African Unification Front
|
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
BETRAYING THE LUSAKA ACCORD
As of today (Mid May 2001), it is still possible to end the conflict in the DRC, but the president of Uganda seems adamant to reverse the gains of the 3 years of peace negotiations, including the Lusaka Accord, to which he was signatory. Furthermore he threatened renewed conflict with Rwanda, Sudan, and against the communities in western Uganda.
There had been a semblence of peace in Uganda in late 1999-early 2000...but the various truces that were in effect were shattered by renewed operations in north Uganda, and by an incredibly violent series of provocations in western Uganda. This violence is an excuse for Museveni to continue the occupation of the DRC. The Lusaka Accord, and the efforts of the African Joint Military Commission and the UN may be destroyed by the decision of Uganda to reject the Lusaka provisions. The problem of Western Uganda...and the way that Museveni has chosen to resolve it may have really serious and negative long-term consequences for peace in the African Union, for peacekeeping operations, and certainly for the political stability of the Great Lakes Region.
THE CONTEXT:
Headlines such as "Hundreds of people are reported dead north of Bunia in Province Orientale as tribal warfare continues in the Djugu area..." have become so common, it is hard to keep track of how many are dying. Several international aid agencies continuously warn of impending "humanitarian disasters"...and some of these have already happened.
The conflict is no longer just between armies. Several "ethnic" conflicts have happened and are claiming the lives of hundreds every month. The conflagerations involved the communities of the Lendu, Tuku, Hema, Alur, Geregere, Ndande, Nyali, and others. Many communities that are directly in path of the fighting have fled and lost lives on account of starvartion and disease. But the violence is not confined to the DRC. There is strife in cross-border groups in western Uganda as well as the regions between DRC and Zambia, Angola and C.Brazaville. Refugee camps in Zambia and Uganda have grown exponentially in a short period.
In 1999 Kofi Annan and the OAU called for the establishment of a well-funded, well-planned and long-term program for the disarmament, demobilization and re-integration into society of former combatants in the Congo and the neighbouring states. All the parties to the Congo Accord asked for U.N. peacekeepers to help track down and disarm combatants, including Rwanda's interahamwe militia, which fled Rwanda in 1994 with the aid of French troops after the genocide of up to a million Tutsis and Hutus.
The break through for peace in the region came during negotiations in Uganda in March 1999 that resulted in what has become known as the "Kampala Plan", a set of provisions that, after two false starts, were later ratified in Zambia as the Lusaka Accord. Essentially the Lusaka Accord is an instrument for disengagement. The DRC refused to honour the Accord however, until Paul Kagama met with Joseph Kabila in Washington. At that time Nicholas Shalita, Kagame's spokesperson, said Joseph Kabila had agreed to be more cooperative in implementing the Lusaka Accord. Shalita also said Rwanda's security concerns had to be addressed, which meant that support for the militias based in the DRC had to end. These concerns were dealt with sufficiently enough for Rwanda to agree to the implementation of the Lusaka accord. The decision by Rwanda and the DRC to agree to end the war were the hardest won part of the entire ceasefire effort...until turnabout by Museveni when he refused to respect the accord.
The UN's peace operation in the DRC was created by the Security Council in November 1999. On 24 February 2000, the Council expanded its mandate and size, authorising a troop strength of up to 5,537 military personnel. The Lusaka Accord in effect put the initiative of the MONUC force, then led by General Mountaga Diallo, under the Joint Military Commission with the mandate to oversee the deployment of peace keeping troops, and the demilitarization of the DRC.
As a result of the Kampala Plan and the Congo and Lusaka Accords...at least 11 African states pledged troops for a peacekeeping force and the United Nations asked for military support from 46 other countries. Now all those plans that the UN and the various players took pains to establish over the course of several bitter conflicts, could all be destroyed by Uganda's decision to continue the occupation of the DRC.
Best regards,
Kashagama
AUF General Secretary
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
printable version
