YouSaid · the spoken record

Okitundu

lines on the record: 53
first: 2001-06-13
most recent: 2001-12-14
sittings or episodes: 2
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

“I cannot conclude without paying a heartfelt tribute to Mr. Amos Namanga Ngongi, Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and all United Nations and associated personnel for their ongoing contribution to restoring peace to my country through their full dedication and total self-sacrifice. I also welcome the atmosphere of trust, mutual respect and real cooperation between the United Nations and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which certainly facilitates United Nations and humanitarian operations throughout our territory.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Primarily, my Government would also be very grateful to the Council if it would agree to the implementation of all the recommendations contained in the report of the Panel of Experts, particularly the following: speed up the deployment of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), because only the total and definitive withdrawal of the aggressors can ensure a halt to the plunder of the wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; demilitarize Kisangani, make reparations for material damage in that city and indemnify its people, pursuant to resolution 1304 (2000); impose all possible measures, in keeping with the duties and obligations entrusted to S/l'VA437 the Security Council by the Charter, against any party that rejects the demilitarization of Kisangani and the countries that support it; freeze assets of the rebel movements and their leaders, and of companies and individuals involved in the illegal plundering and exploitation of Congolese resources; request Members of the United Nations to stop providing financial assistance to countries that are behind the plundering and illegal exploitation of resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; request the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to suspend their cooperation with aggressor countries if pillaging and warfare continue; request the neighbouring countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and transit countries to stop encouraging any kind of economic and financial activities carried out in their territories that are linked with the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; support the Democratic Republic of the Congo, because of its financial and moral losses and its economic decline, in its legitimate right to demand financial compensation from the countries and individuals guilty of plundering, whether directly or indirectly; and order legal action to be taken against the authors and co-authors of this plundering and their accomplices.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Looking at the overall picture of restoring peace, we must also establish a link between the cessation of hostilities and the economic recovery of our country, while providing a structural framework that will help the Democratic Republic of the Congo emerge from the current crisis. My Government believes that at the appropriate time the Council should follow up on the request made to it on 3 May 2001 to take prudent preliminary steps to place an embargo on looted products that transit through Kigali, Bujumbura and Kampala.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“My Government therefore believes that it is up to the Security Council to draw conclusions from the relevant recommendations of the Panel's reports so as to break the linkage that regrettably exists between the pillaging of resources and the continuation of the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. My Government also believes that if the Council wishes to renew the mandate of the Panel of Experts, it will be absolutely essential to strengthen significantly its expertise to enable it to better define, mainly at a purely technical level, the responsibilities related to the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Furthermore, I am pleased to inform the Council that the President of the Republic recently ordered the establishment of an anti- corruption commission in order to strengthen the rule of law. The commission of national experts, which is assisting us at this meeting, is mandated not only with investigating the illegal exploitation of the natural resources and other wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but also with monitoring the review of all agreements concluded by the Government. My Government has already indicated its agreement with the recommendations made by the Panel of Experts in its report and notes with great interest the comments offered in the addendum.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Today, with the assistance of the Bretton Woods institutions, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is preparing a new policy to develop the private sector, promote national and foreign investment, reform socio-economic sectors, ensure transparency in management, fight corruption, restructure our armed forces, demobilize child soldiers and reform our judicial system. Along those lines, the Government recently drafted a new mining code. Consultations and negotiations will continue with our national and foreign social and economic partners. With respect to transparency in public administration, the Government has begun auditing all public enterprises. The audits have been made public and those in positions of responsibility who have fallen short have been punished.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“This is needed to end once and for all the horrible suffering and immeasurable misery and death that our people have been subjected to under the aggression. Ways and means must be sought to allow the Congolese people effectively to enjoy fundamental freedoms and basic human rights. More efficient management of public services must be established through reform policies so as to ensure good governance, full respect for human rights and popular participation in the functioning of democratic institutions once peace has been restored. National human and material resources must be developed in order to enable the country once again to become a major political and economic player in Africa. Lastly, dignity and pride, which are cherished by peoples throughout the world, must be restored to the Congolese people.