YouSaid · the spoken record

Kassem

lines on the record
66
first
2001-12-14
most recent
2002-11-05
sittings or episodes
4
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

  1. “Mr. Kassem: Because of the lateness of the hour, I will confine myself to replying to two of this morning's interventions and one from this late meeting. The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe said that Zimbabwe's presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an enactment of the mutual defence agreement of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and came about following a direct plea from the sovereign Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zimbabwe's initial military involvement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was under the pretext of the SADC mutual defence arrangements. However, it is the nature of this presence today which is of interest to the Panel.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437Resumption1 (2001) · source

  2. “The toll in human lives and suffering exacted by this war and the related trafficking in natural resources has been enormous and continues to mount. Such human losses are quite simply irreparable, and their impact will inevitably be felt for decades to come. However, today, in this Chamber, nothing could serve as a more eloquent reminder of the need for the Council to take decisive action - action to halt the exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which, increasingly, is both the means and motive for sustaining the conflict.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  3. “In addition, the Panel has expressed its support for the diplomatic initiatives within the framework of the Ceasefire Agreement aimed at encouraging the parties to intensify their own confidence-building efforts. Consistent with these initiatives and the modalities for the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement, the Panel has called for the parties to the conflict to assume the primary responsibility for solving their respective security concerns by reaching a consensus on comprehensive measures and implementing them in a coordinated manner. In closing, I would like to emphasize that the Panel's recommendations are intended first and foremost to protect the Congolese nation's greatest wealth - its people, its human resources. Their long- term interests and hopes for peace are being sacrificed to easy profiteering.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  4. “While the Commission of National Experts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo suggested that this could be included in the agenda of the inter-Congolese dialogue, the timing and modalities must be determined in consultation with the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other sectors. The risks to the peace process posed by the continuation of a low-intensity conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo - in areas where many valuable resources are extracted, traded and routed for export - are considerable. Consequently, the Panel has underscored in its recommendations the importance of the disarmament, demobilization, reintegration and repatriation or resettlement process, a key element of the Ceasefire Agreement, now being undertaken by MONUC.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  5. “The renegotiation of all commercial agreements, concessions and joint ventures enacted since 1997 should be considered an intrinsic part of any institution-building process. While it may be perceived as diverging from the framework of the Ceasefire Agreement, this action is crucial to freeing the Congolese State from the undue influence that certain parties have been able to exert over it. With the goal of eliminating unfair profits and contractual terms obtained under the extreme pressures of wartime, this measure should be viewed as complementary to the Sll'V.4437 Panel's proposed moratorium.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  6. “This recommendation meshes with the provisions of the Ceasefire Agreement concerning the inter-Congolese dialogue and the re- establishment of the State administration throughout the territory once the dialogue has been concluded. However, to help break the link between the conflict and the exploitation of resources, the Panel believes that it is urgent to begin making modest, though tangible, progress in institution-building, strengthening the rule of law and re-establishing State authority. In the short term, this will be crucial to confidence-building and to increased stability. Certain actions in this direction have already been undertaken with the help of the international community. These include the drafting of a new mining code and the development of a national budget implementation plan.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  7. “It would establish a ban on the import by United Nations Member States of commodities produced in a specific area in which exploitation is known to fuel the conflict. Institutional reforms are critical to ensuring a strong State administration with the capacity and authority to safeguard and regulate the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its riches. To this end, the Panel has recommended that the international community assist the Democratic Republic of the Congo intensively in this area. This is a process that will require a systematic and sustained effort on the part of the international community, including the United Nations.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  8. “It would be the responsibility of the Security Council to decide whether this moratorium should be implemented on a voluntary or a mandatory basis. By incorporating it into their national legislation, individual countries could make a voluntary moratorium binding. This would permit them to prosecute violations occurring within their jurisdiction. Alternatively, a mandatory moratorium could be enacted by the Council through a resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter. However, both voluntary and mandatory moratoriums are similar in their intent to target commodities. The main difference between a mandatory moratorium and a sanctions regime is that sanctions target States, forbidding exports from them. A mandatory moratorium targets commodities.