United Nations
Commission on Human Rights
60th Session - Item 11
Written Intervention of Pax Christi International
Peace and Reconciliation in the Great Lakes Region of Africa
2 February 2004
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Located in the centre
of Africa, the sub-region of the Great Lakes has for several years
passed through a crisis due to the numerous conflicts that its constituent
States have known. The conflicts are presently experienced either
between certain countries, particular ethnic communities or even still
between the countries’ authorities and internal armed groups
benefiting from the support of other countries. The origins of these
conflicts, as complex as they are, go back in fact to the pre-colonial
and colonial periods and/or that of independence. This situation has
resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, atrocities and widespread
sexual violence, massive violations of human rights, enormous migrations
of displaced persons and the overall weakening of the authority of
the State. The current crisis in the Great Lakes has produced at once
serious consequences on the human, economic, political, social and
environmental levels.
It is clear that the causes of the conflict vary according to the
complexity of each country’s particular situation, its government’s
relations with other States and the challenges posed by internal armed
groups and the politics of exclusion they often support. There are,
however, some common elements that we could cite as factors which
continue to worsen the present situation in the region:
• The lack of democracy and of democratic institutions;
• The immaturity of the political class, poor governance and
corruption;
• The non-respect of agreements and of international law;
• Impunity for crimes and political cronyism;
• The desire for natural resources and their plundering by
a politico-military elite;
• The absence of national armies capable of ensuring the safety
of the populace and the integrity of borders;
• The proliferation and illicit trade of small arms;
• The reinforcement of a culture of identity-related violence;
• The persistence of poverty and overpopulation;
• The ambiguous position of the international community.
Regional Integration: Each of the countries in the sub-region has
surely known and has pursued its own process of internal normalisation.
Nevertheless, in the Great Lakes region it is clear that the reconciliation
process in one country is strongly linked to that of the others.
Any viable solution will then have a regional character. It is therefore
important that the forthcoming International Conference on the Great
Lakes for which the UN is planning serve to speed up the normalisation
process between all these states and to define strategies for political
and economic integration of the region. The resumption of activities
of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (ECGAL) would
be a vital step. Other institutions of a social, cultural and scientific
nature can also contribute to deepening the progress of recent years.
Establishing the Rule of Law: This implies the democratisation
of power, good governance, respect for human rights and the end
of impunity at every level through the creation of courts and tribunals.
Efforts can be made to set up real Truth and Reconciliation commissions.
In addition, the foundation of an International Criminal Tribunal
for the Great Lakes appears indispensable to the process toward
reconciliation and a sustainable peace.
Cohabitation and Border Security: Building a sustainable peace
must also be based on political cohabitation and cooperation for
regional security. The security of borders must be guaranteed and
checkpoints ensured in common. To reach these objectives, it is
necessary to strengthen the capacities of real republican armies
in every country in the region and to strengthen measures for checking
small arms trafficking at the borders.
Strengthening civil society: In any process if restructuring a
State, the presence and revitalisation of institutions of civil
society are indispensable. These organisations have an important
role to play in the process of reform and regional integration.
Far from being antagonists that place themselves in opposition to
public authorities, they must rather be viewed as partners in the
peaceful and democratic transformation of the region. In addition,
members of civil society are well situated to collaborate in campaigns
to educate and raise awareness of the challenges that continue to
block the process toward peace.
Pax Christi International therefore requests this Commission to
adopt a resolution that includes an appeal to the International
Community, and more particularly to the UN, to:
1. Rigorously pursue efforts to accompany the process of national
pacification in each country and the process of the normalisation
of relations between every State in the sub-region;
2. Put in place common cross-border structures to maintain border
security and to eradicate the illicit trade of small arms;
3. Step up efforts and support the capacities of MONUC to accomplish
its task of ensuring the security of the DR Congo, canton armed
groups and complete its programme of Disarmament, Demobilisation,
Repatriation, Resettlement and Reintegration (DDRRR) of ethnic militias;
4. Strengthen the capacities of the African Force in Burundi;
5. Support action to demobilise child soldiers and ensure their
integration into society;
6. Give greater attention to the numerous acts of violence perpetrated
against women;
7. Seek solutions for putting an end to the illicit trade of diamonds,
coltan and other natural resources, a trade that feeds the conflicts
in the eastern DRC;
8. Strengthen mechanisms for closely accompanying every country
in preparations for elections, in the Truth and Reconciliation process
and in the reestablishment of juridical systems;
9. Create an International Criminal Tribunal for the Great Lakes;
10. Increase development aid to countries on the condition that
they practice good governance, they devote these funds to poverty
reduction and they respect peace agreements and the norms of international
law.
Pax Christi International also requests that States in the Great
Lakes region to:
Make a deep commitment to respect the fundamental rights of the
person:
1. Actively promote a national commitment to human dignity, to
the rights of the individual, to tolerance and to reconciliation
between groups within each country;
2. Open wide the political space that includes an autonomous press
and the reinforcement of a free, independent and participative civil
society in the public interest;
3. Completely reform and promote national programmes on civic and
political education directed toward civil and military leadership
and toward the general public in view of promoting responsible leadership
and a culture of non-violence;
Give then priority to the establishment of the rule of law:
4. Strengthen peaceful coexistence between themselves by respecting
the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of neighbouring
countries;
5. Strictly respect and fulfil completely every commitment taken
in the framework of peace accords that have been signed consensually
between each State and its rebel groups;
6. Accelerate the demobilisation process of armed groups and of
the cantonment of soldiers, giving particular attention to the demobilisation
of child soldiers as well as their integration back into society;
7. Integrate into national armies all combatant forces and armed
groups in accordance with objective criteria and establish in each
State a truly republican army that is capable of protecting the
entire populace and not just one part of it;
Energetically pursue efforts toward a programme of regional integration:
8. Establish regional mechanisms for integration, reconciliation
and cooperation in the political, economic, social, cultural and
military spheres.
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