Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2009

Mr. President, His

Excellency Mr. Joseph Kabila Kabange, President of

the Republic, is unable to attend but has instructed me

to convey to you his most heartfelt congratulations on

your election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. The head of State

has no doubt that your vast experience in the

Organization, broadened by your talents and your

knowledge, will help you to overcome the myriad of

challenges that come with your new office. He

expresses his wish also for every success in your work

at this regular session.

Let me, as I begin my statement, commend your

predecessor, Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, and

express to him our gratitude for his excellent service as

President of the General Assembly at its sixty-third

session, which has just been completed, and this to the

satisfaction of all Member States.

Lastly, I pay well-deserved tribute to Secretary-

General Mr. Ban Ki-moon for his commitment to the

quest for peace and security worldwide, in general, and

for his very commendable involvement in restoring

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lasting peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

my country, in particular.

At this time when the sixty-fourth regular session

of the General Assembly is beginning, it is worth

dwelling on the situation currently prevailing in certain

regions of the planet. In the Middle East, the situation

continues to be tenuous and to be the focus of attention

of the global public. The Democratic Republic of the

Congo recognizes the right of the people of Israel to

live in peace in a State with internationally recognized

borders, just as it would like to reiterate that the

settlement of this conflict specifically entails

recognition of the fact that the Palestinian question is

at the heart of the very problem in the Middle East.

The situations in Afghanistan and in Iraq continue

to be of concern. The Democratic Republic of the

Congo urges the international community to eradicate

the scourge of terrorism, so that those two countries

can fully return to their place on the international

scene.

In Africa, and speaking just about our own

geographic area in the central and southern portion of

the continent, we would like to refer to the healthy

progress made in the implementation of the agreements

reached in 2006 between the Government of Burundi

and the Forces Nationales de Libération; the smooth

evolution of the inclusive political dialogue in the

Central African Republic; the needed promotion of

good-neighbourly relations between Chad and the

Sudan; the admittedly slow but sure and determined

promotion of democracy; and the consolidation of

peace and stability in Southern Africa.

I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely

thank the South African facilitation, the Economic

Community of Central African States, the Southern

African Development Community (SADC) and the

international community, as well as other bilateral and

multilateral partners, for the efforts that they have

continued to make to achieve the considerable progress

that we hail today.

With respect to the Republic of Madagascar, I

would particularly like to express my full satisfaction

with the mediation by the eminent SADC representative

with respect to the political dialogue. Here, I would

like to reiterate the SADC position, which rejects and

condemns any unilateral decision that would violate

the spirit of the Maputo agreements.

No social or economic order remains safe, if it

fails to bring beneficial effects to the greatest number

of people. The crisis of the global financial system

continues to undermine global economies worldwide,

be they developed or developing. For my country, in

particular, this crisis has led to a significant drop in

export commodity prices, declining currency reserves,

the growing cost of imports, with a depreciation of the

national currency, declining growth rates and a decline

in budget and tax revenues.

The consequences of this turn of events are

considerable. This crisis has led to a shortfall in

resources to finance infrastructure. It has led to broad

job loss, worsening of social conflict, and, particularly

at a time when we are coming out of a complex

conflict, a shrinking budget to finance the necessary

restoration of State authority throughout the national

territory in order to complete the establishment of

peace. It is urgently necessary therefore to review the

international financial system.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is aware

that we will need colossal resources to ensure

sustainable development in a world context that has

seen surging food and energy prices and a global

financial crisis. These phenomena are compounded by

the effects of climate change. That is why I welcome

the holding by the Secretary-General on 22 September

2009 of the high-level event on this issue. If we do not

make decisions on the fate of present and future

generations with respect to global warming and climate

change and if we are not able to prevent rising sea

levels, desertification or the extinction of species and

the loss of biodiversity, inter alia, our world will

inevitably move towards the risk of a disaster for

which the African continent will be the first to bear the

costs.