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“I thank the Panel of Experts for having recognized the tireless efforts made by Major General Sll'V.4437 Joseph Kabila, President of our Republic, as well as his resolve to undertake reforms, to implement sound macroeconomic policies, to manage public affairs in a wise and open manner and, above all, to respect the law so that everything can be done to ensure the country's economic recovery and reconstruction. The efforts of the President of the Republic are based on the following exigencies. The national sovereignty and territorial integrity of our territory must be defended. Lasting peace must be restored through a negotiated solution to the war of aggression, which has cost the Congo millions of lives over the past three years.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“A report of a Congolese institute for nature conservation notes, for instance that, of the 11,000 hippopotamuses that lived in the waters of Virunga National Park, only 1,000 remain. I wish to take this opportunity today to make a solemn and urgent appeal to the international community to support my Government's efforts to preserve and protect our many animal species, such as elephants, bonobos, gorillas in the eastern plains, mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, baboons, white rhinoceroses, okapis and Congo peacocks, all of which are being exterminated.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Never before had the world witnessed two foreign armies cross their respective borders to clash on the territory of a neighbouring country and to claim spheres of influence in which they could exploit resources that did not belong to them. With respect above all to the environment and ecology, almost all of the inquiries undertaken by the most respected agencies have shown that all our national parks, designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as the collective heritage of mankind, have been systematically devastated. They are subject to poaching as a custom of war and to organized illegal trafficking. The species that live there, which are unique in the world, are often slaughtered with automatic weapons.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Along with exploiting the natural resources and other wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda military officers have stirred up ethnic conflicts, particularly in Ituri in Orientale Province, where the Lendus and Hemas killed each other in great numbers between June 1999 and October 2000, causing thousands of deaths and displacements. Similarly, the Congolese will never forget the frenzied, mercenary rush for profits that brought Rwanda and Uganda to bloody confrontation in Kisangani, in Orientale Province. These clashes were denounced by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Congolese people as a whole and the international community. That was a case without precedent in the history of international relations.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Those organizations have established that over 3 million people have died directly or indirectly because of the war. The International Crisis Group has estimated the number of displaced persons within the country at 2 million and of those outside at 300,000. In a report to the Security Council of 28 November 2000, Ms. McAskie, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that 16 million people were threatened by famine because of the war, representing over one third of the Congolese population. A recent report of the World Health Organization indicates that the incidence of HIV/AIDS has increased significantly in recent years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The reasons for that increase include the fact that the aggressor forces come from countries where the HIV/AIDS rate is among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“It is no coincidence that such massacres always take place in mining areas, such as Kasika in South Kivu and Djugu, Mongbalu and Watsa in Oriental Province. Indeed, all the information provided by national and international human rights organizations - the MISNA Catholic agency, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, South Kivu youth organizations and associations, and the Congolese Foundation for Human Rights and Peace - confirms that the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a humanitarian disaster. Thus, the pillaging and illegal exploitation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo goes hand in hand with massacres, massive population displacements and the abuse of children and of Rwandese prisoners in mining and timber operations.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“My Government would point first to the military-political groups in power in Rwanda and Uganda; businessmen in the two countries; and criminal networks involved in money-laundering through the traffic in drugs, diamonds, coltan and weapons. All of these mafia-like networks promote criminal activity in the Congolese economy and in that of the Great Lakes region as a whole, which has become one of the prime meeting places in Africa for counterfeiters, arms dealers and launderers of drug money. I am also glad to see that, in paragraph 16, the Panel of Experts rightly stresses another aspect of that exploitation: human resources. The people's resistance to the demands, pillaging and exploitation to which they are subject leads to periodic massacres of local populations by the invaders.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“I note, moreover, that a number of independent inquiries - foremost among which was that of the British Parliament, which I welcome and for which I am grateful - have arrived at the same conclusion reached by the Panel of Experts in last April's report. The British parliamentary report notes that exports, particularly gold and coffee from Uganda, are comparable to those from North and South Kivu, although everyone knows that Uganda produces barely any gold or coffee. The report also singles out Rwanda, S/l'VA437 which officially acknowledges having produced 63 tons of coltan, whereas it actually exported 603 tons in 2000. One must therefore ask: Who profits from this crime?”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“The danger that hangs over the effort to establish peace in the Great Lakes region, and in establishing a new political order in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, lies in the fact that the methods of the illegal exploitation of the natural resources and other forms of wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have become so sophisticated that, as the addendum notes, the illegal economic activities of the aggressors are now self-sustaining and involve almost no financial burden on the countries concerned. The Commission of National Experts set up by the Democratic Republic of the Congo estimated exports by Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi from 1998 to 2001 at more than $427 million in fine diamonds for jewellery, about $800 million in coltan and more than $24 million in cassiterite.