialogue preparatory meetings that will start in Benin next week.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“This is not, as some people claim, the only cause of the conflict, but it is not separate from the broader issues that have occupied this Council. While you, Mr. President, and I and our colleagues from Mali, Namibia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Tunisia were in Lusaka, we raised some of these questions with the Political Committee, especially problems posed by non-signatory armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I am particularly grateful, Mr. President, that you have invited the Political Committee to meet with us here in New York on 15-16 June to continue the Lusaka peace process, insofar as the Security Council can contribute to it.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“In my Government's View, the current programme, along with international and domestic civil proceedings, is the best way to address this issue. On our two trips to Rwanda - mine in December and the one with my Security Council colleagues last month - it was clearly explained to us that the caseload could not be handled by the normal system, and we must take that into account. I noticed that President Kagame stressed the importance of this initiative in his inaugural address, and I hope the Rwandan Government will be able to give us a timetable for clearing this enormous backlog. The pursuit ofjustice in the wake of the genocide in Rwanda is also tied up with the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“This system, which are all now familiar with, based on traditions of your country - and I speak directly to the Ambassador of Rwanda, who has played such a positive role in helping us deal with his country's legacy - has taken justice out ofthe courtrooms of the former judicial system and given it to local communities and traditional leaders. I have read criticism of this in the Western press; I am not in a position to make a formal, detailed judgement on something so complicated; but none of us should impose our own values or cultural histories on other societies and traditions, provided that the basic human rights embodied in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are fulfilled. Every country in this Chamber has a different judicial system, and they should be respected.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“South Africa, of course, is a perfect example of how to approach these issues. Its strong judicial system, its vibrant civil society movements and the vision of its leaders allowed South Africa to move beyond its past. Let me turn to Rwanda, where we have seen the pursuit of justice on both an international and a domestic track. Both have had considerable administrative difficulties and delays, but with our support both are improving and must continue to bring to justice those responsible for genocide. The work of the Tribunal is indispensable, but it cannot be healed from the outside. Forgiveness and reconciliation must come from within. The Government of Rwanda has a programme of justice known as gachacha- please forgive me, Ambassador Mutaboba, if I mispronounce the word.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“In Sierra Leone, a decision was made last year - a decision that can be subject to question, in retrospect - to elevate the pursuit of peace to a higher level than the pursuit of justice. The granting of amnesty to Foday Sankoh and his followers was accepted as a precondition by the Government of Sierra Leone and not as the result of a justice and reconciliation process. My friends in the Security Council, I think we have all seen the price of that decision, and I would simply say that I hope that we will find ways to do in Sierra Leone some degree of review, whether it is part of this Tribunal's extended mandate, or of another mandate, Ijust urge us not to forget this. I know that Ambassador Sheffer will be talking about this privately with many Council members later in the day.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“Let me start with an issue that is very much on all our minds these days - Sierra Leone - which is not currently in her jurisdiction. Her presence here reminds us ofthe importance of the issue of the search for justice in regard to Sierra Leone. While she is here to talk about Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, I think it is vitally important that we understand that the same issues apply in regard to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and its leader, Mr. Sankoh, and that there must be accountability, justice and reconciliation in Sierra Leone if we are to bring peace to the area. While I will leave the details for the proper venue of discussion, because they are exceedingly complicated, I can assure the Council that our Government will not be satisfied unless there is full accountability and justice as part ofthe process.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“I wish to acknowledge, in my delegation, seated behind me to the right, Secretary of State Albright's special representative on these issues, Ambassador David Sheffer, who has worked very closely with our special guest this morning and who will later in the day be available for private discussions with any members who wish to pursue some of these issues. Finally, I wish to congratulate the Chief Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, for her excellent statement. I apologize for being late and having been unable to hear it in person, but I have read it and I think it contains many important statements concerning Yugoslavia, concerning the issue in general and, above all, concerning Rwanda. The Prosecutor's presence here gives us a chance to reflect on this extremely important intersection of peacekeeping and justice.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“It is a great pleasure to see you, Sir, at the helm of this meeting, my old colleague from other days, now in your first presidency. I wish also to pay tribute to the extraordinarily strong leadership of Ambassador Wang Yingfan and the Chinese delegation during the tumultuous month of May, in which, if my memory is correct, four different conflicts erupted. It was not a normal month in the Security Council, and I hope that you will convey to Ambassador Wang Yingfan my Government's high admiration for the way he conducted our proceedings during this very difficult month. I hope that you will be able to have fewer than four wars this month, and I congratulate you on starting your term with a meeting of such importance on an issue of such enormous consequence.”
