| Date | 2 February 2001 |
|---|---|
| Started | 15:00 |
| Ended | 17:25 |
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The situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo Briefing by His Excellency Major General Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
| President: |  | Mr. Ben Mustapha Tunisia |
(The Presidency changes each month to the next member in alphabetical order) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Members: |  | Mr. Chowdhury Bangladesh |
 | Mr. Shen Guofang China |
 | Mr. Valdivieso Colombia |
 | Mr. Levitte France |
 | Mr. Ryan Ireland |
 | Miss Durrant Jamaica |
|
 | Mr. Ouane Mali |
 | Mr. Neewoor Mauritius |
 | Mr. Kolby Norway |
|
 | Mr. Lavrov Russia |
 | Mr. Mahbubani Singapore |
 | Mr. Kuchynski Ukraine |
|
 | Sir Jeremy Greenstock United Kingdom |
 | Mr. Cunningham United States |
|||
Expression of thanks to the retiring President
The President
As this is the first meeting of the Security Council for the month of February, I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute, on behalf of the Council, to His Excellency Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations, for his service as President of the Security Council during the month of January 2001. I am sure that I speak for all members of the Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Mahbubani for the great diplomatic skill with which he presided over the Council last month.
Adoption of the agenda
The situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Briefing by His Excellency Major General Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The President
In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council's prior consultations, I request the Chief of Protocol to escort His Excellency, Major General Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to a seat at the Council table.
The President
The members of the Security Council highly appreciate the initiative of President Joseph Kabila to meet with them at this stage of his first visit outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo since he assumed its presidency. The members of the Council attach great importance to this meeting and pin high hopes on its conclusions. We wish President Kabila every success in his noble mission to lead his people towards peace, security, stability and progress.
One year ago, on 24 January 2000, under the presidency of the United States, the Security Council convened an important meeting at which leaders of the States signatories of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement participated. On that occasion, the leaders reiterated their commitment to the Agreement. The meeting enjoyed the strong and broad support of the international community in general and of the Security Council in particular. The Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, which upholds the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, gave high hopes that the conflict in that country might be ended and the peace and security of the neighbouring States restored.
Since then, the Lusaka Agreement has gone through critical phases and faced many challenges. Foreign troops have not withdrawn from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the national dialogue has come to a standstill. The full deployment of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has been delayed. Throughout this time, the suffering of the people of the Congo has been perpetuated by the war.
The Council has followed with grave concern the developments in the situation and dispatched a mission of its members. The Council has adopted a number of resolutions and presidential statements. In this context, I would cite in particular resolution 1304 (2000), adopted on 16 June 2000 under the presidency of France in the wake of a meeting of the Security Council with the Political Committee of the Ceasefire Agreement.
The Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement remains the most appropriate framework for reaching a negotiated settlement of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Security Council expects all parties to the Agreement to demonstrate their commitment to the relevant Security Council resolutions and to the Agreement and to take concrete steps to move the peace process forward. In this regard, I pay a special tribute to the role played by the Organization of African Unity (OAU).
Last Friday's address by President Kabila to the Congolese people reiterated his support for the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement and his resolve to pursue national dialogue and reconciliation. He underscored his commitment to cooperating with the OAU and the United Nations and to the deployment of MONUC; his demand that foreign troops withdraw from his country's territory; and his desire to establish good-neighbourly relations with neighbouring countries.
The Security Council has consistently stressed the need for respect for the Democratic Republic of the Congo's sovereignty, territorial integrity and control over its natural resources. It is also concerned that the sovereignty of all States be equally respected. President Kabila will find the Council in full support of his contributions to moving the peace process forward. The Council's interest in the situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo is reflected in the series of meetings which it intends to convene this month on that issue, in particular its meeting with the Political Committee of the Ceasefire Agreement. The members of the Council look forward to the achievement of concrete results at these meetings that will help to revive the peace process and assist the brotherly people of the Congo in fulfilling their aspirations.
I now invite the Secretary-General to address the Council.
The Secretary-General
We are meeting today to discuss once again one of the biggest challenges currently facing Africa and the United Nations -- the challenge of bringing peace and stability to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to the region around it.
Let me begin by welcoming President Joseph Kabila to the United Nations and congratulating him on his inauguration as Head of State of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I have already had the opportunity of extending to President Kabila my sincere condolences on the loss of his father.
The Lusaka Agreement, signed in July and August 1999 by six States and three rebel movements, has yet to be translated into action, but for the last two weeks the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) has reported almost no ceasefire violations throughout the country. This is surely a moment of opportunity, which must be seized by the parties and those who wish to help the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The time appears ripe for a resolute effort to implement the Lusaka Agreement, including through a genuine dialogue among all Congolese on the future of their country.
I welcome the calm that has descended on the confrontation lines between the various forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and hope that all the parties concerned, and all their military commanders, will take the necessary measures to ensure that it continues. Any regional initiative aimed at achieving this objective is to be commended.
In this regard, I urge the parties to adhere to the plan for the disengagement of forces they agreed to in Harare on 6 December. Within its current resources, MONUC has already begun to take the measures necessary to support the disengagement. In my forthcoming report to the Security Council, as requested in resolution 1332 (2000), I will propose the elements of a revised concept of operations for MONUC deployment in support of the disengagement plan. Once the Council has adopted the new concept, MONUC will take the necessary steps to carry it out.
