Democratic Republic of the Congo: Briefing and Consultations
Tomorrow morning (11 December), the Security Council will convene for an open briefing, followed by closed consultations, on the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), including the work of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO). Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC and head of MONUSCO Bintou Keita and a civil society representative are expected to brief. The chair of the 1533 DRC Sanctions Committee, Ambassador Michel Xavier Biang (Gabon), will provide an update on the committee’s work. Rwanda and the DRC are expected to participate in the meeting under rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure.
Keita is expected to describe recent developments in the DRC and the activities of the mission based on the Secretary-General’s latest report on the DRC, which was circulated to Council members on 30 November and covers the period from 21 September to 30 November (S/2023/932). She is likely to speak about the general elections scheduled to take place on 20 December. The Secretary-General’s report notes the heightened polarisation of the political sphere with the approach of the start of the electoral campaign. Twenty-six candidates have been validated by the constitutional courts for the presidential elections. Four candidates—Matata Ponyo Mapon, Seth Kikuni, Franck Diongo Shamba, and Delly Sesanga Hipungu—have withdrawn their candidature in favour of Moïse Katumbi Chapwe, a Congolese businessman and politician who formerly served as governor of Katanga province. Additionally, 25,832 candidates have been validated for the national legislative elections, 44,110 for the provincial legislative elections, and 31,234 for the partial communal elections, according to the Secretary-General’s report.
At tomorrow’s meeting, Keita may note that Congolese opposition parties and civil society representatives have voiced concerns about the perceived lack of transparency and inclusivity of the electoral process. According to the Secretary-General’s report, these include concerns about voter registration and duplication of polling stations, which the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) has promised to address. Keita may describe MONUSCO’s good offices efforts to defuse the risk of violence around the elections. She may describe the electoral support being provided by MONUSCO and the UN Country Team, in line with the mission’s mandate and based on the Congolese government’s official request.
Keita may highlight the outcome of regional summits that have taken place since the Security Council’s last briefing on the DRC, which was held on 28 September. The East African Community (EAC) leaders met in an extraordinary summit in Arusha, Tanzania, on 25 November. During the meeting, it was noted that the DRC will not extend the mandate of the East African Community regional force (EACRF), which expired on 8 December. The EACRF was deployed in November 2022 in areas vacated by the armed group Mouvement du 23 mars (M23). The force was part of the Nairobi process, an ongoing regional effort spearheaded by the EAC to address the situation in eastern DRC. Some of the EACRF’s contingents have reportedly started withdrawing from eastern DRC following this decision. This development comes against the backdrop of a deterioration since October in the security situation in the North Kivu province in light of the resumption of fighting between the M23 and the Congolese armed forces (FARDC) supported by local militias. Following the news about the EACRF’s impending departure, the M23 reportedly announced that it would “recover and occupy all its areas that it handed over to [the] EACRF”. In a 7 December post on X (formerly Twitter), Keita expressed concern about the intensification of fighting, called on all parties to the conflict to defuse tensions, and urged the M23 to immediately cease hostilities.
The Congolese government, which has reportedly expressed disappointment over the EACRF’s inability to resolve the issue of the M23, has turned its attention towards the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which on 8 May decided to deploy a SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) to restore peace and stability in eastern DRC. On 4 November, SADC heads of state and government held an extraordinary summit to provide strategic guidance on the SAMIDRC’s deployment, according to a communiqué adopted at the end of the meeting. Subsequently, the DRC signed a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the SADC on 17 November to pave the way for the mission’s deployment. Keita may inform the Council about her 9 November meeting at the SADC headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana, with SADC Executive Secretary Elias M. Magosi and other stakeholders to discuss the SAMIDRC’s deployment and MONUSCO’s potential support and cooperation on the ground. It seems that the SADC wants the peacekeepers from Malawi, Tanzania, and South Africa now deployed with the MONUSCO Force Intervention Brigade to be rehatted to constitute part of the SAMIDRC. It also seeks to engage international partners, including the UN, to mobilise the necessary resources for the mission’s deployment. The issue of logistical and operational support to be provided by MONUSCO to such a regional force is likely to be an issue during the upcoming negotiations on the mission’s mandate, which expires on 20 December.
The other issue that is likely to draw the attention of Council members at tomorrow’s meeting is the continued tensions between the DRC and Rwanda. According to the Secretary-General’s report, the strained relationship between the countries is characterised by mutual accusations of support for armed groups as proxies and increased cross-border incidents. According to a 6 November statement by US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke separately with DRC President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame in order to urge them to de-escalate tensions and take steps to remove their troops from the border. Apparently, the US has also approached Council members and others to work on a joint statement that would have expressed similar concerns and called on the governments of the two countries to work towards a diplomatic solution through cooperation with existing regional initiatives. The idea of issuing a joint statement seems to have been dropped, however. After a 19-20 November visit by a US delegation led by Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to the DRC and Rwanda, however, the leaders of both countries committed to taking specific steps towards de-escalation through building on ongoing regional efforts, according to a 21 November White House readout.
A major focus of tomorrow’s meeting is likely to be the implementation of MONUSCO’s transition plan, which was developed jointly by the UN and the Congolese government in 2021. The plan was subsequently revised upon the request of the Congolese government to focus on four key benchmarks—namely, the protection of civilians; implementation of the Demobilization, Disarmament, Community Recovery and Stabilization Program (P-DDRCS); security sector reform (SSR); and the electoral process. In a 1 September letter to the Security Council, the Congolese government requested the UN to start MONUSCO’s withdrawal before the end of this year. The letter was sent following an anti-MONUSCO protest that took place on 30 August in Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province, during which at least 43 people were reportedly killed and a further 53 injured in clashes with local authorities. The Security Council adopted a 16 October presidential statement requesting MONUSCO and the Congolese government to develop, by November, a comprehensive disengagement plan with a timetable for MONUSCO’s progressive and orderly withdrawal.
At tomorrow’s meeting, Keita may speak about the comprehensive disengagement plan that she signed on 21 November with the DRC’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Christophe Lutundula Apala Pen’Apala, which was circulated to Council members in a 22 November letter (S/2023/904). The plan, which was developed through a joint working group comprising the Congolese government, MONUSCO, and the UN Country Team, envisages the mission’s withdrawal to be initiated before the end of 2023 and for all uniformed personnel and military equipment to be repatriated in three distinct phases, each requiring a minimum of four to five months. Accordingly, MONUSCO is expected to carry out a staggered transfer of protection responsibilities to the Congolese security and defence forces, to ensure its progressive and responsible withdrawal from the three remaining provinces where it is operating. Based on the plan, in the first phase MONUSCO will withdraw from South Kivu by 30 April 2024, and in the second phase from North Kivu (central sector) in the second half of 2024. The third phase will see the complete withdrawal of MONUSCO from lturi and the remaining parts of North Kivu. The disengagement plan is likely to inform Council members’ negotiations on the renewal of MONUSCO’s mandate. Council members are also expected to react to the disengagement plan in their statements at tomorrow’s meeting. During the negotiations on the 16 October presidential statement, while most Council members agreed on the need to respond to the Congolese government’s request for MONUSCO’s accelerated withdrawal, some had reservations about having a discussion on timelines.