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“The large-scale pillaging and illegal exploitation of the mineral resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are proceeding systematically, and this is one of the major issues in the conflict. It can be seen from the addendum that along with the war, and in its shadow, massive economic pillaging - as great as anything Africa has ever suffered from - is under way. It is now established that problems related to insecurity along the borders and instability in the Great Lakes region, invoked by those committing aggression against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cannot justify the occupation of almost half of Congolese territory by a coalition of armies from other countries, whose front lines are more than 2,000 kilometres from those countries' borders.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“At the time, France had enjoyed the support and assistance of the Allies. More recently, under President George W. Bush, the American people is showing exemplary courage in trying to cope, as a nation, with an attack against the "American way of life", which the whole world admires and envies. The United States naturally enjoys support from many other countries in combating terrorism. Our Government and people reiterate their sympathy to the American Government and people and reaffirm the commitment made by Major-General Joseph Kabila, President of the Republic, to join the struggle against terrorism in all of its manifestations. I am pleased to note that the addendum confirms the conclusions and validates all the elements of the report that appeared earlier in document S/2001/357.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“No army from a SADC member country would have been brought into my country without the consent of the legitimate Government had the Democratic Republic of the Congo not been attacked, suffered aggression and been invaded. The Government considers that condemning an initiative that enabled it to defend its national sovereignty amounts to depriving a State of its basic right under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to resort to individual or collective self-defence to preserve its sovereignty and territorial integrity. In this connection, we would do well to recall France under General Charles de Gaulle, who spoke before, during and after the Second World War in support of respect for the sovereignty of all States, the preservation of their independence and the maintenance of international peace and security.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“This includes all kinds of mining, production, marketing and exporting from the Democratic Republic of the Congo without the consent of the legitimate Government - in other words, in violation of national sovereignty, mining codes, environmental provisions, international treaty law and customary law. In calling into question the countries members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) that came to help one of their own cope with armed aggression, it seems to me that the addendum inaccurately reflects the relevant facts and also seems to depart from the definition of illegal exploitation as set forth in paragraph 15.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Burundi was invited to Kinshasa to consider the modalities for the withdrawal of Burundi troops from Congolese territory and to discuss normalizing diplomatic relations between the two countries. Sll'V.4437 As for the matter under consideration, the Council has before it the addendum to the report of the Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, activities that violate its national sovereignty. It is important to note that in order to define the aim of its work the Panel of Experts saw fit to define and interpret the concept of illegal exploitation in its report.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“This should give all Congolese socio-political groups an opportunity to be involved in the national dialogue. The main obstacles to political negotiations, apart from the financial obstacles, have now been lifted. The Abuja meeting also showed once again that when the Congolese political actors meet among themselves without outside interference, they are always able to understand each other and find compromise solutions. A new meeting of experts is scheduled for early January to prepare for a summit between the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the leaders of the two rebel movements. At the regional level, after several informal meetings between the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Burundi and of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Governments of the two countries decided to improve bilateral relations.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Significant progress was made, which will help in future inter-Congolese negotiations, including the inter-Congolese dialogue scheduled to take place in South Africa. We are very grateful to the Government of South Africa for offering to host the forum so that we can work towards reconciliation and national harmony, and in general for the tireless efforts of that fraternal country to restore peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to promote the dignity of the Congolese people. My Government welcomes the fact that the participants at the informal negotiations concluded that there was a need to abide by the commitments entered into at Gaborone, including that relating to the inclusive nature of the inter-Congolese dialogue, as called for in Security Council resolutions and as a fundamental principle of the Lusaka Agreement.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“This is a serious hindrance to the important partnership that the Council had so patiently worked on with the actors in the Congolese drama. The Rwandan authorities, favouring force as a way of resolving the conflict, have now become the main obstacle to the peace process and to democratization in the Great Lakes region. It is up to the Council to note this and to condemn it strongly, because strengthening the Rwandan military presence poses the obvious risk of a widespread resumption of warfare. With regard to the elections, the new political order, national sovereignty and territorial integrity, it was decided by common consent to hold a meeting later, when those matters would be taken up.