2000-06-02 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4150 (2000) · source
“I apologize for being late, but I want to state that under the most unusual circumstances it was one of the most satisfying experiences of my professional life, and despite the enormous difficulties and our inability at the last minute to prevent what turned out to be an inevitable resumption of hostilities between Ethiopia and Eritrea, I believe that we move forward the cause of peace in our primary mission, and if we can address the fresh opportunity that Kisangani has put before us, we can actually make genuine progress. But once again, as in all of these issues, implementation is what matters, not simply the paper agreements.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“My colleagues and I felt sleep-deprived, either underfed and overfed, depending on where we were, and constantly on the move. But I assure you, Mr. President, that by arriving at this consensus we feel we served the purposes of the Security Council. On a personal basis, I would gladly travel with any and all of them again under the chairmanship of any of my six colleagues, and I hope that when they say similar things about me that they actually mean them. I thank you, Mr. President, for the honour of asking me to lead this delegation.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“In conclusion, we remain convinced that the link between the exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict is a critical area for the Council's further investigation. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and Sierra Leone are all adversely affected by the plundering of their natural resources, even though the actual circumstances vary from country to country. But these issues are central to peacekeeping, and they need to be looked at in the Democratic Republic of the Congo context. As we said on our last day in Asmara, by the end of the trip, including the diversion we took to the Horn at your instructions, Mr. President, it was difficult to tell whether we had been on the road a week or a year.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“Dates like July will not work for Kisangani. I understand that the Secretary-General has already been in touch with several countries about this. I think I can safely say, speaking for the members of the Security Council mission, that we believe that getting a United Nations unit, of whatever nationality, to Kisangani immediately, in the next few weeks, is deemed appropriate, is absolutely critical. Otherwise, the risk of war beginning again is very substantial. I also wish to draw the Council's attention to the very positive announcements and statements coming from the Government of South Africa concerning their readiness to play a more active role in the process.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“This opportunity will, however, require implementation; both President Kagame and President Museveni made it absolutely clear that they were prepared to demilitarize Kisangani, but they wanted to do full demilitarization only when MONUC forces got to Kisangani. I also talked with President Mugabe and President Kabila about this arrangement before it was announced. Both President Kabila and President Mugabe welcomed the announcement, and both of them said that they thought it was potentially a model for the successful implementation of all of the Lusaka Agreement. However, it needs to be stressed, particularly to our colleagues in the DPKO office, that time is essential. It is vitally important that the forces from MONUC that will go to Kisangani get there ahead of the initial deployment schedule.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“In what amounted to de facto mini-shuttle diplomacy, the seven nations of the Security Council mission negotiated, between President Kagame and President Museveni, face to face and by telephone, a Security Council/Government of Rwanda/Government of Uganda statement issued on 8 May and reaffirmed two days ago in their summit in the United Republic of Tanzania. The fighting then stopped. If anyone wants additional proof of the precedent that Ambassador Andjaba set in East Timor of the capability of Security Council missions, I think this once again illustrates that, under certain circumstances, the Security Council can, as it did again here, and particularly in East Timor, make significant strides forward.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“The members of the Political Committee stated clearly that they wished to keep the national dialogue in the hands of the Congolese people, but they did engage us on the question of the armed groups. I think it is vitally important that this be one of the main topics for discussion in June; a successful disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and resettlement campaign is essential for the success of Lusaka. Finally, let me address the unexpected outbreak of fighting between Ugandan and Rwandan forces in Kisangani on the second day of our trip. At first, we feared that the fighting in Kisangani would wreck our trip. In fact, in an unexpected way, it provided us with a challenge and an opportunity that, I am proud to say, the seven nations of this special mission addressed.