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In planned visit to Central Africa, Security Council to spotlight potential for peace

1 November 2005 – Aiming to spotlight the potential for peace in Central Africa, the United Nations Security Council has announced plans to visit five countries in the region, which is largely recovering from ethnic and territorial conflict.

"Peace in Africa's Great Lakes region has never been so close," the Council said in a letter to Secretary-General Kofi Annan released today.

In terms of reference annexed to the letter, the Council says the mission, slated to begin this weekend, "will stress the importance of achieving sustainable peace and security and stability for all countries in the region."

The 15-member mission, led by the Permanent Representative of France, Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière, will visit the DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, which have had conflicts, and Tanzania, which has both acted as mediator and hosted many refugees.

The members "will welcome the efforts already made by countries in the region to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue and consultations and the establishment of confidence-building measures and mechanisms, and will encourage them to continue to do so," the letter says.

The trip will emphasize the unity of the Council and will underscore the importance of the resources the UN has committed to peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Burundi.

In the DRC, the progress on the political transition is inadequate without an electoral law, improved governance, further training of police and military and the acceleration of the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programme, the Council asserts.

The DRC transition must culminate in the holding of free elections by June 2006. "There is no alternative scenario," the Council says. "Everyone must continue to ensure that no support is given to those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who do not share this objective."

In Burundi, the success of the political transition augurs well for the future of the country and the region, the letter states, calling for the authorities to work with the UN to establish a mechanism to end impunity and promote reconciliation.

Meanwhile, "the Forces nationales de libération (Palipehutu-FNL), which pose a threat to the security of Burundi and of the region as a whole, must join the peace camp without delay," the Council says.

While paying tribute to the decisive role of Uganda in Burundi's successful transition process, the letter voices concern about continuing tensions in the Congolese district of Ituri and raises questions about "outside support received by the militias responsible for the situation." The letter also raises the possibility of the Council imposing individual sanctions against those who violate the arms embargo against DRC groups.

Members of the Council mission will also discuss the implementation of an amnesty for those members of the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) who have not been responsible for the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

The Council expresses gratitude to Tanzania "for having given shelter to several hundreds of thousands of refugees in recent years" and says the conditions for their orderly repatriation must be reviewed so as to speed up the return flows.