The members of the United Nations
Security Council today strongly condemned the renewed fighting between
Rwanda and Uganda in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), demanding
a cessation of hostilities and reiterating their call for the demilitarization
of the area as agreed to by both Governments.
In a statement to the press, Council
members said that the fighting in the DRC was in violation of the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of the DRC and was incompatible with the Lusaka
Ceasefire Agreement.
Council members expressed their concern at military movements in Equateur Province - particularly those that affect Mbandaka - and called on all parties, especially the rebel Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), to cease all offensive operations. They also deplored the continued fighting in the Kivu Provinces and condemned all attacks on civilians.
Deploring the deterioration of the human rights situation in the DRC, in particular the eastern part of the country, the members of the Security Council said they were "deeply concerned" at reports of a massacre at Katagota and called for an immediate investigation.
Council members also requested the DRC authorities to cooperate fully in the inter-Congolese dialogue process and stressed that all those invited should be able to participate in a meeting convened in Cotonou, Benin, by the neutral facilitator, former President Ketumile Masire of Botswana.
The Council was reacting to reports that the DRC Government had refused to take part in the Cotonou meeting and also had denied permission to representatives of civil society and political parties from the DRC to leave the country to attend the National Dialogue event.
The Council issued the statement after meeting in closed-door consultations to hear a briefing on the latest developments that had an impact on the deployment of the UN mission in the DRC - primarily the difficulties encountered in the inter-Congolese dialogue and the renewed armed conflict between Rwanda and Uganda in the eastern sections of the DRC.
According to a UN spokesman, fighting broke out Monday between the Ugandan and Rwandan armies in Kisangani, a town which both countries had agreed to demilitarize at the end of May and where the UN had dispatched a battalion and increased the number of military observers to 16.
During yesterday's fighting, a shell struck a building housing UN military observers, but no casualties were reported from that incident, spokesman Fred Eckhard said. However, today, a shell struck a radio station behind the office of UNICEF (the UN Children's Fund) in Kisangani, injuring four people, including two UN staff who were hurt by glass shards and falling debris. Fighting was also reported about 300 to 500 metres from the UN compound, with approximately 10 shells and 300 bullets being fired per minute.