I. Introduction
1. In his letter dated 27 October 2005
(S/2005/682), the President of the Security Council informed the Secretary-General
that the members of the Council had decided to send a mission to Central
Africa from 4 to 11 November 2005, which would be led by Jean-Marc de La
Sablière. Following consultations among the members of the Council, it
was agreed that the composition of the mission should be as follows:
Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière (France),
head of mission
Ambassador Abdallah Baali (Algeria)
Ambassador Alberto D'Alotto (Argentina)
Ambassador Simon Bodéhoussè Idohou (Benin)
Ms. Irene Vida Gala (Brazil)
Mr. Cheng Jingye (China)
Ambassador Ellen Margrethe Løj (Denmark)
Ambassador Adamantios Th. Vassilakis (Greece)
Ambassador Kenzo Oshima (Japan)
Ambassador Lauro L. Baja (Philippines)
Ambassador Mihnea I. Motoc (Romania)
Ambassador Alexander V. Konuzin (Russian Federation)
Mr. Justin McKenzie Smith (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland)
Ambassador Augustine P. Mahiga (United Republic of Tanzania)
Mr. William Brencick (United States of America)
2. The terms of reference of the mission are annexed to document S/2005/682.
3. The Council mission left New York on 4 November and returned on 11 November. During that period, the mission visited Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi and Kamina in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Bujumbura, Kigali, Entebbe (Uganda) and Dar es Salaam. The mission met with the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, the President of Burundi, Pierre Nkurunziza, the President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, and the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa.
4. The mission also met in Kinshasa with the four Vice-Presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, separately; the Presidents the National Assembly and the Senate; the Chairman and members of the standing committee of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) and the Chairman of the Media High Authority; the Joint Commission on Security Sector Reform; representatives of civil society and religious organizations; a group of women ministers and parliamentarians; and the International Committee in Support of the Transition (CIAT). The head of the mission also held informal discussions with the leadership of the opposition political party, the Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS).
5. The mission met in Mbuji-Mayi with the Governor of Kasai Oriental Province, the local representative of IEC and members of the Provincial Security Committee. The mission also visited the military base of Kamina (Katanga Province), where it received a comprehensive briefing on the military integration process in the presence of the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), the coordinator of the Military Integration Structure, the chairman of the National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilization and Reinsertion, and the head of the European Union Mission of Assistance for Security Sector Reform (EUSEC).
6. In Bujumbura, the mission met with President Pierre Nkurunziza and held consultations with a Government delegation led by the Minister of External Relations and Cooperation. The mission also met with the leadership of the main political parties represented in Parliament: the Front pour la démocratie au Burundi (FRODEBU), the Union pour le progrès national (UPRONA) and the Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie - Forces pour la défense de la démocratie (CNN-FDD). The head of the mission met informally with the former Head of State, Domitien Ndayizeye. Members of the mission also met with civil society organizations working on transitional justice and judicial reform.
7. The mission was briefed in Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi and Kamina by the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and in Bujumbura by the United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB). The mission was accompanied by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, William Lacy Swing, in Kinshasa, Mbuji-Mayi, Kamina, Entebbe and Kigali, while the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Burundi, Carolyn McAskie, accompanied the mission in Bujumbura, Entebbe, Kigali and Dar es Salaam.
8. In Dar es Salaam, the mission met with President Mkapa, and with the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The mission also received briefings from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Great Lakes Region, Ibrahima Fall, and from the Chairman of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ibra Déguène Ka. The mission met with United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations based in the United Republic of Tanzania to discuss the issue of refugees, and with the academic community of Dar es Salaam.
9. The sixth mission of the Security Council to Central Africa took place at a time when the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has entered a new phase and the recent completion of the transition in Burundi has unveiled a variety of challenges to the consolidation of peace. Voter registration is under way in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in preparation for the holding of a constitutional referendum on 18 December, and for legislative and presidential elections to be completed before the end of the transitional period, on 30 June 2006. Meanwhile, the installation in September 2005 of a democratically elected Government in Burundi inaugurated the post-transitional phase, which will require the continued support of the international community.
Note: A list of abbreviations used in the present report appears at the end of the document.
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