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7415th Security Council meeting on Democratic Republic of the Congo
7415th Meeting (AM)
The Security Council today extended until 31 March 2016 the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), including its intervention brigade.
By a unanimous vote, the 15-member Council endorsed the recommendation of the Secretary-General to reduce the Mission force by 2,000 troops and expressed its intention to make that reduction permanent through a revised troop ceiling, once significant progress had been achieved on the priorities of the mandate.
By resolution 2211 (2015), the Council requested that MONUSCO continue to maximize force interoperability, flexibility and effectiveness in the implementation of the entirety of its mandate and decided that its future reconfiguration and mandate should be determined in consultation with the Government.
Reaffirming that the protection of civilians must be given priority in decisions about the use of available capacity and resources, the Council authorized MONUSCO to take necessary measures to ensure effective protection of civilians and United Nations personnel, facilities, installations and equipment.
The Mission has also been authorized to support the Government to arrest and bring to justice those allegedly responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, violations of international humanitarian law and other abuses in the country as well as to monitor implementation of the arms embargo.
The intervention brigade, which the resolution said had been extended on an exceptional basis and without creating a precedent or prejudice to the agreed principles of peacekeeping, would carry out targeted offensive operations in cooperation with the whole of the Mission, either unilaterally or jointly with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in strict compliance with international law.
Among other provisions, the Council requested the Mission take fully into account gender considerations and child protection as cross-cutting issues throughout its mandate and encouraged it to enhance interactions with the civilian population to identify potential threats and collect information on violations of international law.
Noting with deep concern the lack of progress in fields essential for the country’s stabilization, the Council reiterated its call to the Government to take immediate steps to uphold its commitments. It stressed that the Mission’s exit should be gradual and progressive, tied to specific targets to be jointly developed by the Government and MONUSCO in consultation with the United Nations country team and other stakeholders.
Speaking after the vote, the representative of New Zealand said the inclusion of an intervention brigade made the Mission a special and unusually complex operation. In that context, his country had proposed more targeted briefings to Council members and troop-contributing countries, and was satisfied with the outcome. The 15-member body should be engaged and responsive in its oversight role with an open mind.
The representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo reiterated his Government’s gratitude for United Nations efforts to uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of his country. The resolution reflected the principle of dialogue which would allow a calibration of views on matters that had not been clarified, he said, adding that there were inconsistencies in the text on such issues as the army and on the rapid reaction force.
The new mandate of the intervention brigade would help to ensure the success of efforts already undertaken to bring peace and stability to his country and the Great Lakes region. The Democratic Republic of the Congo reaffirmed its intention to work with the United Nations in the interest of the people, including on establishing an orderly exit strategy for the Mission.
The meeting began at 10:08 a.m. and ended at 10:21 a.m.
