When reality contradicts rhetoric: Civilian protection in the DRC

In September 2005, world leaders at the United Nations endorsed a historic declaration that the international community has a ‘responsibility…to help protect populations from genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity’ and expressed a willingness to take timely and decisive action when states ‘manifestly fail’ to protect their own populations from these threats.(1)

Despite the collective shame and regret expressed over genocides and related atrocities, gross violations of human rights, and mass killings continue in the Great Lakes region of Africa and in the DR Congo in particular. Conflict, violence and religious radicalism continue to undermine the maintenance of peace and security and the promotion of human rights in the region. Civilians bear the heaviest brunt of acts of terror, wars, and criminal violence. How best to effectively respond to this threat,is the central question this brief sets out to discuss.

PROTECTING CIVILIANS IN THE DRC: A NIGHTMARE?

A clear picture of civilian suffering in the DRC has just been painted in the second Cross-Cutting Report of the Security Council Report dealing with the Protection of Civilians.(2) It is clear from this report that ‘over the past 14 years, the DRC has experienced continuous instability and a civil war that took an extremely heavy toll on the civilian population. The numbers are vast: from the spill-over from the Rwandan genocide in 1994, to the 1996-1998 and the 1998-2003 civil wars and the ensuing political transitions, millions of civilians died of conflict-related causes and hundreds of thousands of others were displaced. The second civil war alone is estimated to have led to the death of between 3.3 and 5.4 million civilians, which ranks it as the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II. The war involved dozens of rebel groups-both Congolese and foreign, including Rwandan “génocidaires”, the LRA and the Angolan UNITA-in addition to other African countries: Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Sudan, Angola, Zimbabwe, Chad and Namibia.’(3)

Today, the DRC continues to face instability in its eastern provinces and resulting abuse against the civilian population. The primary causes are recalcitrant foreign and Congolese militias (in particular the Rwandan Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and General Laurent Nkunda’s forces), the resulting controversial relations between the DRC and Rwanda/Uganda, and the lack of discipline and integration within the government’s security forces.(4)

The current situation in the eastern DRC is a tragic part of Africa’s contemporary history, despite international community’s pledge to never let another chaotic situation happen again in this region. It is a failure of governments, international organisations and the UN Security Council to generate the necessary political will to protect the world’s citizens. In this line, the United Nations Mission in the DR Congo (MONUC), the biggest international peacekeeping mission, has been criticised by an increasingly angry population for failing to prevent the advance of rebels led by Laurent Nkunda. There are also reports that hundreds of protesters had attacked the mission's headquarters, saying the UN was not doing enough to protect them. Demonstrators are angry that the 17,000-strong UN force has not better protected them against an offensive by rebel forces.

Against this background, someone can ask if MONUC is really a ‘mission’ or an ‘omission’ in protecting civilians? It is therefore clear that the development of law, norms and political mechanisms to allow collective intervention in crisis situations is of little more than academic value if it is not accompanied by a political will to protect civilians.

WITH POLITICAL WILL, RHETORIC CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO REALITY

With sufficient political will – on the part of Africa and on the part of the international community – protecting civilians in Africa can be enhanced. Governments must not wait to act until images of death, destruction and mass displacements are shown on TV screens. With political will, rhetoric can be transformed into reality. Without it, not even the noblest sentiments will have a chance of success. Political will is also needed from the international community. Whenever the international community is committed to making a difference, it has proved that significant and rapid transformation can be achieved. Yet significant progress will require sustained international attention at the highest political levels over a period of years.

On a continent where gross human rights abuses and violence are rampant, African leaders have not demonstrated the will to exercise the African Union’s right to intervene to stem gross human rights violations in either a concerted or consistent manner. Yet the involvement of the international community – and of African states in particular – in seeking to promote peace and security remains ad hoc and inconsistent. Generating the political will to protect civilians remains therefore a priority in Africa. With sufficient political will – on the part of Africa and on the part of the international community – protection of civilians in Africa can be enhanced. Genocide and other related atrocities are not only a dark legacy of the past but a threat to the present and future of many societies.

TIME TO DEMONSTRATE THAT CIVILIAN PROTECTION IS A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY

It should be noted that civilian protection is not just a responsibility of the government, armed forces, and other security apparatus but rather a collective and shared responsibility of the state, civil society groups and the international community. In this regard, the responses to protect civilians should immensely benefit from Vaclev Havel’s sagacious words, ‘we live in a new world, in which all of us must begin to bear responsibility for everything that occurs.’(5) Besides a strong commitment, effective civilian protection requires resources. Over time, civilian protection must not only become a norm but also a practice. Its success as a norm will rightly be judged on whether it has reduced the vulnerability of civilian populations to armed conflict, and on the extent to which human rights and humanitarian obligations are observed and enforced. Successful implementation of protection strategies requires the development of a comprehensive and holistic approach to security combined with the necessary political will.

* Joseph Yav Katshung is an associate professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of Lubumbashi, an advocate at the Lubumbashi Bar Association and the coordinator of the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Democracy, Good Governance, Conflict Resolution and Peace at the University of Lubumbashi, DR Congo.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

(1) Expressed in the United Nation Resolution A/60/L.1 referred to as the 2005 World Summit Document (or, simply, the Outcome Document).
(2) Security Council Report, Cross-Cutting Report, Protection of Civilians, 2008, Number 02, 14 October 2008. This report is available online at http://www.securitycouncilreport.org
(3) Idem
(4) Ibidem
(5) Memorable Quotes and quotations from Vaclev Havel, at http://www.memorable-quotes.com/vaclev+havel,a2181.html (Accessed on 15 August 2007)