YouSaid · the spoken record

Thambwe Mwamba

lines on the record: 27
first: 2008-12-22
most recent: 2008-12-22
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: un-security-council

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“Nkunda is a creation from outside, not for reasons of security, we have always maintained, but for purely economic reasons.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Nkunda has created for economic reasons, one that he is continuing to use along with other claims. It is completely false to say that the Tutsi ethnic group today is an ethnic group that is threatened. We removed the major problem in the Constitution; we have done everything we could to integrate them. In the last Government, the Governmental representative of the Tutsi ethnic group was the president of the Tutsi community of North Kivu. I do not want to get back into that discussion, which is rather reductionist, but I did want to correct the record. If the same efforts were to be made by neighbouring countries to handle problems inside their countries, the entire region would be at peace. We do not want to move backwards, but it is clear that Mr.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Nkunda's ethnic group, despite its number, has a presence - in the Senate, in the National Assembly, in the Government and even in the army, where there are nine generals of his ethnic group, 19 colonels and several hundred majors and senior officers. I do not think that he would find the same proportion in neighbouring countries. We do not want to take a step backwards. We are steadfastly committed to move forward to normalized relations with Rwanda, but it is still important for everyone to be involved. In less than two months we have had six meetings, five on a bilateral basis with Rwanda, plus a sixth meeting with Burundi and Rwanda, and that was because we had moved forward in our programme to normalize the situation. Therefore, we need to do away with this pretext that Mr.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Nkunda now wants there to be a new North Kivu province that he might be able to lead, even in that province he would be in the minority. So, it is extremely dangerous to maintain such a position. In the end, Mr. Nkunda, through his actions, is making enemies out of 10 million people in North Kivu who already detest him, and he is endangering his own ethnic group, which he claims he is trying to protect. The Tutsis are not the smallest minority in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - I told you about the Bayanzi. We did what we had to do to integrate them into our institutions. That is why you will find that in all of our country's institutions today, Mr.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“At the same time, what is happening today in the Kivus appears very clearly as a transposition onto Congolese territory of conflicts that had been raging in neighbouring countries, because the people being massacred by Mr. Nkunda in Kiwanja are curiously all part of the same ethnic group, the Congolese Hutus. This shows that the Rwandan conflict has been transferred onto our territory. Today, of the 1.5 million displaced Congolese persons in North Kivu, 90 per cent belong to the same ethnic group, the Congolese Hutus. This means that, if we continue to entertain that type of argument, we are, in fact, working against the Congolese Tutsis, because the Hutus that are currently in North Kivu and the Bantu, generally, what are in the two Kivus, amount to roughly 10 million people. Now, if Mr.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Thus, in the last Constitution, which was adopted by referendum, as well as in the Transition Constitution drafted as a result of the Sun City Agreement, deleted that historical reference to tribes that had been established on Congolese territory at the time of the Berlin Conference in favour of the principle enshrined in today's Constitution, which is that all tribes on Congolese territory on 30 June 1960 have Congolese nationality. Thus, the major challenge that the representative referred to was overturned by the will of the Congolese themselves. To say today that Mr. Nkunda is the leader of an ethnic group that feels threatened is excessive and deeply shocks us.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“There was a real problem for the Tutsi minority, which had to do with their Congolese nationality: after independence, all of the constitutions that were written in our country stated that the descendants of ethnic groups and tribes established on Congolese territory at the time of the Berlin Conference were Congolese nationals. Based on that principle, for a number of decades, we denied Congolese nationality to Tutsis who had immigrated afterwards. We then thought that it was necessary to go beyond that interpretation.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Mr. Thambwe Mwamba (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (spoke in French): I did not at all wish to get into a debate, but I think that the excesses found in the statement given by the Permanent Representative of Rwanda require me to attempt to re-establish some truth. The first thing that must be pointed out is that, as anyone who knows African geography knows, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a mosaic of minorities. There is no one dominant tribe. I really do not like talking about individual tribes. The representative talked about the Tutsis and I think it is very sad to have to single out one particular tribe because we are a mosaic of tribes and the Tutsis are not the smallest of the minorities. For that, one can look in Katanga; it is the Banyanzi who are the smallest - they have only one village.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“That can never be replaced by individual and ephemeral criminal proceeds from smuggling, nor by organized looting of State terrorism. The wish of my country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is that 2009 will be the year of the end of the suffering of its people, the year of the return to peace in the hearts and minds of all, not only for Congolese but also for all peoples in the countries of the Great Lakes region. It is on this hopeful note that I would like to conclude by wishing members of the Council and their families my most sincere wishes for happiness and prosperity in the upcoming year. May 2009 bring to the world more understanding, more tolerance, more peace and more solidarity.