DATE=4/14/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=HOLBROOKE TO CONGO (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261332
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The American Ambassador to the United Nations,
Richard Holbrooke, will lead a U-N Security Council
mission to Congo-Kinshasa early next month. The
announcement came today (Friday) as the Council
reviewed a report on the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. VOA
Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from the United
Nations.
TEXT: Many Council members said that the report,
which was issued in December, is still relevant
because it provides cautionary lessons for current and
future U-N peacekeeping missions. The report says that
a lack of resources, and a lack of political will were
the main reasons that the United Nations was unable to
prevent or stop the 1994 mass murder of Tutsis and
some moderate Hutus in Rwanda.
Mr. Holbrooke, who has devoted much of his time to the
problems of Africa, will be leading the Security
Council fact-finding mission to Congo - the D-R-C - on
May second. He says that groups responsible for the
genocide in Rwanda are still a threat in Congo - the
D-R-C.
///Holbrooke act///
It is undeniable that many of the Rwandan
murderers remain at large within the territory
of Congo. Many of them wish to renew the
genocide. The government of the D-R-C is unable
to prevent the use of its territory by these
armed groups. It is simply outside its (Congo's)
physical, logistical and political capability.
///end act///
Mr. Holbrooke has frequently said that the future of
the United Nations may well depend on "getting it
right" in Congo.
The Security Council has already approved a 55-hundred
member military observer mission for Congo but its
deployment could be several months away.
///Rest opt///
The report on the Rwanda genocide was prepared by a
special commission chaired by Ingvar Carlsson, the
former Prime Minister of Sweden. He says the central
lesson of Rwanda is that there was a clear lack of
political will by the international community to
provide the resources that were needed in Rwanda.
///Carlsson act///
The United Nations is the only organization
which can bring global legitimacy to
peacekeeping. The reverse side of that coin (the
opposite of that) is that failed peacekeeping
efforts cause devastating damage to the
credibility of this organization. To the members
of the Security Council I say, give peacekeeping
operations the mandates they need, see to it
that the resources provided fit the mandates and
mobilize the political will to provide the
troops that the United Nations needs at short
notice.
///end act///
Mr. Carlsson says the Security Council should have
been better informed of the developments leading up to
the Rwanda genocide.
Diplomats say an indication the Council has learned
that lesson is suggested by the planned Council
missions to Congo next month and Kosovo later this
month.(Signed
NEB/UN/BA/LSF/PT
14-Apr-2000 16:20 PM EDT (14-Apr-2000 2020 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
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