By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 14 --
With a
stand-off
brewing in
Eastern Congo,
and another
simmering in
Katanga, two
days ago Inner
City Press
asked the UN
about each.
This morning
the UN has
answered, as
set forth
below.
From
the UN's
August 12
transcript:
Inner
City
Press:
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo,
there are
reports of an
uptick in
violence in
Katanga
Province,
which is not
in the Kivus,
but in which
they say
civilians are
being killed.
And so one, is
MONUSCO
[United
Nations
Stabilization
Mission in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo]
doing anything
on that?
What’s their
response to
that? And as
to the Kivus,
the M23 [23
March
Movement] has
said that they
are sticking
by what they
agreed to in
Kampala and
they are not
going to
relinquish
their
positions near
the Goma
airport, and
the spokesman
for MONUSCO
has said that
they intend to
expand the
weaponless
zone to
include those
positions. So
the UN, do
they still
view what was
agreed to at
Kampala as a
binding
agreement or
does this
announcement
by the MONUSCO
spokesman
supersede
that?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, I’ll
have to get
back to you on
that... I’ll
have to find
out, Matthew,
I don’t have
any
information
with me.
Forty
six hours
later, there's
a response on
each set of
questions, the
Kivus and
Katanga, each
of which we
publish in
full:
Subject:
your
questions on
the DRC
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Wed, Aug
14, 2013 at
10:43 AM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
On
the
security zone,
the Framework
and the
Kampala talks:
As
you
are aware,
MONUSCO has
now
established a
security zone
between Goma
and Sake, and
UN
peacekeepers
and Congolese
security
forces will
continue their
patrols and to
ensure the
area is free
of
unauthorized
weapons. The
objective of
the security
zone is to
provide better
protection to
the over 1
million
civilians,
including
internally
displaced
persons living
in the area.
The
expansion
of the
security zone,
or its
repetition in
other areas of
eastern DRC,
are options
among others
that the Force
Commander and
the SRSG can
consider in
implementing
the mandate
given to
MONUSCO by the
Security
Council.
These
options
are not
considered in
a vacuum; the
Peace,
Security, and
Cooperation
Framework
provides the
overall
strategy to
address the
root causes of
the conflict;
the Kampala
talks provide
a key forum to
resolve the
M23 problem.
On
violence
in Katanga:
MONUSCO
has
noticed a
slight
decrease in
incidents of
violence in
Katanga, in
the last 3 to
4 months.
MONUSCO
has
about 350
peacekeepers
in Katanga, a
province the
size of
France. Most
of its
peacekeepers
are in the
areas of
Manono and
Kalemie.
On
3
July 2013
following a
number of
attacks
against Moba
town in
Katanga,
MONUSCO
conducted a
joint mission
with the FARDC
to the areas
to assess the
security
situation.
MONUSCO
is
closely
monitoring the
situation.
Beyond
the UN's
upbeat
assessment of
Katanga, not
shared by at
least some
regional
experts, what
jumps out is
that the
"security
zone" or 48
hour ultimatum
to disarm can
be
implemented,
without any
further
checking, by
SRSG Kobler
and his
Brazilian (or
would that be
Tanzanian?)
force
commander.
Mary Robinson?
Watch this
site.
, 