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Finally, each component can bring members of the diaspora into its delegation as it sees fit. The second point considered was the orderly withdrawal of foreign forces. The Government demonstrated that new Rwandan troops had been deployed in Congolese territory and that there was real difficulty in achieving a resolution through the inter- Congolese dialogue if the occupying forces - mainly Rwandan and Ugandan - did not withdraw from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo before the conclusion of the dialogue. The occupation tends to perpetuate itself, and the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has confirmed that Rwandan troops have been deployed.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“It was agreed that there would be broader representativeness with fewer participants, and this would mean the following: first, the number of participants in the inter- Congolese dialogue would be reduced from 330 to 300; secondly, each of the components - the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD)- Goma, the Mouvement de liberation congolais (MLC) and the political opposition - was reduced from 62 to 55 representatives; thirdly, the civil society component was strengthened and raised to 66 representatives in order to allow the participation of religious groups and the Mayi-Mayi resistance; fourthly, traditional chiefs are represented by at least two representatives in each of the three groups present in Abuja; fifthly, as for the external political opposition, the 55 delegates are distributed as follows: five for the outside opposition, 30 for the Gaborone political groups and 20 for other political movements not yet involved in the inter- Congolese dialogue.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“S/l'V.4437 The first issue, which related to the question of inclusive participation, was initially considered in the presence of the United Nations mediator and members of the facilitation team, after which the matter was discussed privately among the Congolese exclusively. During that second, private, meeting, a compromise emerged on the numbers, the quotas and the nature of the participants in the inter-Congolese dialogue.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Before giving my delegation's assessment of the matter before us today, I should like to tell the Council about the outcome of the informal inter-Congolese political negotiations that were held from 6 to 9 December in Abuja, the capital of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The negotiations were mediated by Assistant Secretary-General Mr. Ibrahima Fall; Ambassador Mogwe and Professor Lebatt, who are members of the national dialogue facilitation team, were also invited as observers. Generally speaking, the issues discussed related to the major questions still outstanding after the Addis Ababa meeting.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“At a time when the world is welcoming the notable progress in the Burundi peace process, much remains to be done for Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I would therefore like to ask our friends who are leaving the Council to continue to champion the cause of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in all forums, in the United Nations and elsewhere, so as to promote peace, not only for the countries and peoples who have suffered so greatly, but also for all the countries and peoples of the Great Lakes region, which have been in turmoil for more than 10 years.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“Mr. Okitundu (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (spoke in French): At the outset, I should like to say how pleased my delegation and I are to see you, Sir, presiding over this public meeting of the Security Council on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I should also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the excellent work done by the Permanent Representative of Jamaica during her presidency last month. Through you, Sir, I would also like to pay a well- deserved tribute to the outgoing members of the Security Council, particularly our African brothers, Tunisia and your country, Mali. I should like to express the appreciation of my country for your tireless efforts in the quest for peace in our region in particular - in Angola, Burundi and my country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2001-12-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4437 (2001) · source
“I cannot conclude without restating my Government's concern regarding the snail's pace of the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. My Government is convinced that because of procrastination, only greater involvement of the Security Council and the redefinition of the MONUC mandate, in order to give it a clear enforcement capacity, can bring about the successful implementation of the process now under way. Finally, to put an end to the allegations of certain parties, the Government invites MONUC to intensify its deployment in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is currently occupied. All this justifies the urgent need to redefine the mandate and increase the MONUC staff.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“To secure the smooth development and regular follow-up of all relevant MONUC activities and the Joint Military Commission, my Government is convinced that the co-location of these two structures in Kinshasa and in the field will promote significant progress in the peace process. This is why my Government invites the Security Council to exert all its influence to ensure that the decision to co-locate the Joint Military Commission and MONUC, which has been accepted by all the parties, will be realized, particularly bearing in mind that the security concerns raised by certain parties have been proved baseless in the report of the Chairman of the Joint Military Commission submitted to the Security Council delegation in Lusaka on 22 May 2001.