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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs |
DRC: Ituri militias agree to work with transitional government
KINSHASA, 25 August 2003 (IRIN) - Militias in the embattled Ituri District of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have agreed to work together with the newly-inaugurated transitional government in restoring state authority across the region, Thomas Lubanga, head of the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC) told IRIN on Monday.
The news follows several days of discussions held last week in the national capital, Kinshasa, between 29 representatives of numerous rival militias and the new national government, aimed at including the armed groups in a peace and reconciliation process from which they had complained of being excluded.
In a memorandum of understanding signed at the end of the talks, the Ituri militias pledged to end hostilities in the region and to bring an end to "uncontrolled" groups that have continued to commit massacres despite the signing of several ceasefire agreements.
"We decided to put past stumbling blocks behind us in favour of focusing on ways in which we could participate in restoring peace in the region," Lubanga said, after a meeting with DRC President Joseph Kabila.
"We met with the president in an effort to work towards what is most important for the Congolese people: the reunification of the country," he said.
"Previously, we were in camps that were diametrically opposed, with the government allied to Mbusa Nyamwisi of the RCD-K/ML [Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Kisangani/Mouvement de liberation former rebel movement], with whom we had fought, while we had the RCD-Goma [former rebel movement] as an ally ... all this served as grounds for war between us," Lubanga added.
He remained in Kinshasa on Monday. The leaders of the other militias returned to Bunia, the principal town of Ituri, over the weekend.
"We asked that our troops be integrated into the united national army, which is in the process of being formed," Jerome Kakawavu Bakonde of the Forces armees du peuple Congolais (FAPC) said.
"We also wanted to be included in the management of the country through the various transitional government institutions," Floribert Ndjabu Ngabu, leader of the Front des nationalistes et integrationnistes, said.
"There will be solutions at the political and military levels," national Defence Minister Jean-Pierre Ondekane, of the RCD-Goma former rebel movement, said last week.
"As for the government, we cannot violate the constitution by adding posts that were not foreseen," he added.
"We brought them to Kinshasa to listen to them, to hear their concerns," Interior Minister Theophile Mbemba, of the former Kinshasa government, told IRIN. "In turn, ministers responsible for various sectors will make proposals."
He added: "While it is true that we are not going to condone the massacres for which they are responsible, there have been a number of problems, which we must approach in a calm manner.
"The government has made a number of decisions, including the deployment of an integrated national police force and the restoration of a system of justice [in Ituri]. The authority of the state will be restored. If they do not seize the opportunity now afforded them to join the reunification process of our country and to respect the constitution, then they will find themselves enemies of the Republic, and the government of the Republic will take necessary action."
The armed groups of Ituri were not party to the inter-Congolese dialogue, which led to a national power-sharing accord in December 2002.
"There are a number of ways of bringing them into the process," Petronille Vaweka, president of the Ituri interim assembly, said. "There is administration at the provincial and other levels, as well as other state activities."
Economically-fuelled inter-ethnic fighting for Ituri's natural resources has resulted in more than 50,000 deaths and 500,000 internally displaced persons since war in the DRC erupted in August 1998.
An EU-led multinational force, known as Artemis, was deployed with a UN mandate in June to protect civilians in Bunia, following an upsurge in fighting in May. By 1 September, it is due to be relieved by peacekeepers from the UN Mission in DRC, known as MONUC, who have already started to arrive.
Theme(s): (IRIN) Conflict, (IRIN) Governance
[ENDS]
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