The issue of adopting a post-Kyoto agreement

that would require polluter countries to reduce their

greenhouse gas emissions and financially compensate

those who have forests needs to be seriously considered.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo accounts

for more than half of the forests in the Congo basin,

which is the second largest in the world after the

Amazon region. This area has an enormous asset that it

will defend at the Conference of the Parties to the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change, scheduled for December 2009 in Copenhagen.

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With respect to reform of the United Nations

system, the Democratic Republic of the Congo agrees

with the view that the current United Nations system is

no longer, in its current design, in keeping with the

expectations of those who promote it or even with the

letter of Charter, which is its inspiration. That is why

we would like to reiterate our plea for the full

representation of Africa in the decision-making bodies,

and more specifically in the Security Council.

Regardless of the outcome of the current

negotiations on this matter, my delegation continues to

be of the view that any viable reform of the Security

Council must take into account the political and

numerical weight of Africa in the General Assembly,

especially since two thirds of the situations before the

Security Council involve Africa.

With respect to the responsibility to protect, we

believe that it is up to each State to protect its people

from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity or

ethnic cleansing. We are also of the view that the

principal role of the international community in these

areas should be to determine how to build institutional

capacities and provide substantial assistance to States,

more specifically to the Administrations of countries in

post-conflict situations, so that they can acquire the

means to ensure that they have the resources to provide

this protection.

I have very succinctly addressed the major

challenges that today’s world faces and for which we

need to build a common response. I have talked about

reform of the United Nations and about the

responsibility to protect. I have not addressed the

Democratic Republic of the Congo or the troubled

region of the African Great Lakes. Three years after the

success of the electoral operations in 2006, the

Democratic Republic of the Congo is now, at long last,

facing the trying process of normalizing democratic

life. We understand that restoring the rule of law is an

urgent priority.

In that context, peace and stability can only

persist if the citizens realize that politically sensitive

issues can be resolved by legitimate and fair means.

The rule of law cannot go hand in hand with

corruption. It is no exaggeration to assert that the

efforts initiated recently by the President of the

Republic and the Government to fight corruption and

to put an end to the rule of impunity have begun to

bear fruit. However, we accept that much remains to be

done in terms of capacity-building to ensure proper

administration of justice.

The Congolese experience of the 2006

democratic elections was built on a difficult legacy of

the dark years of foreign occupation followed by an

internal rift, the consequences of which are still seen

today in the ongoing use of rape as a weapon of war.

To address that situation, at the request of the

Congolese authorities, the first investigation of the

International Criminal Court began by considering the

serious crimes that had been committed on the territory

of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1 July

2002. The rest is well known: the first three cases

before the International Criminal Court are based on

that submission and the national courts have also been

called upon to work on those issues.

The Congolese courts currently involved are

certainly already playing an important role in restoring

the rule of law, but a successful transition from war to

peace, from a divided past to a shared future, cannot be

envisaged for the people of the Democratic Republic of

the Congo without a mechanism that can bring a sense

of justice to all citizens, establish or renew civic trust,

restore the duty of memory and reconcile the people

and the communities.

The sexual violence perpetrated against women

and girls in the eastern part of Democratic Republic of

the Congo is, in our view, the most shameful and

gravest crime witnessed by humankind in the twenty-

first century. Statistically, 80 per cent of the crimes

committed in the entire country took place mainly in

the two provinces in the East of the country most

affected by the effects of war, namely South and North

Kivu. In fact, 60 per cent of the rapes were committed

in North Kivu and 20 per cent in South Kivu. Justice

must be done to the women and girls who have been

raped.

I can already attest to the strong resolve of His

Excellency President Joseph Kabila Kabange to put an

end to impunity for the perpetrators of those heinous

crimes, whether civilian or military. Despite the

apocalyptic picture, the situation that persists in the

East of my country continues to improve.

In conformity with the relevant provisions of the

Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the

Great Lakes Region, the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, working with Rwanda and Uganda respectively,

launched joint military operations last year and early

35 09-52598

this year with a view to disarming and, where

necessary, forcing the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance

Army, on the one hand, and those of the Forces

démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), on the

other, to return to their respective countries. As part of

the same military operations, called Kimia II, the

Forces armées de la République démocratique du

Congo (FARDC) are carrying out an offensive against

the elements of the FDLR that have remained in the

mountains of South Kivu, in order to bring peace to

that region.