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“Regarding the transition to phase III, it is important to note that in his report the Secretary- General, on the basis of the conclusions of the Council mission to the Great Lakes region, calls on the Council to approve the transition to phase III of MONUC. My Government takes note of the ceiling of 5,537 personnel. However, we vigorously request that the MONUC mandate be redefined to endow it with a clear enforcement capacity. As far as I am concerned, this is a sine qua non for the success of the process. It also seems vital to me to underline that the imperative of the withdrawal activities of foreign troops call for increased civilian, military and associated MONUC staff, so that it can successfully carry out the support policies aimed at ensuring peace, security and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“If the reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is handled properly from the outset, it can only help the situation throughout Central Africa and the Great Lakes region, which includes Rwanda and Burundi, and where, until not so long ago, there was a regulatory mechanism with an integrating effect that facilitated their peaceful coexistence. This mechanism could be revived in some other form on which we could all agree. Therefore, the disengagement and withdrawal processes must be accelerated to put an end to the misery of the Congolese people. A large-scale international humanitarian operation, in which many friendly countries have already announced their willingness to participate, would finally permit the Democratic Republic of the Congo to create optimum conditions to curtail traditional structural forms of cooperation.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“The Democratic Republic of the Congo requires the full support of the international community. In an act of international solidarity that is commensurate with existing needs, the international community must commit itself to helping the Democratic Republic of the Congo, particularly through the appropriate resumption of multilateral and bilateral structural cooperation, as well as by providing access to various debt-relief mechanisms, including the facilities enjoyed by countries emerging from an armed conflict under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“This is also a contravention of the principle of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has been repeatedly reaffirmed in United Nations resolutions on the situation in my country. The Council mission identified and announced publicly some 40 small quick-impact projects to be carried out in the zones where the contingents of MONUC are deployed. My Government is grateful to the leader of the Council mission for having called upon the Bretton Woods institutions to contribute to the implementation of these projects. However, what is important for the Congolese population is the need to include provisions for post- conflict management that is appropriate for this crisis in the plans to restore lasting peace.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“Furthermore, the systematic looting of the natural resources and other forms of wealth of the soil and the subsoil of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is being carried out at an unbridled pace with full impunity, thus depriving an entire population of the benefit of the tremendous resources the country is fortunate enough to possess. The Council is also aware that these activities run counter to international public law and violate the Congolese people's right to freely dispose of its natural wealth and resources, as enshrined in common article 1 of the two United Nations covenants of 1966: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“Such bodies as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the European Community Humanitarian Office point to an unbearable humanitarian catastrophe. There are 2.1 million displaced persons. Almost 400,000 Congolese have taken refuge in neighbouring countries. Sixteen million people have been directly affected by the war, and the number of vulnerable persons - street children, widows, orphans - has multiplied. Child soldiers have been recruited by force. The Council mission noted the precarious situation of the Congolese population in the provinces that are occupied as well as in those that are under Government control. The recent Government devaluation, carried out on the recommendation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, has had a devastating effect on the daily lives of my people.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“With the support of the United Nations Children's Fund, my Government recently launched a vast awareness campaign to ensure the immediate demobilization of any child soldiers still serving in the Congolese armed forces, to halt the use of child soldiers and to protect children from sexual abuse and other forms of exploitation. With respect to the humanitarian situation and the economic recovery of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we must note that the humanitarian situation in my country is a disaster. According to data provided by non-governmental organizations, such as the International Rescue Committee and United Nations agencies, more than 2.5 million Congolese have died in the occupied territories as the direct or indirect victims of aggression.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“As regards the issue of child soldiers, my Government has already issued a decree, as pointed out earlier by Mr. Otunnu, forbidding the recruitment of child soldiers in the Congolese armed forces and launching the process of their demobilization. During his recent visit to Kinshasa, Mr. Otunnu, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, noted that my country has signed and ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, as well as the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“With respect to the inter-Congolese dialogue, my Government reaffirms its commitment to that great forum, which it considers to be an irreversible process and the best possible road to national reconciliation. We place all our trust in President Masire's ability to convene the inter-Congolese dialogue as soon as possible. We wish it to be an inclusive process that will bring together all trends and socio-political groupings in the country, with no foreign interference or military pressure whatsoever, so that they may reflect on and devote themselves calmly to the future of the Congolese nation and have their say in the new institutions of the next Republic. That is why we have welcomed the facilitator's proposal to convene a preparatory meeting to the dialogue on 16 July 2001.