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  9. “The Panel believes that a moratorium imposed on selected and easily detectable products, such as coltan and timber, would not have a significant impact on the Congolese population, who themselves have been ruthlessly exploited by opportunistic operators. The same monitoring body mentioned earlier would report to the Council on a periodic basis regarding which areas are no longer under the control of foreign troops in order to clear products originating from them for purchase and import. Practices aimed at weakening or circumventing the moratorium would also be the subject of monitoring and reporting. The effectiveness of such a moratorium would be heightened by a strong media campaign and continued international press coverage.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  10. “It would also signal to the concerned parties that they can continue stalling on taking the actions needed to move the peace process forward, thereby further entrenching the status quo. Member States should establish a moratorium on the purchase, transit and import of high-value commodities from regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo where foreign troops are present. By stemming the profits from the exploitation of resources, the moratorium would reduce what has become a powerful incentive to continue to fuel the conflict and thus legitimize the presence of thousands of foreign troops and the strengthening of rebel armies. It should be viewed as a means to curb existing and future exploitation that is linked to the continuation of the conflict and, in this sense, contributes to furthering the peace process.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  11. “Laying the foundation for lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will necessarily require progress in drastically curbing the increasing exploitation of resources and redirecting the use of S/l'V.4437 these resources to the purposes of peaceful development for the benefit of the Congolese people. Through the establishment of a monitoring body, the United Nations can continue the international community's scrutiny of the exploitation activities, including the mechanisms for channelling profits that have been put in place. A lack of follow-up in this area would send a message to the traffickers and profiteers that they can continue illicitly exploiting Congolese natural resources with impunity.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  12. “The implementation of the Panel's recommendations and the implementation of the Ceasefire Agreement should thus be understood as complementary and mutually reinforcing courses of action, each strengthening and completing the other. For example, the results of the Panel's fact- finding in the field highlight the fact that the Ceasefire Agreement, signed in July 1999, did not address the issue of the economic profits derived from the occupation of the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Yet both the Panel's report and its addendum illustrate the links between the exploitation of natural resources and the continuation of the conflict.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  13. “Although the security concerns of neighbouring States helped spur the outbreak of the war, three years later these concerns appear to have been overtaken by the desire to maximize control over expanses of territory, their vast resources and the substantial profits derived from them. While its mandate and composition emphasize the technical nature of its work, the Panel has never lost sight of the need to integrate its work into the broader framework of the peace process and to contribute to advancing that process. The Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement sets out many necessary preconditions for reducing the exploitation of resources. However, additional measures will be needed.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  14. “Not surprisingly, the Congolese people do not figure among the beneficiaries of this unfettered and increasingly systematized exploitation. The August 1998 war introduced a new group of beneficiaries, both foreign and Congolese. They come from the ranks of the military, governing and ruling party elites, the leadership of the rebel groups and their sponsors. The new beneficiaries also include a host of intermediaries and investors, some legitimate and some linked to criminal elements. At an institutional level, profits have flowed to military budgets and political parties. This web of interests has ensured that the war became and remained, even now, a self-financing and self-sustaining affair.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  15. “Permit me also to extend our special thanks to the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and to the offices of the representatives of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the offices of the United Nations Development Programme in the region, for their help. In addition, the Panel wishes to thank the Department of Peacekeeping Operations at the Secretariat for its continued support. As I told the Council earlier, the exploitation of the natural resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for the enrichment of a wide range of actors, continues unabated.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source

  16. “Mr. Kassem: It is a great, great pleasure for me once again to address the Council and its members. Permit me to begin by thanking Miss Mignonette Patricia Durrant, the previous President of the Council, for her assistance in arranging the informal consultations last month. I should like also to express my gratitude to the new President, Ambassador Moctar Ouane, for his assistance in preparing for today's consultations. Let me also thank all of the members of the Council for the invaluable support and assistance they have provided. I should like once again to express our deep appreciation to Presidents Pierre Buyoya, Frederick ChiIuba, Joseph Kabila, Paul Kagame, Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Museveni and Sam Nujoma for meeting with the Panel during its stay in the region.”

    2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source