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UN / DR CONGO
STORY: UN / DR CONGO
SOURCE: UNTV/ MONUC
TRT: 3.06
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 16 DECEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
16 DECEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
2. Zoom in, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Doss, Special Representative of the Secretary General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“The FDLR remains a potent threat and they will seek to return to their former strongholds and punish the population for collaboration with governmental forces, if they are allowed to do so. I am pleased to report therefore that a new directive was approved this morning by the FARDC, the Congolese Army Chief of Staff and the UN Force Commander. Under this directive, the FARDC and MONUC will now concentrate on holding ground recovered from the FDLR and preventing attacks on civilians in areas of vulnerability.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Doss, Special Representative of the Secretary General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“The Council has stipulated that MONUC support for the FARDC is contingent upon the respect for human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee law. In line with the guidance received from United Nations Headquarters we have adopted a policy conditioning MONUC’s support for any operations, a policy which is already being applied. This policy has been shared with the Government and underpins President Kabila’s own zero tolerance initiative, which is a vital ingredient in the fight against impunity and the protection of civilians.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Doss, Special Representative of the Secretary General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“The Council is aware, however, of the dilemma faced by MONUC, which is inherent in the mandate that enjoins us to give the highest priority to the protection of civilians, while at the same time working with the FARDC, which includes elements that have been responsible for human rights violations, to disarm groups such as the FDLR and that have been a constant threat to the people of Easter Congo for over a decade.”
9. Zoom out, Security Council
10. Tracking shot, Dos walks to the microphone
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Doss, Special Representative of the Secretary General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“I would expect there will be fewer operations conducted, but we still kept open the possibility of targeted operations if we see the FDLR regrouping and attempting to strike or recover or conduct reprisals.”
12. Med shot, reporters
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Doss, Special Representative of the Secretary General in the Democratic Republic of the Congo:
“With or without Kimia II there is a lot of violence in the Kivus, I think we need to remember that. But what we are engaged in is trying to push forward a process that would finally help to end the almost eternal cycle of violence.”
14. Zoom out , Doss walks away from the microphone
FILE - MONUC - 21 SEPTEMBER 2008, MASISI, NORTH KIVU PROVINCE, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
15. Wide shot, MONUC gunship firing
16. Wide shot, shelling
17. Tracking shot, people fleeing
18. Close up, blue helmets guarding IDPs
United Nations peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the national army adopted new directives today (16 December) for operations against rebels with the protection of civilians as the core focus following reports of massacres and other serious human rights violations by Congolese soldiers.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative Alan Doss said that the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) remains “a potent threat” and that under the new directive the Congolese Armed Forced (FARDC) and the UN ”will now concentrate on holding ground recovered from the FDLR and preventing attacks on civilians in areas of vulnerability.”
Doss made clear that the UN’s support for the FARDC “is contingent upon the respect for human rights, international humanitarian law and refugee law” and underscored the dilemma faced by the UN Mission in DRC, known as MONUC, which is mandated to “give the highest priority” to protecting civilians, while at the same time working with the national army, which includes elements responsible for human rights abuses, in fighting rebels in the east of the vast country.
Underscoring the dilemma, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Philip Alston today named two FARDC commanders, Innocent Zimurinda and Bosco Ntaganda, who remain in the their posts, as facing serious accusations of human rights violations.
Doss later told reporters that He “would expect there would be fewer operations conducted” but still kept open the possibility of “targeted operations if we see the FDLR regrouping and attempting to strike or recover or conduct reprisals.”
MONUC aided Kimia II with helicopter lifts, medical evacuation, fuel and rations, as well as firepower support to FARDC to keep FDLR from reclaiming areas previously under its control.
He noted that human rights violations were rife in North and South Kivu provinces “with or without Kimia II” but added that MONUC “is trying to push forward a process that would finally help to end the almost eternal cycle of violence.”
He reiterated the need to dismantle the international and expatriate networks behind the minerals and arms smuggling in the eastern provinces, which have continued to seethe with rebel and ethnic violence after much of the rest of the once war-torn country has returned to relative calm.
Over 1.25 million people have been uprooted or re-displaced by violence in North and South Kivu provinces, and the volatile security situation has hampered aid agencies’ efforts to provide assistance.
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