The UN Security Council delegation continuesits tour of Africa this week and today members stopped in Goma in the eastern DRC.They met with representatives of a coalition of nearly 70 aid and human rightsgroups about the humanitarian crisis in the region.
There'sgrowing concern that a planned new military operation against rebel groups,such as the FDLR, could worsen problems there. Humanitarian groups say asimilar operation early this year brought reprisal attacks against civilians.They say hundreds of thousands were displaced, hundreds of women and girlsraped and about 200 civilians killed.
InGoma, Marcel Stoessel, OXFAM's head of mission in the DRC, says, "We at Oxfamare very concerned about the humanitarian fallout of the military operationagainst the FDLR. Already a quarter of a million people have been displaced inthe first phase of those operations in North Kivu (Province) and we are pickingup the pieces."
Thatoffensive was a joint operation between Congolese forces and the Rwandan army.Now a military operation is being planned for South Kivu Province, he says,"where MONUC, the UN military force here, will be also to some degreeinvolved?. pWe were cautioning about the humanitarian fallout. And we werecautioning also about the fact that within the Congolese armed forces?wherethere are now new elements of militia integrated, there are known human rightsabusers."
OXFAMsays a number of things can be done to protect civilians. "We could like to seemore presence of MONUC in the field. For this, they do not have enoughresources," he says.
Nevertheless,even with limited resources, Stoessel says more can be done. "Especially morefoot patrols amongst the displaced communities. That's what communities relayedto us. That we want to see those UN soldiers showing their guns basically andproviding some indirect effect of protection," he says.
TheOXFAM country director adds, "We would like [for] all precautions [to] be takenin the course of military operations that risks to civilians are minimized. Itis always civilians who are paying the price."
TheUN Security Council delegation apparently made no mention of the 3,000additional peacekeepers that were expected in the eastern DRC last year.
"MONUChas a very vast mandate?. They have a prime mandate to protect civilians. Atthe same time, they have a mandate to support the Congolese forces. And thereare some contradictions in that mandate and that was mentioned in the roomtoday," he says.
Askedwhether he feels encouraged following the meeting with Security Councilmembers, Stoessel says, "We are encouraged that the Security Council took time,the very limited time that they have, to listen to the humanitarian community.On the other hand, we are disappointed that they did not go to the actual areaswhere current displacement is taking place, where the current humanitariandisaster is taking place. So they cannot actually see with their own eyes whatwe humanitarians have been talking about."
OXFAM says it's difficult to reach allthose who've been displaced in the eastern DRC because of the ongoing rebelattacks. However, the agency manages, for example, to deliver hundreds ofthousands of liters of water every day to remote areas.