United Nations Security Council Resolution 1445 – The Democratic Republic of the Congo
Resolution 1445 (2002)
The Security Council,
Recalling its previous resolutions and statements by its President regarding theDemocratic Republic of the Congo,
Reaffirming the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and of all other States in the region,
Reaffirming further the obligation of all States to refrain from the use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purpose and principles of the United Nations,
Reaffirming also the sovereignty of the Democratic Republic of the Congoover its natural resources,
Recalling the responsibilities of all the parties to cooperate in the full deployment of the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republicof the Congo (MONUC),
Recognizing the importance of a gender perspective in peacekeeping operations, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), and the importance of the protection of children in armed conflict, in accordance with its resolution 1379 (2001),
Taking note of the Secretary-General’s special report of 10 September 2002(S/2002/1005) and its recommendations,
Determining that the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to pose a threat to international peace and security in the region,
- Welcomes the signature by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda of the Pretoria Agreement on 30 July 2002 (S/2002/914), as well as thesignature by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda of the LuandaAgreement on 6 September 2002 and welcomes also the efforts of the Republic of South Africa, Angola, and of the Secretary-General, in facilitating the adoption of these agreements;
2. Welcomes the decision taken by all the foreign parties to withdraw fully their troops from the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as progress in the implementation of these processes, in particular the withdrawal of23,400 Rwandan troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo verified by the Third Party Verification Mechanism (TPVM) on 24 October, as well as withdrawals by Uganda, Zimbabwe and Angola, and stresses the importance for these withdrawals to be completed in a transparent, orderly and verified manner, and inthis regard underlines the need for the parties to facilitate the verification of these withdrawals, including through the continuous provision to MONUC of detailed information on these withdrawals and requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council on this matter;
3. Expresses full support for the TPVM, welcomes its work in helping theparties to implement the Pretoria Agreement, in accordance with Security Councilresolutions and the norms of International Law, and stresses the importance of closecooperation between the Government of South Africa and MONUC in the work ofTPVM;
4. Stresses the importance of the voluntary nature of the disarmament,demobilization, repatriation, reintegration or resettlement (DDRRR) of the armedgroups referred to in annex A. Chapter 9.1 of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement(S/1999/815), calls on the leaders and members of the armed groups to enter theDDRRR process, also calls on all concerned to work to this end, emphasizes the need to intensify MONUC’s public information efforts in this regard and calls on all parties to support these efforts;
5. Stresses the importance of further early and substantial progress on the process of voluntary DDRRR throughout the country to match the progress achieved on the withdrawal of foreign forces, and urges all parties concerned to cooperate fully with MONUC in this regard;
6. Welcomes the repatriation of ex-combatants and their dependants from Kamina, though noting that the numbers repatriated falls short of the original numbers assembled, and recognizes the good will and efforts of the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda in cooperating on this issue with MONUC thus far;
7. Welcomes the efforts of the Government of Rwanda in providing guarantees that ex-combatants and their dependants will be able to return inconditions of safety and security, stresses the importance of such guarantees,stresses also the importance of confidence-building measures, includinginternational monitoring and reintegration assistance, and calls upon the UnitedNations Secretariat, and other relevant bodies, in consultation with the signatories ofthe Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement, to address the issue of the resettlement of any ex-combatants who may not wish to return to their home country;
8. Welcomes the statement of 24 September 2002 of the Government of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo banning the activities of the ForcesDémocratiques de Libération du Rwanda throughout the territory of the DemocraticRepublic of the Congo and declaring the leaders of this movement persona non grataon its territory, and encourages it to implement further their commitments toadvance the DDRRR of the armed groups in accordance with the PretoriaAgreement;
9. Welcomes the commitment of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and other Congolese parties to achieve an inclusive, agreement on the political transition, stresses the importance of such an agreement to the wider peace process, calls on all Congolese parties to cooperate actively witha view to a speedy conclusion of such an agreement, and in this regard expresses itsfull support for the efforts of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General;
10. Takes note of the encouraging developments on the ground, endorses the recommendations of the Secretary-General in his special report, including those relating to MONUC’s support for the TPVM as well as the proposal to extend thefunding of MONUC’s quick impact projects, endorses in particular, the new conceptof operation outlined in paragraphs 48 to 54 of this report and authorizes theexpansion of MONUC to consist of up to 8,700 military personnel, principallycomprised of two task-forces, to be deployed in a phased basis as follows: thesecond task force shall be deployed when the Secretary-General reports to theCouncil that the first task force has been successfully deployed and thedisarmament, demobilization and repatriation (DDR) caseload can not be met by theexisting capacity of the first task force alone;