The results, I repeat, are positive. By way of

illustration, the authority of the State has been restored;

the FDLR command posts in North and South Kivu

have been destroyed; more and more FDLR troops are

surrendering to the FARDC and to the United Nations

Observer Mission in the Democratic Republic of the

Congo (MONUC); several FDLR elements have

returned to their country of origin; all the

communication and supply lines in North and South

Kivu are now open; the fight against the illegal

exploitation of natural resources and the protection of

Virunga National Park have been strengthened; and the

incidents of rape and all other forms of sexual violence

against women have seen an appreciable decline.

Peace is gradually being established to the great

benefit of the Congolese people. Moreover, fruitful

talks aimed at benefiting our bilateral and multilateral

relations with Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda are under

way, and the future looks better.

The return to normalcy in our subregion is

enabling us to make efforts towards the urgent

peacebuilding and economic recovery of the country.

As the President of the Republic continues to

underscore, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has

resolutely undertaken to strengthen and promote the

ideals of national reconciliation, peace, democracy and

good governance within its borders, and is

unquestionably committed to a policy of openness

without exclusion based on dialogue and cooperation

of all kinds with all countries that favour peace and

dialogue. Our wish today is to see the international

community step up its efforts and continue to support

the process of bringing about peace and unity.

On the elections, my country is preparing to hold

city, municipal and local elections, which represents a

great meeting of the people with its history. The steps

to update the national register of the Independent

Electoral Commission started in the first half of 2009.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is already

involved in the reform of its institutions. It is important

to conclude those various reforms, in particular in the

area of the administration of justice. The Congolese

justice system will be more effective and efficient if it

has the international community’s support, especially

in terms of capacity-building.

Reform of the security system is also under way.

The reform of the army and police services has had the

consistent support of bilateral partners and of the

United Nations through MONUC, its Mission in the

Congo. My country is firmly committed to working to

successfully conclude that reform aimed at ensuring

not only its peace, unity, territorial integrity, national

sovereignty and stability but also those of the entire

subregion by preventing the reoccurrence of the

security problems and tensions seen there.

In addition, the Government is doing its utmost,

through duly identified ways to increase prosperity, to

implement programmes in order to meet the basic

needs of the people, in particular on health, education,

food self-sufficiency, basic infrastructure, electricity

and drinking water for all, not to mention, of course,

the fight against malaria and HIV/AIDS as well as

poverty alleviation.

Like other post-conflict countries, the Democratic

Republic of the Congo underscores the urgent need to

organize and hold an international conference on the

financing of its reconstruction as soon as possible. For

us, it is a question of building a new Congo, a nation

opening up to the world at the centre of a continent full

of change, a country where every foreigner,

indiscriminately, can be free, assured of the protection

of his investments, to work for his better future. All

that foreigners do to contribute to our development will

be duly acknowledged and appreciated.

Emerging from a long war with many outside

implications, the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

my country, is fully aware of the importance of

regional cooperation. The most fervent wish of the

Congolese people is to restore relations of trust and

cooperation with all its neighbours, without exception.

The Government intends to pursue a policy of

dialogue, openness, friendship, cooperation and good-

neighbourliness, because the country has always

strived to work to bring about a more united Africa that

09-52598 36

stands together, distinct in its greater understanding,

tolerance, peace and solidarity.

By way of conclusion, allow me to reiterate that

so much war and fratricidal violence has taught us that

the most expensive peace is still less onerous than the

cheapest war. In this regard, I appeal for international

solidarity during this stage of building our hard-won

peace, for a peaceful and stable Democratic Republic

of the Congo is an asset to our planet’s common

destiny.

I would be remiss if I did not conclude my

statement without thanking once again all those whose

commitment, courage and determination have helped

and continue to help my country embrace the concepts

of negotiation and peaceful settlement of crisis by

casting aside war and the use of force.