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“I am sure Ambassador Levitte will have more to say on it, but I would draw everyone's attention to the fact that this will be another step forward in the emerging joint Organization of African Unity (OAU)- Security Council collaboration in furtherance of the Lusaka Agreement. It will be a very important meeting, or to be more precise, series of meetings, and I hope we can all protect the dates of 15 and 16 June on the calendar, awaiting instructions from Ambassador Levitte in his capacity as June President. We raised only two issues with the Political Committee - the national dialogue and the need to disarm non-signatory armed groups operating in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“But several of the Lusaka peace signatories stated that they will not send their representatives to the JMC to Kinshasa at this time, and they gave us little hope to believe that they wanted to send them ever. So this is an unresolved problem that I believe we were not adequately aware of until we got there, and it requires our attention. I want to clarify it, because the same word, "co-location", had two significantly different meanings. As a result of the meetings in Lusaka with the JMC and the Political Committee, Ambassador Levitte, in his prospective capacity as President of the Security Council in the month of June, invited the Political Committee to come to New York on or about 16 June. I thank our good friend Jean-David Levitte for this important initiative. I believe this will be a critical meeting.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“We remain convinced that the JMC should be physically co-located with MONUC and must be a permanently sitting body that can respond to breaking events on the ground as part of a joint effort. I want to stress to those of you who were not with us that there was a linguistic misunderstanding between us in this room and the people on the ground, which we only realized during the trip - and that is that the word "co-location" has a different meaning in Africa than it did here. When we talked about "co-location", we talked merely about MONUC and the JMC being in the same building. That was not the issue to our friends in Africa. The issue was what city the JMC would go to. This was quite different from what we expected. No one we talked to objected to sharing a building.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“We took a major step forward on the first day of the trip with the signing of the status-of-forces agreement in the presence of President Kabila, who decided to change his schedule to attend the signing ceremony. This essential step is now behind us. We are inclined to believe that all the States signatories to Lusaka are in favour of MONUC deployment and will, if necessary, bring pressure to bear on any reluctant parties to follow suit. Let me be frank on another problem that was all too obvious and cannot be disguised - the strains that continue to exist between the Joint Military Commission (JMC) and MONUC. We met with the JMC in Lusaka. The meeting raised questions as to how we can move forward, and we hope that those questions can be addressed.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“This strengthens our efforts, because it begins to broaden the financial base by which peacekeeping will be funded. Let us also praise the men and women of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and of the specialized agencies, who work under difficult conditions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its neighbours, with special praise reserved for the Special Representative, Ambassador Morjane, and the Force Commander, General Diallo. They are doing outstanding jobs under difficult circumstances. We recall General Diallo's courageous defence of Monrovia in 1992, and we saw on this trip that he also possesses equal diplomatic skills. MONUC's deployment in adequate conditions of security and cooperation should remain a key priority.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“It will not happen overnight. It will require all of us to make tough choices. But if we fail to act, if we allow the gap between capacity and demand to widen even further, then the United Nations and all the people depending on it around the world will suffer. I am particularly grateful for the efforts and support expressed yesterday by many speakers in the Fifth Committee. What they discussed in that Committee yesterday has immense importance for our deliberations here, and I would particularly single out the countries that yesterday voluntarily said they were prepared to move from group C to group B in financing. Five have already come forward - Cyprus, Israel, Hungary, Estonia and the Philippines - and others have indicated their intention to do the same.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“And that extends far beyond the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Sierra Leone illustrates the dangers of getting it wrong. Peacekeeping is this institution's core function, the one that was foremost in the founders' minds 55 years ago. Whether the United Nations succeeds or fails in the twenty-first century, and whether this great institution, the Security Council, continues to be the world's pre-eminent forum for peace and security, depends in large part on the future of peacekeeping. Yesterday in the Fifth Committee we had an important discussion on the current challenge to peacekeeping and how together we must work to fix peacekeeping in order to save it. This means addressing the shortcomings, and how we finance peacekeeping, as well as improving how the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) operates.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“Sierra Leone is not a metaphor for Africa; it is not a metaphor for United Nations peacekeeping. The trip reinforced our belief, and my personal belief, that Africa is as diverse as any other collection of 53 independent nations in the world. The three conflicts that immediately preoccupy us - the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia- Eritrea and Sierra Leone - dominated our mission, of course, but it is immediately clear that they are as diverse in scope and kind as East Timor, southern Lebanon and Kosovo. It is a fallacy based on superficial and insufficient knowledge to say that the failure of the Lome accords in Sierra Leone intrinsically implies an inevitable failure elsewhere, simply because the elsewhere is on the same continent. That being said, we must get peacekeeping right.