11. In regard to DDR under the new MONUC concept of operation, endorses also the interim funding mechanism in paragraph 74 for the voluntary DDR of members of foreign armed groups, recognizes the importance of addressing the repatriation of the dependants along with the ex-combatants and calls on the International Community to provide the funds for this process;
12. Calls upon MONUC to pay special attention in carrying out its mandate to all aspects relating to gender perspective, in accordance with resolution 1325(2000), as well as to the protection and reintegration of children, in accordance with resolution 1379 (2001);
13. Stresses that the main responsibility for resolving the conflict rests with the parties themselves, that they must continue to demonstrate their will to respectfully their commitments and that further efforts will be necessary to reach a comprehensive solution to the conflict and, in this regard:
– Calls for a full cessation of hostilities involving regular forces and armed groups throughout the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular in South Kivu and in Ituri;
– Calls for the cessation of all support to the armed groups referred to in AnnexA Chapter 9.1 of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement;
– Calls on all parties to provide full access for MONUC and the TPVMthroughout the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, includinginside all ports, airports, airfields, military bases and border crossings;
– Calls also for the surrender to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwandaof any persons indicted by the Tribunal, and
– Reiterates its demand for Kisangani to be demilitarized without further delay or precondition;
– Demands that all parties work to the immediate full restoration of freedom of movement on the Congo river;
14. Expresses its deep concern over the humanitarian situation throughout the country and in particular in the Ituri region, calls on the parties to allow humanitarian agencies and organizations full access to populations in need and to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian workers, and condemns those who seek to hamper the provision of assistance to civilians in need;
15. Expresses its deep concern over the intensification of ethnically targetedviolence in the Ituri region, condemns all such violence or incitement to violence,requests all parties to take immediate actions to defuse these tensions, ensure theprotection of civilians and end violations of human rights, calls on all parties, inparticular the Union des Patriotes Congolais, to cooperate to set up the IturiPacification Commission, and requests the Secretary-General to increase thepresence of MONUC stationed in the area, if he determines that the securitycondition allows it, in order to provide support to this process as well as tohumanitarian efforts, and report back to the Council;
16. Takes note of Uganda’s commitment under the Luanda Agreement to complete the withdrawal of its forces no later than 15 December 2002, welcomes thepositive interaction between the Governments of the Democratic Republic of theCongo and of Uganda since the signing of the Luanda Agreement and calls on bothparties to work, together and with MONUC, towards conditions that will allow theAgreement to be implemented in full;
17. Reiterates that no government, military force or any other organization orindividual should provide military or any other form of support to any of the groupsinvolved in the fighting in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, inparticular in Ituri;
18. Encourages MONUC to continue its assessment of police capabilities and training needs in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including, whennecessary, at the level of local communities, with special attention to the Ituri area;
19. Calls on all parties to pay special attention to all aspects relating togender, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1325 (2000), and to theprotection of children, in accordance with resolution 1379 (2001);
20. Encourages the Governments of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and, respectively, Rwanda and Uganda to take steps to normalize their relations andto cooperate to ensure mutual security along their borders as provided for in thePretoria and Luanda agreements and also encourages the Governments of theDemocratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi to take similar steps;
21. Stresses the crucial importance of preventing the situation in theDemocratic Republic of the Congo from having a further destabilizing effect on theneighboring States, in particular Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the Central-AfricanRepublic, and calls on all parties concerned to cooperate in good faith to that endand to facilitate in this regard the continuing observation efforts by MONUC in theareas of its deployment, including eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo andborder areas;
22. Reaffirms that an international conference on peace, security, democracyand development in the Great Lakes region, with participation by all the Governments of the region and all the other parties concerned, should be organizedat the appropriate time under the aegis of the United Nations and the African Union With a view to strengthening stability in the region and working out conditions thatwill enable everyone to enjoy the right to live peacefully within national borders;
23. Strongly condemns the repeated harassment of Radio Okapi staff anddemands that all parties concerned desist from such actions;
24. Reiterates its full support for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and for all the dedicated MONUC personnel who operate in challenging conditions;
25. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.
Adopted by the Security Council at its 4653rd meeting,on 4 December 2002.