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Joseph Kabila Kabange, said in his most recent state of the nation address - from "eliminating real or imagined disagreements that are poisoning our relations with some of our neighbours. In that way we will tangibly reduce the scope for violence and pillage in the region, which has long been facilitated by the lack of communications among our States". Thanks to the geographic and economically strategic situation and to our natural resources - which should naturally provide us with an engine for development both regionally and subregionally in peace, security and freely accepted democracy - sustainable development in my country, integrated and unified regionally and subregionally, will absolutely provide major and ongoing opportunities for our neighbours in particular and Africa in general.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“It is a victim of theft, rape and massacre. It is paying for a crime it did not commit, and it is paying because at the time the international community was unable to correctly handle the extremely grave situation in Rwanda. Along with that country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has developed an operational plan to resolve the problem, with the assistance of MONUC. Elsewhere, in Orientale province, joint military operations by Uganda, the Sudan and my country are under way with a view to putting an end to the destructive activities of the Lord's Resistance Army. We hope that the confluence of all these manifestations of regional cooperation will eliminate any pretext preventing us - as our head of State, His Excellency the President of the Republic, Mr.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“This is taking place strictly within the framework of the AMANI programme agreed upon in Goma by all parties. For my Government the AMANI programme remains the sole framework for discussions. The programme, which resulted from the Goma act of engagement adopted at the Conference on Peace, Security and Development for the Provinces of North and South Kivu, calls for the disengagement of armed troops, offering each the option of either being integrated into the regular army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo or being demobilized and reintegrated into society. No other framework for discussion should be opened lest other armed troops claim the same right. Finally, with respect to foreign combatants on Congolese soil, it must be noted that the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the main victim of that presence.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Moreover, the reactivation of the CEPGL will provide an opportunity for us to discuss our bilateral problems and to broaden and deepen this new momentum and this new spirit of cooperation and understanding, including in the economic and security spheres. I wish to inform the Council that the process of assigning Congolese officials to staff this structure is under way; it too will be finalized during the first quarter of 2009. In addition to my Government's efforts to restore peace and peaceful coexistence with all our neighbours, let me reaffirm that within our country the Democratic Republic of the Congo is taking the same measures to make it possible to coexist peacefully with all elements of our national community. That is the context of the cooperation process now under way in Nairobi with United Nations facilitation.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Despite the lack of security within and beyond our borders, despite the constant violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, despite the large number of refugees and displaced persons and despite the continuing illegal exploitation of our natural resources, my Government is firmly committed to attaining peace in the subregion through the restoration of normal diplomatic relations with all neighbouring countries and intensification of economic and trade cooperation through reactivating the Economic Community of the Great Lake Countries (CEPGL). In that connection, we have decided, in agreement with our neighbours, to exchange ambassadors during the first quarter of 2009.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“I affirm that those acts, when proven, have been carried out by unauthorized persons and in no case constitute a deliberate Government policy. Whenever the Government has been informed of such acts, appropriate measures have been taken; that will continue to be the case in the fresh context of cooperation between my Government and MONUC.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“The report of Southern Africa Resource Watch differs from the others in that it identifies, names and lists multinational corporations and other predatory enterprises that have made their fortune on the resources of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the blood of its people. All of those criminals have been clearly identified, and Council members know who they are. That was the purely commercial start of the destabilization of the Kivus. Here, I welcome the commitment of the Belgian Government and the determination of my colleague Karel de Gucht to punish all businesses and individuals who make use of Belgian territory to engage in these illegal activities. I should also note that the report of the Group of Experts sets out serious grievances against my Government.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Led by individuals who are marked by massive violations of human rights and some of whom are indeed sought by the international justice system, this armed group, with its fallacious and incoherent claims, operates more like a mercenary group than a pseudo-political movement. In addition to the report of the Group of Experts, incisive testimony on this matter has also come from international institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Reports by Global Witness, Human Rights Watch and Rights and Accountability in Development are eloquent on the subject.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“If the international community had listened to us, and if the Security Council had reached a consensus that would have enabled it to act in partnership with the Congolese Government, we would have saved millions of human lives and prevented the massive civilian displacements that we now regret to see in the Kivus. The soil and subsoil of the Kivus are overflowing with vast natural resources. As members know, some of our neighbouring countries are members of the exclusive group of the world's main exporters of coltan, cassiterite and other equally important minerals of which their own subsoils do not contain even traces. The Congres national pour la defense du peuple (CNDP) is a part of that structure. Thus, it is beyond our borders that one must look for that structure's underlying nature.