EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

like to thank Chairman Coons, Ranking Member Isakson, and the members of this subcommittee for holding this important hearing during a precarious moment for the people of the DRC.

Nairobi/Brussels | 17 Nov 2011 - Insufficient political will has thwarted regional efforts to stop the murderous Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) but vigorous diplomacy led by the African Union (AU), an immediate military push and complementary civilian initiatives could end the misery of thousands.

Popular revolt continued to convulse the Arab world in February. The rapid spread and escalation of unrest underlined the magnitude of events, but their pace makes the direction of change uncertain.

After almost three weeks of massive protests Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak stepped down on 11 February. The Supreme Military Council took control and promised presidential and parliamentary elections within six months. On 22 February a new civilian cabinet was sworn in.

Just days after Mubarak's downfall protests broke out in Libya against Muammar Qaddafi's four-decade rule. Hundreds

1. The current situation

In the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu:

Following violent fighting during the second half of 2008 between the Congolese armed forces (Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo - FARDC) and the Congolese armed group known as the National People's Congress (Congrès national du peuple - CNDP), Presidents Joseph Kabila (DRC) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) found themselves under strong domestic and international pressure to put an end to the latest chapter of a long-lasting conflict in the Congolese Kivu provinces.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has become a regional problem that requires a regional solution. Operation Lightning Thunder, launched in December 2008, is the Ugandan army's latest attempt to crush militarily the one-time northern Ugandan rebel group. It has been a failure. After the initial attack, small groups of LRA fighters dispersed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo), South Sudan and the Central African Republic (CAR), where they survive by preying on civilians. National security forces are too weak to protect their own people, while

Last month, during the Great Lakes Contact Group meeting in Washington, the US government confirmed they had received a new shopping list of requests from the Ugandan government to help them hunt down the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). US military support to find an end to Joseph Kony's murderous insurgency is definitely necessary. But supporting ill-conceived and poorly implemented Ugandan military operations in helpless countries of the region is not the solution.

The US should instead lead a coalition of the willing to provide the governments of the Democratic Republic of

To: Members of the United Nations Security Council
From: International Crisis Group
Re: UNSC Mission to Africa, 14-21 May 2009
Date: 11 May 2009

Introduction

The International Crisis Group warmly welcomes the 14-21 May mission of the UN Security Council (UNSC) to Africa. We support the Council's determination to provide leadership and strong support to the resolution of the most pressing African crises, which represent dangerous threats to international peace and security and are characterized

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The Juba peace process, intended to bring closure to the northern Uganda conflict and disarm Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is failing. On 29 November, Kony failed again to appear at the Ri-Kwangba assembly point to sign the Final Peace Agreement (FPA). Since April, armed actions attributed (not always accurately) to the LRA resumed in Sudan's Western Equatoria state and the Bas Uélé district of the Congo (DRC). The LRA menace has moved out of Uganda, but the north does not yet have the certainty of sustainable peace. The government's