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| Author: | Princeton N. Lyman, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies |
|---|
March 1, 2005
Written testimony before the Committee on International Relations’ Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights, and International Operations
Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, thank you for holding this important hearing. I am pleased to offer this testimony on the issues surrounding MONUC [the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo] and the implications for U.N. peacekeeping reform
The U.N. has been rocked by a series of scandals and investigations lately. The problems in MONUC are among the latest and deserve careful attention. The charges of sexual abuse are of course most dismaying. Such conduct is a betrayal, a betrayal of the trust and hopes a suffering population puts in the U.N., but also a betrayal of the honor and purposes of the U.N. Earlier, MONUC suffered a loss of confidence when it initially failed to stop the overrunning of the city of Bukavu by a rebel force, and in other instances by its inability to stop gross human rights violations, especially in the Ituri region of Congo.
But the problems of MONUC need to be put in context and must lead us to the right conclusions not the wrong ones. U.N. peacekeeping has never faced the number and seriousness of challenges as it does today. There are currently sixteen U.N. peacekeeping missions around the world, involving more than 65,000 peacekeepers. Some of these missions are relatively benign, such as on Cyprus, but the vast majority are in situations of great tension, where the threat of renewed conflict, if not situations of on going conflict is present.
In these situations, the U.N. role is absolutely critical. In Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi, and East Timor, the presence of U.N. peacekeepers is the most important factor in enabling a return to peace and stability, the means to disarming rebel forces, and in effect the difference between war and peace. When the United States decided to have the marines sail away from Liberia, on the heels of President George W. Bush’s historic trip to Africa, it was because first the West Africans, then the U.N. provided the stability needed for U.S. objectives to be achieved. The terrible brutality in Sierra Leone’s civil war has only recently been put behind us with the help of a major U.N. peacekeeping force.
In Congo, as other witnesses will detail, the U.N. faces one of its most difficult challenges. Congo is a huge country at the center of Africa and its collapse into civil war and internal chaos reverberated around the continent. As many as four million people have died as a result of the conflict. Only a most tenuous ceasefire and political agreement is in place to end the violence. The attacks in the eastern part of the country continue, not only from internal rebel forces and as a product of ethnic strife, but with the encouragement of outside forces. Competition for natural resources – gold, diamonds, other raw materials – is intense, drawing in not only neighboring countries but multinational corporations and some shady enterprises as well.
As often happens in these situations, and it is a lesson for our discussion today, the U.N. committed initially a U.N. force too small and with too limited a mandate to achieve its objectives. Only gradually, over time, has the size of the force been expanded to a target of 16,700. Still no more than 13,900 are in place. In the interim, attacks on civilians occurred and terrible human rights violations were committed. A special non-U.N. intervention was needed until MONUC could be expanded and its mandate strengthened. MONUC has more recently succeeded in bringing order to some parts of the eastern region, but not yet all. Intervention by Rwandans and perhaps Ugandans or their surrogates adds to the difficulties of the situation.
The conditions under which U.N. peacekeepers operate today is also different than what was envisaged when peacekeeping was first developed. U.N. peacekeepers are no longer safe from attack. Indeed, just under 2,000 U.N. peacekeepers have been killed around the world. MONUC has lost more than 50 members. Just this last Friday, nine Bangladeshi U.N. peacekeepers were ambushed and killed, a grim reminder of the environment in which MONUC operates.
It is in this context that we must examine MONUC’s problems and solutions.
First of all, we must condemn the sexual abuse that took place. As I said earlier, such acts are a betrayal of the trust in the U.N. and its purpose. But we must remember also that there are 48 nations which have contributed troops to MONUC, including friends of the U.S. such as Canada, Poland, Ireland, Senegal, and others. There are more than 13,000 troops there. Just as we do not denigrate our servicemen and women serving around the world, in the wake of scandals of abuse that have caused us so much anguish, so must we be careful not to denigrate the entirety of those serving in Congo.
Second, we must not weaken MONUC in the process of addressing these issues. On the contrary, one of MONUC’s problems is that it is stretched thin over a vast country, nearly one-quarter the size of the United States, charged with protecting peoples in far out reaches of the country.
Third, we have to recognize that the U.N. does not have the authority to take legal or disciplinary action against abusers, only the contributing country does.
With these considerations in mind, I recommend the following:
Specifically, with regard to Congo and MONUC’s overall effectiveness:
Mr. Chairman, the situation in Congo is desperate. Many, many people have suffered. Many women have been raped by the contending forces, far more than ever by U.N. peacekeepers. The political solutions being negotiated are tenuous at best. If we wish to bring order out of this chaos, and to improve the ability of the U.N. to play its role, we must treat both the situation in that country and the conditions whereby peacekeepers operate. This is in many ways a defining moment for the U.N. Let us use this opportunity to strengthen it for the sake of our own interests and those of the millions who look to it for protection.
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