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“At its next meeting, the Security Council will take a decision on the sanctions regime in my country. In that connection, the final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (S/2008/773, enclosure), which my Government accepts, provides eloquent information on the foreign connections in the illegal exploitation of our natural resources, which are fuelling the surge of violence in the two Kivus. The report clearly shows that the true underlying reasons why the Democratic Republic of the Congo is being torn apart are, first and foremost, economic in nature. Also, it confirms the accusations that my delegations has consistently made for years.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Two years ago, the Democratic Republic of the Congo established new legitimate institutions as a result of successful free and democratic elections - the first in more than 40 years of a crisis of legitimacy. Following those elections - which were organized and successfully carried out with the help of the international community - we believed that a lasting peace would be put in place, and we rightly made reconstruction and development our priority, along with efforts to eradicate insecurity in the eastern part of the country and to strengthen the rule of law, democracy and good governance. Today, unfortunately, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a country that, while in a post-conflict situation, remains in a situation of conflict: a particularly deadly conflict that is destroying all of our country's economic recovery efforts.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Similarly, the recommendation of the Secretary- General to reconfigure MONUC in order to strengthen its effectiveness and to refocus its action on the Kivu provinces is something that we fully support. That is why my Government believes that, in this context, the massive and visible presence of a United Nations military contingent in Goma would reassure populations and persuade them of the merit of United Nations action, seeking to ease their suffering and to re-establish peace, as is the case today in other provinces in the Republic. It is for these reasons that my Government insists that MONUC's military command should be set up in Goma and not in Kinshasa.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“A new humanitarian catastrophe with massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, in particular violence against women and children, is taking place at this very moment with the complete indifference of the international Powers and cartels who are not, however, unaware of what is at stake in the upheaval unfairly imposed on our country. Thus we wish for a rapid United Nations deployment. If, however, for technical and logistical reasons, such deployment is delayed, my Government would also welcome the deployment of a transitional force, which would be placed under the Security Council mandate or would act with the Council's support.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“The Congolese Government and people therefore expect these new United Nations forces to be deployed rapidly in order to put an end to the unspeakable suffering of the populations of the provinces of North and South Kivu and of the Ituri district in Eastern Province. At the very moment I address this Council, the situation that prevails in my country, in the heart of Africa, is nothing short of a major and unqualified disaster. In fact, for almost ten years, the two Kivu provinces have seen one of the deadliest conflicts since the Second World War. There have been approximately five million deaths, and more than 1,700,000 women, children, elderly people and men have been displaced and left to wander. This is more than in Darfur.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“We are especially pleased that MONUC missions, in close cooperation with the Government, are being strengthened and consolidated in the protection of the civilian population through disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for national armed groups; disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation, reintegration and repatriation programmes for foreign armed groups; monitoring of the financing of those armed groups; and support for security sector reform and for the territorial integrity and political independence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“The adoption of this resolution comes after that of resolution 1843 (2008) on 20 November 2008, whereby the Council authorized, as recommended by the Secretary-General, a temporary increase in MONUC military and police personnel, as well as their immediate deployment, in order to allow the mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to strengthen its capacity to protect civilian populations in the provinces of North and South Kivu. Through me, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo welcomes this new resolution.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Ban Ki-moon, who has devoted himself personally to seeking viable ways and means to restore peace to my country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has been doing so since he came to head this universal Organization. I also welcome the presence here today of my counterpart from the Kingdom of Belgium, Mr. Karel de Gucht. The Security Council has just adopted the resolution that extends the mandate of MONUC and requalifies its missions.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source
“Mr. Thambwe Mwamba (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (spoke in French): As your presidency is drawing to a close, Sir, I should like to congratulate you on the very significant work that you have accomplished during the month of December. I thank you very much for allowing me to participate in this important meeting of the Security Council on the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). I would like to take this opportunity to praise your predecessor, the Permanent Representative of Costa Rica, for the skill he showed last month in handling the very complex range of issues that come before the Council. I would like to thank in particular the Secretary-General, Mr.”
2008-12-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6055 (2008) · source