Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2002

I am

honoured and gratified once again to take the floor

before the Assembly, to which I extend the most

cordial greetings on behalf of the Congolese people, its

Government and on my own behalf.

First and foremost, allow me, Sir, to congratulate

you very sincerely, along with the whole of your

Bureau, on your election to the presidency of the fifty-

seventh regular session of the General Assembly.

I wish also to convey to your predecessor,

Mr. Han Seung-soo, our great appreciation for the

extremely important work that he accomplished during

his term in office.

Allow me also to welcome the accession to the

United Nations of the Swiss Confederation and of

Timor-Leste as Member States.

Lastly, allow me to thank the Secretary-General

for his dedication to universal values and for his active

involvement in the quest for solutions to the conflicts

besetting humankind.

At a time when the whole world is remembering

the fateful date of 11 September 2001, the Congolese

people, its Government and I myself wish to take this

opportunity to convey once again our solidarity and our

compassion to the American people and to the grieving

families around the world who were victimized in this

heinous act of terrorism.

This is indeed an appropriate setting in which to

urge all peace-loving and justice-loving States in the

world to commit to working together to combat this

evil in all its forms.

For its part, as I had announced in my address to

the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly, my

Government, on 21 December 2001, established a

national coordinating committee to combat

international terrorism, pursuant to Security Council

resolution 1373 (2001).

The first part of my statement will focus on the

status of the peace process in the Democratic Republic

of the Congo.

Externally speaking, it should be noted that, faced

with obstruction to the implementation of the Lusaka

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Agreement as regards the withdrawal of foreign forces,

my Government, basing itself on the relevant

provisions of the Security Council that encourage

bilateral discussions, has entered into the Pretoria

Agreement with Rwanda on the one hand, with the

facilitation of South Africa and the assistance of the

United Nations, and, on the other hand, it has signed

the Luanda Agreement with Uganda, under the

sponsorship of Angola.

The Pretoria Agreement, signed on 30 July 2002,

essentially addresses the question of the withdrawal of

Rwandan troops from the territory of the Democratic

Republic of the Congo and the disarmament of the

former Rwandan Army (ex-FAR) forces and the

Interahamwe. The Luanda Agreement, signed on 6

September 2002, deals with the issue of the complete

withdrawal of Ugandan troops from the territory of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as with

cooperation and the normalization of relations between

our two States.

Almost 45 days have passed since the signing of

the Pretoria Agreement — half of the time period set

by the timetable for its implementation — without any

significant progress having been made on the ground.

The commitment undertaken yesterday by the President

of Rwanda to begin the withdrawal of troops as from

next week may mark a decisive phase in the

implementation of the Pretoria Agreement.

For its part, the Government of the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, consistent with the

commitments that it has undertaken, had already

assembled at Kamina more than 2,000 Rwandan ex-

combatants, who are awaiting repatriation to Rwanda.

Furthermore, it has notified the third party, as of 5

September 2002, about additional information

concerning Rwandan ex-combatants.

With regard to the Luanda Agreement, it should

be noted that the withdrawal of Ugandan troops has

begun and that a joint peacemaking programme has

been set up in the Ituri region.

The successful implementation of the Pretoria

and Luanda Agreements, in particular with respect to

the withdrawal of Rwandan and Ugandan troops, will

have a clear impact on the conclusion of a

comprehensive and inclusive agreement in the context

of the domestic political process aimed at national

reconciliation and the reunification of the territory of

the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with a view to

the prompt holding of free, democratic and transparent

elections at all levels.

Following consultations with various political

and social groups, as well as with the Special Envoy of

the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of

the Congo, my Government suggested that

arrangements for the signing of an inclusive agreement

could begin at an early date.

I would like now to turn to the particular and

worrying situation that prevails in the eastern part of

my country. I am referring to the bloody and

distressing events that took place in Kisangani and

Bunia; the resumed fighting in the Kivu region; the

rapes; the plundering of the wealth of the Democratic

Republic of the Congo; and all the other human rights

violations that have taken place. I also have in mind the

appalling destruction of fauna, flora and the ecosystem

in general in the eastern part of the Democratic

Republic of the Congo.

I urgently appeal to the international community

to put an end to this tragic situation, which is afflicting

the people of the eastern part of the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, and to ensure that the

perpetrators of these vile and barbaric acts are punished

and brought to justice.

Likewise, we look forward eagerly to the

conclusions of the Panel of Experts, which we hope

will be accompanied by proposals for sanctions to be

imposed on those who are plundering the resources of

the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This is the

bleak situation that has been prevailing in my country

for more than four years; the socio-economic situation

of the people has deteriorated as a result of the war,

which has deprived my Government of more than half

of its resources. In order to deal with this economic

disaster and to alleviate the suffering of our people as

much as possible, a number of measures been in place

for more than a year. The tangible effects of these

positive measures include the stabilization of our

currency and of the price of major consumer goods, as

well as the resumption of cooperation with

international financial institutions.

In the same spirit, a large-scale national

reconstruction programme is under way, aimed at the

rehabilitation of the basic social infrastructure so as to

promote the recovery of the economy and the process

of development.

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I have condemned the terrorism and the tragic

events of 11 September 2001, which plunged the

American people and all of humankind into mourning.

I have provided an updated review of the peace process

in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular

with regard to the Pretoria and Luanda Agreements. I

have expressed my grave concern about the disturbing

humanitarian situation prevailing in the eastern part of

the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is

characterized by massacres and massive violations of

human rights and international humanitarian law. I

have also pointed to the particularly difficult socio-

economic situation affecting the population of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo, noting that it has

been aggravated by war and its adverse effects. If the

war persists, the Government's efforts to achieve

economic recovery may well be completely nullified.

In order to put an end to this protracted tragedy, I

earnestly appeal, through this Assembly, to the entire

international community, to mobilize and become more

deeply involved in the quest for solutions to bring

about the reunification of our national territory and to

return peace and stability to my country and to the

whole of the Great Lakes region.

I would like to make several specific points. First,

I believe that a conference should be held, under the

auspices of the United Nations, on peace, security and

development in the Great Lakes region. My country's

desire, in keeping with its African tradition, has always

been to live in peace and harmony with all the States of

Africa and of the world, beginning with its neighbours.

Secondly, the international community should be

more actively involved in resolving the conflict that is

tearing the Democratic Republic of the Congo apart. It

is clear today that the international community seems

to be forgetting the role played by Africa in the

development of today's wealthy States, and is showing

a degree of indifference to African issues.

Thirdly, the large number of Security Council

resolutions which have, to date, remained

unimplemented.

Fourthly, I am thinking of technical contributions

and the mobilization of the international community to

rehabilitate our ecosystem, so as to preserve this

heritage of humankind.

The founding fathers of our universal

Organization, who were convinced that nations could

be brought together only through peaceful settlements

of conflict, signed the Charter in order to ensure that no

armed conflict would be a matter of indifference to the

remainder of humanity. For this reason, the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, which believes deeply in the

universal values championed by the United Nations,

expresses the hope that all the organs of the United

Nations will play their role to the fullest to ensure that

we may silence weapons wherever they are being used,

in order to make peace a genuine right within the grasp

of all of us.