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“Our efforts must focus on two areas. We must use all our collective influence to keep all the signatories firmly within the Lusaka Agreement. It is the only way forward; if one party is allowed to violate it, others will also violate it. We must strengthen the regional and international consensus for peace based on Lusaka. There is one area of our report that we need to underline: our unanimous view that Council decisions and actions in the Congo should not be affected by the dangerous and terrible events in Sierra Leone. This is difficult. We recognized, and it was clear on every day of the trip, that the shadow of Sierra Leone was hanging over United Nations peacekeeping, not only in Africa, but around the world. But there was no direct effect of the events in Sierra Leone in the Congo or on the Lusaka peace process.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“They want to live in a vibrant State built on solid democratic institutions, and they want economic opportunities and the freedom to travel within their own country which is their right. I want to underline that we went on this trip, however, not in an effort to undermine the existing Government. We reinforced and stressed to President Kabila at all times that we deal with him as the President of the country and that the national dialogue is part of the Lusaka peace process. I mention that because it is a matter of great concern to the Government what the national dialogue's real purpose is, and I need to underline that everything we did was designed to further that process. It is the only way forward and the only way to address the yearnings of the Congolese people. There is no military solution to the present conflict.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“In every meeting, we heard a loud and unmistakable endorsement of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement. Based on these remarkable meetings, I think we can say the following about the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: they want peace; they want the withdrawal of outside forces; they do not want to live under foreign occupation; they do not want to see their rights threatened or their resources plundered. They want the Congolese rebel movements to lay down their arms and commit to a political process aimed at forging a new dispensation. They want armed insurgents from neighbouring States, such as the ex-Rwandan Armed Forces, Interahamwe and UNITA, to leave their country forever. They want the present Government to engage in the national dialogue and abide by its results.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“It is critical that we get the Security Council out of this magnificent Chamber, out of presidential palaces and luxury hotels, and into the real world. In Kinshasa, for example, we held simultaneous meetings with an ecumenical religious delegation, leaders of civil-society organizations and representatives of political parties. Three of our team, Ambassador Andjaba, Ambassador Greenstock and Ambassador van Walsum, made an extraordinary trip to Kananga, which I hope they will describe in more detail. Members may have seen reports of it on television; it was certainly the emotional high point of the trip, and the four of us who remained in Kinshasa deeply envied their opportunity, which was in essence a chance to see the people of the Congo in a massive human demonstration of a desire for peace.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“To the other four members of the delegation it showed that Africans were willing and eager to share the burdens of peacemaking in Africa and beyond, and to the rest of the world a delegation so carefully balanced sent a very powerful symbol. I think that the three missions that the Security Council has authorized in the past eight months - to East Timor under Ambassador Andjaba, to Kosovo under Ambassador Chowdhury, and this one - are also an important emerging aspect of Security Council activities. This mission fell somewhere between a fact- finding mission, a report to the Security Council and, as it turned out almost inadvertently, a negotiating mission, at least twice: over the crisis in Kisangani and in our unexpected diversion to the Horn. The trip was not about tourism.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“Three representatives from Africa - Tunisia, Namibia and Mali; three representatives from the European Union - the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands; and an American: this was an extraordinarily well balanced trip. We made it clear, however, that we were also speaking for the eight countries not present. None of our interlocutors could see any differences between us because there were none. The disagreements that often occur in this Chamber simply were not present on this trip. It was a great privilege to be the chair of such a diverse group of talented diplomats. Every single one of the seven ambassadors spoke in every meeting, on every issue, interchangeably. This symbolized to our interlocutors the importance of African leadership in the Security Council and in the United Nations at large.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source
“Every day there has been something new; it has been a difficult period during which to oversee the Security Council. It is a great honour, Sir, to have been asked by you and by your predecessor, Ambassador Fowler, to chair the delegation that went to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and ultimately to the Horn of Africa. I want to stress that the seven nations took no national positions; there was a consensus throughout. I would like to speak in the same capacity today, following up on the report that Ambassador van Walsum, Ambassador Greenstock and my other colleagues gave last week while I was still overseas. The fact that we spoke with one voice carried a very powerful message.”
2000-05-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4143 (2000) · source