Unifeed

UN / DRC

The Special Representative for Democratic Republic of Congo, Martin Kobler, expressed disappointment that “after four long days and nights of negotiations until the early morning hours of today, it was not possible to reach a comprehensive deal” in Kampala for the amnesty, disarmament and integration of M23 rebels. UNTV / FILE
Description

STORY: UN / DRC
TRT: 2.40
SOURCE: UNTV / MONUSCO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 21 OCTOBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

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Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

21 OCTOBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council with Video screen on background

21 OCTOBER 2013, ENTEBBE, UGANDA

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Kobler, Special Representative for Democratic Republic of Congo and Head of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO):
“The objective was to bring the Kampala talks to an end by concluding a comprehensive agreement between the DRC and the M23 to end the rebellion of the M23 and allowing for the transformation into a political movement within the limits of the constitution and the laws of the DRC. This objective could not be reached until this morning. I do not wish to conceal my slight disappointment that after four long days and nights of negotiations until the early morning hours of today, it was not possible to reach a comprehensive deal despite the pressure of the five envoys as supportive observers.”

21 OCTOBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY

4. Wide shot, Security Council with Video screen on background

21 OCTOBER 2013, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Mary Robinson, Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region:
“The parties reached consensus on eight out of the eleven articles of the draft agreement under discussion. These are the release of prisoners, the end of the M23 as a rebel movement and the possibility to establish itself as a political party, the return and resettlement of refugees and IDPs, the question of the extorted and looted properties during the M23’s brief occupation of Goma on November 2012, the establishment of a national reconciliation commission, governance and socioeconomic reforms, implementation of the provisions of the March 23, 2009 peace agreement which were partially or not implemented and are still relevant, as well as the implementation, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of the Kampala agreement. However, regrettably, the parties found it difficult to agree on certain contentious and difficult issues that remained problematic throughout the talks, namely amnesty, disarmament and integration of the M23.”

21 OCTOBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY

6. Wide shot, Security Council with Video screen on background

6 OCTOBER 2013, GOMA, DEMOCRATICE REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)

7. Med shot, Goma airport sign
8. Various shots, Council members being welcomed

6 OCTOBER 2013, KIBATI VILLAGE, DEMOCRATICE REPUBLIC OF CONGO (DRC)

9. Various shots, driving towards Kibati Village
10. Various shots, Council members meeting with Congolese civil society

6 OCTOBER 2013, MUGUNGA IDP CAMP, DRC

11. Wide shot, driving to Mugunga IDP camp
12. Various shots, Council members listening to women testimonies

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Storyline

The top UN officials in the Great lakes region of Africa informed the Security Council today (21 October) on the stalled peace talks between the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and rebels of the M23 movement in Kampala, Uganda.

Martin Kobler, who is the Special Representative of the Secretary General for the DRC, told the Council that the objective was “to bring the Kampala talks to an end by concluding a comprehensive agreement between the DRC and the M23 to end the rebellion of the M23 and allowing for the transformation into a political movement within the limits of the constitution and the laws of the DRC.”

Kobler expressed disappointment that “after four long days and nights of negotiations until the early morning hours of today, it was not possible to reach a comprehensive deal.”

This objective could not be reached until this morning. I do not wish to conceal my slight disappointment that after four long days and nights of negotiations until the early morning hours of today, it was not possible to reach a comprehensive deal despite the pressure of the five envoys as supportive observers.”

Mary Robinson, who is the Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region noted that the parties “reached consensus on eight out of the eleven articles of the draft agreement under discussion.”

These agreed upon articles included the release of prisoners, the end of the M23 as a rebel movement and the possibility to establish itself as a political party, the return and resettlement of refugees and IDPs, the question of the extorted and looted properties during the M23’s brief occupation of Goma on November 2012, the establishment of a national reconciliation commission, governance and socioeconomic reforms, implementation of the provisions of the March 2009 peace agreement, and the implementation, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of the Kampala agreement.

However, she said, “regrettably, the parties found it difficult to agree on certain contentious and difficult issues that remained problematic throughout the talks, namely amnesty, disarmament and integration of the M23.”

The talks have been interrupted repeatedly due to the ongoing violence.
On Friday, United Nations officials strongly condemned an attack by the M23 against an unarmed helicopter belonging to the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) while Kobler and Robinson were in Kampala to observe the talks.

In the past year, clashes have continued sporadically throughout eastern DRC, with rebels briefly occupying the main city, Goma, in November 2012. The fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people, exacerbating an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region which includes 2.6 million internally displaced persons and 6.4 million in need of food and emergency aid.

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