Peace and stability will not return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and its neighbours unless and until all Congolese are engaged in a meaningful dialogue to decide how their country is to be governed. By the same token, all countries of the region should continue to engage in dialogue to resolve this conflict. This requires the new Congolese authorities to confirm their strong commitment to peaceful negotiation, notably by taking steps to liberalize the political climate in the country. I am glad to note that the new Government is prepared to work with Sir Ketumile Masire, the neutral Facilitator appointed under the Lusaka Agreement, with the help of a co-Facilitator. I look forward to the early identification of such a co-Facilitator by the Congolese parties, with the help of the Organization of African Unity. Any support that can be provided by other heads of State in the subregion will surely also be welcome.
By its resolution 1304 (2000) of 16 June 2000, and reaffirmed in resolution 1332 (2000), the Security Council demanded the withdrawal of Ugandan and Rwandan forces from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in conformity with the timetable of the Ceasefire Agreement and the Kampala disengagement plan of 8 April. I look forward to the early withdrawal of all foreign forces, as provided for by the Lusaka Agreement. In future phases of its operations, with the approval of the Security Council, MONUC will be ready to deploy to assist in this important objective.
The commitment to peace that President Joseph Kabila has already demonstrated is welcome for many reasons. Respect for the ceasefire could permit humanitarian agencies to gain access to populations in need. Greater attention can then be paid to human rights and the rights of children, including child soldiers, once the fighting has stopped. It would also be possible to address outbreaks of communal violence not directly related to the main conflict, such as those in Ituri and South Kivu.
Finally, it remains only for me to wish President Kabila every success. I am sure I speak for the international community as a whole in assuring him that he will enjoy our full support in his efforts to restore peace and promote democracy and development in his great country in the heart of Africa.
The President
I thank the Secretary-General for his statement.
It is my honour now to give the floor to His Excellency Major General Joseph Kabila, President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
President Kabila
(Democratic Republic of the Congo)
--> -->
| <type 'exceptions.UnicodeEncodeError'> | Python 2.6.6: /usr/bin/python Thu May 23 04:55:26 2013 |
A problem occurred in a Python script. Here is the sequence of function calls leading up to the error, in the order they occurred.
| /data/vhost/www.undemocracy.com/docs/trunk.py in |
| 194 if __name__ == "__main__": |
| 195 pathpart = os.getenv("PATH_INFO") |
| 196 maintrunk(pathpart) |
| 197 |
| 198 |
| maintrunk = <function maintrunk>, pathpart = '/securitycouncil/meeting_4271' |
| /data/vhost/www.undemocracy.com/docs/trunk.py in maintrunk(pathpart='/securitycouncil/meeting_4271') |
| 138 elif pagefunc == "scmeeting": |
| 139 LogIncomingDB(hmap["docid"], "0", referrer, ipaddress, useragent, remadeurl) |
| 140 WriteHTML(hmap["htmlfile"], hmap["pdfinfo"], "", hmap["highlightdoclink"]) |
| 141 |
| 142 elif pagefunc == "sctopics": |
| global WriteHTML = <function WriteHTML>, hmap = {'docid': 'S-PV-4271', 'highlightdoclink': '', 'htmlfile': '/home/undemocracy/undata/html/S-PV-4271.html', 'pagefunc': 'scmeeting', 'pdfinfo': <pdfinfo.PdfInfo instance>, 'scmeeting': '4271'} |
| /home/undemocracy/unparse-live/web2/unpvmeeting.py in WriteHTML(fhtml='/home/undemocracy/undata/html/S-PV-4271.html', pdfinfo=<pdfinfo.PdfInfo instance>, gadice='', highlightth='') |
| 322 if dclass == "spoken": |
| 323 if not gadice or agendagidcurrent == gadice: |
| 324 WriteSpoken(gid, dtextmu, councilpresidentnation) |
| 325 elif dclass == "subheading": |
| 326 if agendagidcurrent and (not gadice or agendagidcurrent == gadice): |
| global WriteSpoken = <function WriteSpoken>, gid = u'pg004-bk02', dtextmu = u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">Presiden...storation of peace in the Great Lakes region.</p>', councilpresidentnation = u'Tunisia' |
| /home/undemocracy/unparse-live/web2/unpvmeeting.py in WriteSpoken(gid=u'pg004-bk02', dtext=u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">Presiden...storation of peace in the Great Lakes region.</p>', councilpresidentnation=u'Tunisia') |
| 69 print '</cite>' |
| 70 |
| 71 print dtext[mspek.end(0):] |
| 72 |
| 73 print '</div>' |
| dtext = u'<h3 class="speaker"> <span class="name">Presiden...storation of peace in the Great Lakes region.</p>', mspek = <_sre.SRE_Match object>, mspek.end = <built-in method end of _sre.SRE_Match object> |
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1767
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''
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u'\n\t<p id="pg004-bk02-pa01">It is a great honour f...storation of peace in the Great Lakes region.</p>'
reason =
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