Attacks

Joint Press Release (PDF)

Contact: Enough Project - Tracy Fehr, tfehr@enoughproject.org, +1 202-459-1219

Nearly six months on from the launch of a U.N. strategy aimed at ending 26 years of violence by the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, a joint report by a coalition of non-governmental organizations reveals today that the strategy has failed to make meaningful progress toward its core objectives. The report is released ahead of U.N. Security Council consultations on the LRA set for December 18th.

Tepid political commitment from regional governments, lack of urgency from the U.N., and an under-resourced African Union mission are the key causes of the failure.

“For too long, the people of the central Africa have suffered from unspeakable atrocities committed by the LRA. Their children have been abducted and murdered. Their families have been forced from their homes and their livelihoods destroyed. The UN has shown great leadership, and invested a great deal, in developing a strategy to support these populations and respond to the horrors of the LRA. It must not fall short now. There is too much at stake and too much to lose,” Ben Keesey, Chief Executive Officer of Invisible Children, said.

The report comes as violence is again escalating in the Democratic Republic of Congo and amid reports that the Sudanese government is harboring the LRA. Both of these developments could give the LRA the opportunity to reassert itself in the region. The evidence of ineffective U.N./African Union collaboration is also of concern in the light of a likely military intervention in Mali.

“This report is a wakeup call for the Security Council. Unless they reenergize the strategy and ensure that regional governments are effectively engaged then the whole process could fall apart. The Secretary General must publicly affirm his determination to see the UN Regional Strategy on the LRA implemented in full,” said Ernest Sugule, National Coordinator of Solidarité et Assistance intégrale aux Personnes Démunies (SAIPED), in the DRC.

The international community also has a critical role to play to support the UN and AU’s efforts.

“The UN, in partnership with the African Union and international donors, should vigorously lead the effort to end the LRA conflict. To deliver on the UN strategy will require more troops, access for the troops to LRA safe havens, enhanced intelligence, and improved efforts to promote defections. At this critical moment, the UN must rise to the challenge,” John Bradshaw, Executive Director of the Enough Project, said.

Read the full report: “Getting Back on Track: Implementing the U.N. Regional Strategy on the Lord’s Resistance Army”

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Spokespeople from signatory NGOs and external experts will be available. To find out more and/or to request an advance copy of the report under embargo, please contact: Jake Goodman, +1 917 767-3609, Jake.Goodman@crisisaction.org, James Denselow, +44 793 260-7711, James.Denselow@crisisaction.org

Signatory organizations:

1. African Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO)

2. Congolese Action for Access to Justice (ACAJ)

3. Dungu-Doruma Diocesan Commission for Justice and Peace (CDJP)

4. The Enough Project

5. European Network for Central Africa (EurAc)

6. Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect

7. Group LOTUS

8. IKV Pax Christi

9. Invisible Children

10. Resolve

11. Solidarity and Integrated Assistance to Vulnerable Populations (SAIPED)

Crisis Action works behind the scenes to enable our partners to respond jointly to conflict and crises. Crisis Action should not be cited in media reports.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Tracy Fehr, tfehr@enoughproject.org, +1 202-459-1219

WASHINGTON – Fighting between the M23 rebel movement and the Congolese military escalated last week as the rebel group seized control of Goma, a key city in eastern Congo. To address this growing violence, a broadened peace process including all parties and stakeholders must be initiated that will cease ongoing hostilities and address the systemic drivers of regional conflict, according to an Enough Project policy brief.

Aaron Hall, co-author of the brief and Enough Project Associate Director of Research, said:

“The current conflict in eastern Congo has revealed new evidence of support for armed groups from the governments of Rwanda and Uganda, as well as confirmation evidence of continued mismanagement within the governance and security sectors of Congo. However, the causes and dynamics of the long-standing conflict are unchanged. If the cycle of regional foreign intervention, economic exploitation, and rapacious governance in eastern Congo is not broken, there is no chance for peace in the region.”

The Enough brief argues that regional and international stakeholders must be more directly engaged in supporting a peace process that includes a balance between constructive and coercive leverage to provide the necessary incentives and pressures for compromise between the conflicting parties. The brief highlights the need for a broadened peace process that would be jointly mandated by the U.N., African Union, and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, or ICGLR.

John Prendergast, co-author of the brief and co-founder of the Enough Project, said:

"The lack of a credible, effective, internationally mandated and leveraged peace process for the escalating war in Congo is becoming a major reason for that war’s continuation.  The closed-door ICGLR summit between heads of state from Congo, Rwanda and Uganda—without the involvement of political parties, civil society elements, and armed groups representing the diverse voices of eastern Congo—resembles all of the failed deals that came before it through similar processes. A deal between just the biggest guns is unlikely to address the root causes of the conflict in the eastern Congo. Instead, the declaration issued by the heads of state summit at Kampala represents another short-term security agreement that ensures that Congolese President Kabila remains in power while international pressure is removed from Presidents Kagame and Museveni of Rwanda and Uganda, respectively."

The brief outlines considerations for both regional and international actors in creating a framework to work towards peace in eastern Congo. This brief is the first in a three-part Enough Project series on the process, leverage, and substance necessary to create a path towards peace in eastern Congo and the surrounding region.

Read the full brief: “Time for a Broadened Peace Process in Congo”

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Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, the Enough Project focuses on crises in Sudan, eastern Congo, and areas of Africa affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Enough’s strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a“3P” crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. For more information, please visit www.enoughproject.org.

WASHINGTON – The Enough Project joined a coalition of human rights organizations—which includes Humanity United, Open Society Institute, Eastern Congo Initiative, and the European Network for Central Africa—urging the United Nations to appoint a special envoy that would work with the African Union in creating a regional peace process to address the escalating conflict in eastern Congo. Earlier today, the M23 rebel movement took control of Goma, a major city in eastern Congo, highlighting the urgency of this unfolding crisis.

The coalition issued a statement calling on the U.N. Security Council and African Union to apply sanctions against all individuals identified in the most recent Group of Experts report as violating the U.N. arms embargo on Congo, including the Rwandan military and political officers supporting and directing the M23. Further, the coalition urged bilateral donors to Rwanda to continue and expand the suspension of all aid programs that are not explicitly allocated for civilian humanitarian needs.

Aaron Hall, Enough Project Associate Director of Research said:

"The U.N., with support from the U.S. government, needs to ensure that a strong international response is brought to bear on this massive humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo. Sanctioning the leadership of M23 alone is not enough. The U.N. should quickly appoint an envoy to work with the African Union that would create a peace process to include all those actors that perpetually fan the flames of conflict in the region. Until the systemic drivers of violence and regional intervention in eastern Congo are addressed, this scenario will just continue to repeat itself."    

Since the onset of the M23 rebellion in April 2012, more than 650,000 people in the region have been displaced by the ongoing violence. The human rights groups stressed the need for a credible internationally-facilitated political process that focuses immediately on a cessation of hostilities, followed by long-term solutions to address the underlying roots of conflict in the region.

Read the full statement.

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Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, the Enough Project focuses on crises in Sudan, eastern Congo, and areas of Africa affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army. Enough’s strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a“3P” crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. For more information, please visit www.enoughproject.org.