International Crisis Group Calls for New Approach to Disarmament and Reintegration
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
May 27, 2003
Posted to the web May 27, 2003
Nairobi
A new approach is needed to the disarmament and reintegration of Hutu rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to a new report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) issued on Friday.
The report, entitled "Rwandan Hutu Rebels in the Congo: a New Approach to Disarmament and Reintegration", states that the current mechanism for disarmament of armed groups through the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) is a "failure". It calls on the Security Council "to rethink the operation urgently" and reinforce MONUC's mandate to allow it to use force in self-defence and in defence of civilians. MONUC itself must also speed up its troop deployments in eastern DRC.
Efforts by IRIN to obtain a reaction from MONUC to the report have been unsuccessful.
"The disarmament and repatriation plan to be carried out by MONUC is fundamentally flawed," Francois Grignon, the ICG's Central Africa project director, said. "It treats disarmament as strictly a security issue, and a Congolese issue. The internal Rwandan political dimension has not received serious attention."
According to ICG, MONUC has disarmed and repatriated a few hundred Hutu fighters out of 15,000 to 20,000 rebels spread over 150,000 sq km, and the main Hutu rebel group to be disarmed, the Forces democratiques pour la liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), has many allies among the warlords and militias of eastern DRC. "And until Rwanda moves towards greater political openness and reconciliation, they will not disarm," ICG stated. "The fact that Rwanda and the DRC have so far kept their military options open further diminishes prospects for disarmament and demobilisation of Rwandan rebels."
Disarmament by force is not an option, according to ICG. What is needed are stronger diplomatic efforts, with Rwanda in particular and between Rwanda and the DRC, to address the security, political and economic concerns of the non-genocidaire FDLR rank and file.
"The recent violence in Ituri, where hundreds of people have died in horrific circumstances, illustrates MONUC's impotence," ICG stated. "MONUC needs the urgent deployment of a rapid reaction force to restore order in Ituri and prevent further massacres of the civilians it is already mandated to protect. It also needs military capacity to deter the Hutu rebels from destabilising Rwanda and to back up renewed diplomatic efforts for voluntary disarmament."
With the installation of a transitional government in Kinshasa planned for June, ICG has urged the UN Security Council to "seize the opportunity presented by the creation of a new government to give a new dynamism to disarmament efforts".
"The international community as a whole must convince the Rwandan government that the solution to ending the spiral of violence is its own political opening, and a genuine national debate on the country's future," it added.
