Huang Xia, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the Great Lakes of Africa, is a guest of Christophe Boisbouvier. The Chinese diplomat returns to the hot spots of the moment when a new government has just taken office in the Democratic Republic of Congo: insecurity in the eastern part of the country and MONUSCO’s involvement in the same region, disrupted by the presence of armed groups, or even strained relations with neighboring countries.
On April 9, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a protester was shot dead in Butembo, in the eastern part of the country, during a march against UN inaction in the face of massacres perpetrated by rebel groups. What is your reaction?
We fully understand the state of mind of the population, which are the daily victims of the abuses caused by the ADF and other armed groups. On Tuesday, at the UN Security Council, I reiterated my solidarity with these peoples, but also with MONUSCO and its intervention force, which is really doing its best in unclear circumstances to support the armed forces of the DRC, the national police and to strengthen their actions against these groups. I am also concerned about reports of the increasing regionalization of the ADF’s composition and by its possible links to the Islamic State.
On April 2, several hundred young people from the city of Beni entered the bush with machetes, axes, bows and arrows to drive out the ADF rebels. Is it for the civilian population to do this work? Shouldn’t it be the DRC’s armed forces?
In fact, this work rather falls on the DRC’s armed forces. I see that a new government has been born in Kinshasa, we hope that greater efforts will be made to strengthen the capacity of the armed forces in Congo, and also to strengthen regional cooperation.
Is a more comprehensive effort from Monusco also possible?
The UN is working fully on this, to see how to better follow, better support the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this was developed by my colleague, the head of Monusco, on 30 March before the UN Security Council. Rest assured, whether in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or in the regional framework, that all UN units are working tirelessly to better comply with and better support the Congolese authorities.
One of the major problems is the lack of cooperation between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to fight the ADF rebels, who come precisely from Uganda. What can we do today??
I do not think there is any cooperation. I would rather put things in perspective, President Tshisekedi and President Museveni have met and discussed this issue on several occasions, including as part of the mini-summit organized by the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Goma in October last year. Meetings continue at the technical level, including between the Ugandan Chief of Staff and the military and security officials in Congo. All this seems to be good for a security cooperation that must be welcomed and encouraged. It is also proof of how far we have come in the last two years when it comes to building trust.
Are joint military operations between Congo and Uganda possible or not?
If there is a joint operation, it must be a coordinated and orderly approach. We must take full account of the different sensitivities between different countries and explain well [cette opération conjointe ndlr] to the peoples, especially to the peoples of the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, to gain a better understanding, a better acceptance of these peoples.
►Read also: In the DRC, civil society wonders about Monusco’s presence in the east
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