15 11 13 UN News Center: Security Council urges all rebel groups in DR Congo to disband, disarm

Peace talks under way in
Uganda towards agreement on a signed document failed to materialize between the
two sides on Monday, leading senior UN officials – including the Secretary-General’s
Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region, Mary Robinson – to call on the sides
to wrap up the negotiations with a firm political settlement.

Earlier today, Liu Jieyi of
China, which this month holds the Council presidency, said in a statement on behalf
of the 15-member body that the Council “calls for the swift conclusion and
implementation of a final, comprehensive and agreed outcome, in line with the
Kampala talks, that provides for the disarmament and demobilization of the M23
and accountability for human rights abusers.”

The talks are being held in
Kampala under
the auspices of the Chairperson of the International Conference for the Great
Lakes Region (ICGLR), Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the Mediator, as well
as Ugandan Defence Minister and Facilitator, Crispus Kiyonga.

In the Presidential
Statement, the Security Council expressed deep concern regarding the sustained
regional threat posed by the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda
(FDLR) and stressed the importance of neutralizing it and all armed groups.

The Council “strongly
condemns” the continuing violence and abuses of human rights by all armed
groups “including summary executions, sexual and gender based violence and
large scale recruitment and use of children,” according to the statement.

The M23 – composed of
soldiers who mutinied from the DRC national army in April – along with other
armed groups, has clashed repeatedly with the FARDC. In the past year, the
fighting has displaced more than 100,000 people, exacerbating an ongoing
humanitarian crisis in the region which includes 2.6 million internally
displaced persons and 6.4 million in need of food and emergency aid.

In today’s statement, the
Council also noted that theM23’s 19 month rebellion had led to killings of UN
peacekeepers in the DRC in the Mission known as MONUSCO led by Martin Kobler,
the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRC, and expressed
continued support for the blue helmets there.

The Council also encouraged
the UN and its partners to strive towards implementation of the Framework
signed earlier this year by the DRC along with 10 other countries and four
regional and international institutions under UN auspices, outlining a
comprehensive approach to sustainable peace in the region.