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“It is important for us to know, however, that a peace restored through negotiations between States will not last long unless the deep-seated causes of the crisis in the Great Lakes region, including exclusion and intolerance, are addressed. Lasting peace in the Great Lakes region requires the promotion of democracy, human rights, national concord and reconciliation within each of our countries. To ignore this dimension of the issue of peace would be to prolong the unrest for a long time or indefinitely and to strengthen the advocates of ethnic cleansing. The adherents and advocates of these ideologies must be sought and brought before an international tribunal.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“In that respect, I would inform the Council that my Government has taken the initiative of opening direct contacts at the highest level with the leaders of the aggressor countries. We seek credibly to formulate our security concerns and to define practical modalities of responding to them. That is the only way for us to find a way of reconciling our countries and to establish peaceful coexistence between our States and respective peoples. As to my Government, I can assure the Council that the Democratic Republic of the Congo cannot serve as a staging post for the destabilization of neighbouring countries.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“In the ongoing interest of advancing the peace process, my Government affirms that it will spare no effort at that meeting to finalize the plans for withdrawal and for disarmament, demobilization, resettlement, reintegration and repatriation. Specific instructions will be given to the Government representative so that he may assist in resolving all pending issues. With respect to the disarmament of the armed groups, disarmament, demobilization, resettlement, reintegration and repatriation will be provided to them in conformity with the Lusaka Agreement, which, we would recall, recognizes the need to find solutions to the security concerns of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the neighbouring countries.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“As regards the withdrawal of foreign forces and disarmament, demobilization, resettlement, reintegration and repatriation, all the leaders of the region confirmed to the Council mission the joint objective of withdrawing from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in accordance with the relevant provisions of resolution 1304 (2000). Furthermore, we clearly stated in Lusaka that this concept of the withdrawal of foreign forces should include a timetable with D-Day set for 22 February 2001. As is known, General Njuki Mwaniki, Chairman of the Joint Military Commission (JMC) entrusted with the implementation of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, has convened a meeting of the JMC for 22 June in order to finalize precise plans for withdrawal and for disarmament, demobilization, resettlement, reintegration and repatriation.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“It is also up to the Security Council to consider innovative measures to ensure respect for resolution 1304 (2000). The United Nations must be in a position to reinforce the Moroccan troops and to increase its civilian and associated staff in order to assist in administering the city. Just as Kisangani has been the symbol of the martyrdom and suffering of the Congolese people, we are convinced that it will become the political and physical symbol of renewal and the return to dignity of an entire people.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“All this fighting entailed tremendous loss of human life, as well as the destruction of the economic, social and cultural infrastructures of the city. These serious armed confrontations have left an indelible mark and deeply traumatized the population of Kisangani. My Government therefore calls on the Security Council to determine, in the draft resolution that it is about to adopt on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a specific date for the effective and complete demilitarization of Kisangani. It is up to the Security Council to transmit a clear and precise message reminding the forces of occupation not to underestimate its determination to enforce respect for all resolutions on the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and that they must demilitarize Kisangani as soon as possible.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“This deliberate non-demilitarization can be characterized only as a flagrant violation of the relevant provisions of resolution 1304 (2000) of 16 June 2000, unanimously adopted by the Council over a year ago, which provisions were reaffirmed by International Court of Justice Order No. 116 of 1 July 2000 concerning the armed activities on the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the risk of wearying its members, I must remind the Council that the city of Kisangani underwent its own war within the war of aggression. Kisangani was the theatre of unusually violent fighting between the regular armed forces of Uganda and Rwanda, in violation not only of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, but also and above all of international public law.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“That is, moreover, the position of this Council, clearly expressed in paragraph 103 of the mission report contained in document S/2001/521 of 29 May, in which the main organ responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security affirms that its members would react sharply if that party did not disengage to the agreed position as from 1 June. With respect to the question of the demilitarization of Kisangani, my Government feels that it should be resolved on a priority basis. The Council mission to the Great Lakes region noted that Kisangani has yet to be demilitarized.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source
“The Security Council had ordered that party to disengage from Equateur province starting on 1 June 2001, to new defensive positions under the Harare sub- plans. My Government must inform the Security Council that the party has in no way disengaged in keeping with the Kampala plan of 8 April 2000. If the disengagement is to be consistent with the Kampala plan, the party must withdraw by at least 165 kilometres from its current positions. If disengagement does not take place shortly, as determined by this Council, the measures provided for in paragraph 28 of resolution 1341 (2001) of 22 February 2001 must be imposed.”
2001-06-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4327 (2001) · source