Groups urge UN peacekeepers to protect civilians as LRA

Groups urge UN peacekeepers to protect civilians as LRA
abductions surge in DRC
UN Security Council set to meet on DRC in March
KINSHASA, 13 March, 2014 – With Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) violence in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) still a grave threat to civilians, a letter from 59 civil
society groups released today calls on the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the DRC
(MONUSCO) to improve efforts to protect civilians from the rebel group. The LRA has
abducted over 3,400 Congolese civilians and killed over 2,400 others since 2008, making it
one of the most violent armed groups in DRC over the past six years.
“The LRA has killed Congolese civilians and abducted Congolese children for too long,” said
Dr. Shelly Whitman, Executive Director of The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative.
“MONUSCO can and must play a more active role in protecting civilians and ending LRA
violence in DRC once and for all.”
In February 2014 alone the LRA abducted 35 people in 20 attacks in Haut Uele district of
DRC’s Orientale Province, the most abductions the group has committed in one month there
since April 2012. MONUSCO troops are deployed in villages close to areas where the LRA
attacked but have been slow to respond. In recent years, Congolese community leaders and
international NGOs have consistently raised concerns that MONUSCO does not respond
effectively or quickly enough to reports of LRA attacks in Haut Uele.
“The LRA is once again attacking innocent civilians with impunity just kilometers away from
UN peacekeepers,” said Fr. Ernest Sugule of the Congolese civil society group SAIPED.
“MONUSCO should urgently respond with increased patrols in vulnerable areas and
investigations to determine which LRA commanders are responsible for these attacks.”
The UN Security Council is set to review MONUSCO’s mandate this month, with the focus
expected to be on stabilizing DRC’s troubled eastern region. In a letter addressed to
MONUSCO’s senior leadership, the civil society groups urge the UN mission also to take
proactive measures to protect civilians from the LRA.
“MONUSCO faces severe challenges in protecting civilians across a country as vast as DRC,”
said Dr. Simon Adams, Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to
Protect. “But MONUSCO can do more with the resources they have, and the UN Security
Council should ensure they do so.”
The letter urges MONUSCO personnel to build better relationships with community leaders
in LRA-affected areas of DRC, highlighting how improved information sharing can
strengthen the mission’s efforts to protect civilians and encourage members of the LRA to
defect.
“Congolese community leaders play essential roles managing early warning and protection
systems and preventing local conflicts,” said Ned Dalby at Conciliation Resources. “To fulfill
their mandate MONUSCO peacekeepers need to work alongside civil society.”
In 2013, the LRA committed at least 124 attacks and abducted nearly 200 civilians in the
DRC. Over 236,000 Congolese civilians remain displaced by LRA attacks, including nearly
18,000 who fled to neighboring countries.
“We have waited patiently for MONUSCO to show us they are willing to respond to LRA
attacks, only to be disappointed too often,” said Fr. Ernest. “It is time MONUSCO fulfills its
responsibility to protect our people from the LRA.”
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Press contacts
Washington DC: Paul Ronan, The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative, +1 315 569 8051,
[email protected]
Kinshasa: Fr. Ernest Sugule, SAIPED, +243 816 081 332, [email protected]
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Signatory organizations and representatives
Africa
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Action Humanitaire Justice pour Victime
Action pour le Développement et la Protection Communautaire (ADPC)
Association de Taxi Moto Dungu (ATAMOD)
Association des agriculteurs de Bangadi
Association des Femmes des Nazawa pour le Développement (AFND)
Associations des Mamans de Bangadi
Associations des Mamans de Duru
Association des Mamans de Ngilima
Association Nationale des Mamans pour l’Aide aux Déshérités (ANAMAD)
Carrefour juridique culturel
Centre de Réinsertion et d’Accompagnement au Développement (CRAD)
Coalition Congolaise pour la Justice Transitionnelle (CCJT)
Coalition Nationale pour la CPI en RDC
Collectif des Auxiliaires Libéraux de Justice
Commission Autochtone de Lutte contre la LRA: CALL
Commission Diocésaine de Justice et Paix du Dioèce d’Isiro Niangara
Commission Diocésaine de Justice et Paix du Diocèse Dungu Doruma
Commission Diocècaine de Justice, Paix et Réconciliation, Diocèce Anglicanne d'Aru
Congo Action pour le Développement (CAD)
Communauté pour la Promotion des Humains (CPH)
Communicateurs pour la Promotion, Protection et Défense des Droits de L'homme
plus la Ligue des Femmes Défenseures de droits Humains ont leurs sièges au Kasai
Oriental (COPPRODDHO ONGDH )
Congo en Images (CIM)
Dynamique de Développement Durable (DDD)
Fondation Congolaise pour la Promotion des Droits de l’Homme et la Paix
Fondation point de vue des jeunes africains pour le développement (FPJAD asbl)
Forum des Mamans de l’Ituri (FOMI)
Groupe d'Associations de Défense des Droits de l'Homme et de la Paix (GADHOP)
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Groupe LOTUS
Initiative Congolaise pour la Justice et la Paix (ICJP)
Institut Supérieur de Dungu (ISD)
JUSTICIA Asbl
la Ligue des femmes défenseures des Droits Humains (LIFEDDH)
Ligue des volontaires pour la défense des droits humains (LISVDHE)
Ligue Nationale Pour Les Elections Libres et Transparentes (LINELIT)
Ligue pour la Promotion et le Développement Intégral de la Femme et de l’Enfant
Mama Tiya Molende (MTM)
ONGDH Justice Plus
Option pour Assister les Personnes Vulnérables (OAPV)
Président de la société civile Bangadi
Président de la société civile de Faradje
Protection, Action pour le Développement Intégrale (PADI)
Réseau des associations des droits de l'homme du Sud Kivu (RADHOSKI)
Réseau des Organisations féminines des Uélés (ROFU) [15 organisations féminines]
Rt. Rev. Samuel Enosa Peni, Bishop of the Diocese of Nzara, South Sudan and Chair
for Regional Taskforce for Religious Leaders and Civil Society in the LRA-affected
region
Société Civile de Niangara
Solidarité des Volontaires pour l'Humanité (SVH)
Solidarité Féminine pour la Paix et le Développement Intégral (SOFEPADI)
Solidarité et Assistance Intégrale aux Personnes Démunies (SAIPED)
Terre des enfants
Youth Program for the Development of Africa (YPDA)
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Conciliation Resources
Discover the Journey
The Enough Project
European Network for Central Africa (EurAc)
Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Jocelyn Kelly, Director, Women in War Program, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
PAX
The Resolve LRA Crisis Initiative
The Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative
North American/Europe