27 Sep 2012

UN / DR CONGO

The leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda held talks at UN headquarters today (27 September) on how to stop a "campaign of terror" that has uprooted over 300,000 people in eastern DRC since April and which Rwanda is alleged to be backing. UNTV / MONUSCO

Posted at: September 27, 2012 3:19 pm

Duration: 03:30

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: UN / DR CONGO 
TRT: 3.30
SOURCE: UNTV / MONUSCO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS

DATELINE: 27 SEPTEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY / 22 SEPTEMBER 2012, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

27 SEPTEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Various shots, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcoming President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda
3. Wide shot, conference room
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General: 
"The numbers are alarming. Over 260,000 people have fled the violence since the mutiny began, and an additional 60,000 have fled over the borders into Rwanda and Uganda. I am deeply disturbed by reports we have confirmed of serious human rights violations by the M23, including the forcible recruitment of hundreds of children who are being used as combatants and sex slaves and, in some instances, killed. These atrocities must be stopped."
5. Med shot, President Kabila
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General: 
"I am very concerned about continuing reports of external support for the M23. I call on all those responsible to end this destabilizing assistance. The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the DRC is inviolable and must be fully respected by all of the DRC's neighbours. There is no military solution to this crisis. We must consider concrete options to bring about a peaceful resolution that is based on enhanced dialogue, deepening integration, and regional confidence-building."
7. Pan right, Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous approaching microphone at stakeout

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

8. Close up, hands typing on laptop

27 SEPTEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

9. SOUNDBITE (French) Hervé Ladsous, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations:
"So they expressed a strong condemnation of the activities of this movement, as well as other armed groups, and virtually all participants were anxious in this context to condemn all forms of external support of these forces, and called for this to stop immediately."
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Hervé Ladsous, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations:
"All the participants expressed an interest in this neutral force. But once again, the idea of our colleagues from the Conference of the Great Lakes is to have this concept endorsed by the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, and then by the United Nations Security Council. For these bodies, in any case for the United Nations Security Council to decide, it is clear that there is still more work to do."

MONUSCO – 22 SEPTEMBER 2012, GOMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

11. Med over shot, hand-over of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) flag to head of the Military Assessment Team
12. Med shot, military soldier putting on ICGLR badges
13. Close shot, ICGLR badge 
14. Close up, ICGLR on soldier's beret

FILE – MONUSCO – JULY 2012, NORTH KIVU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO

15. Wide shot, UN peacekeepers walking with people fleeing from armed groups
16. Med shot, women with children fleeing
17. Med shot, UN tank
18. Various shots, people fleeing with their belongings
19. Wide shot, UN convoy
20. Various shots, people fleeing from armed groups

STORYLINE:

Before a closed high-level meeting on the margins of the General Assembly that brought together DRC President Joseph Kabila and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon described what he called a "campaign of terror" by the M23 rebel group of mutinous ex DRC soldiers.

He said the "numbers are alarming", with over 260,000 people displaced, and a further 60,000 having fled into neighbouring countries. He was also "deeply disturbed" by confirmed reports of serious human rights violations by the M23, including the recruitment of "hundreds" of children as soldiers and sex slaves and the killing of children. He said "these atrocities must be stopped".
 
Ban voiced concern about continuing reports of external support for the M23, and urged all those responsible to end this "destabilizing assistance". He called for an urgent and peaceful resolution based on dialogue. "There is no military solution to this crisis", he said.

After the closed-door meeting, the head of UN peacekeeping, Hervé Ladsous told reporters that all participants had strongly condemned the M23's activities and expressed their concern about the serious humanitarian situation in the eastern DRC. "Virtually all" participants in the meeting had also called for an end to external support to the rebels.

Asked about a proposed regional force for the eastern DRC, Ladsous said participants had expressed support for the idea, but "more work needs to be done" in fleshing out plans before the UN Security Council would consider endorsing the plan.

A plan for the deployment of a neutral international force along the border between DRC and Rwanda was proposed by Great Lakes countries at a regional summit in July. That proposal is currently under consideration by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO).

Meanwhile, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region held a launch ceremony last weekend in Goma, the capital of eastern DRC's North Kivu province, for a military assessment team that has already started work.

The team comprises military officers from eleven member countries of the Great Lakes region - Angola, Burundi, Central Africa Republic, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

The eastern DRC, particularly its provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, has been plagued by violence in recent months. Rape, murder and pillaging by the M23 and other armed groups have prompted large population movements.

The M23 is made up of renegade soldiers from the DRC national army who mutinied in April. The group has clashed with national army troops, who have been supported by peacekeepers from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC.