UN ponders future of Congo mission

By Harvey Morris in Washington

Published: December 22 2009 02:00 | Last updated: December 22 2009 02:00

The United Nations is being forced into a drastic reappraisal of its 10-year military presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo where conflict, displacement, disease and hunger continue to undermine the peace its forces were sent there to keep.

By the end of this year, and most likely this week, the Security Council will meet to extend the mandate of the force, known as Monuc, its French acronym, by just five months instead of the usual 12.

A decade after the UN dispatched a few dozen military observers to monitor a ceasefire in Congo's civil war, Monuc has 19,000 uniformed personnel on the ground trying to help the government of Joseph Kabila, president, establish security amid a plethora of internal conflicts.

In the past year, the peacekeepers have been battered from various sides, castigated by human rights groups that claimed they turned a blind eye to the crimes of allies in government forces and accused of passivity in their mission of protecting civilians.

As the DRC approaches the 50th anniversary of independence from Belgium next year, Mr Kabila, son of the rebel leader who overthrew the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, wants the "blue helmets" out.

Despite reports this year from groups that include the UN's own experts of the systematic murder, rape and eviction of thousands of civilians in the east of the country - with many of the alleged crimes attributed to government forces - Mr Kabila says the situation is now secure enough for the UN peacekeepers to depart.

It is a confident assessment of a country in which relief agencies estimate that conflict kills 45,000 people a month, most from hunger and preventable disease. It also contrasts with the latest draft of the Security Council's mandate renewal resolution, which notes "extreme concern at the deteriorating humanitarian, human rights situation and the continued impunity of those responsible for human rights violations and other atrocities".

Monuc says there has been some improvement in the east but notes the continuing challenge of protecting civilians in such a vast country. The mission was reinforced this year. It is now the UN's largest peacekeeping mission and its most costly at $1.3bn (€910m, £810m) a year.

Human rights groups, believe the security and humanitarian situation will only deteriorate if the peacekeepers leave. African analysts warn a withdrawal could lead to the break-up of the country.

Mr Kabila last month rejected speculation over any imminent Balkanisation, pledging to defend the DRC's territorial integrity as he would his own eye.

The Security Council is unlikely to bow to Mr Kabila's withdrawal request and the renewal resolution does not envisage winding down the force yet. It is likely to refocus the mandate on protection of civilians and the UN staff that help them. It serves as the last potential refuge for millions of Congolese threatened by factional warfare.

This force has been sucked into the government's conflicts with a variety of armed groups. In the eastern Kivu provinces, Monuc provided support this year for a government offensive against rebels from neighbouring Rwanda. The offensive is scheduled to end this year.

Under pressure from human rights observers, Monuc withdrew support from those government units alleged to have been involved in attacks on civilians and from commanders previously identified as war criminals.