Kinshasa, 27 October 2013: One peacekeeper died today following fightings with M23 in Kiwanja. “I am outraged by this tragic news. The soldier died while protecting the people of Kiwanja. This deserves my deepest respect. I condemn emphatically people or groups involved in such actions, which are attempts to prevent us in doing our job: protecting civilians”. While fighting is continuing between M23 and FARDC around Kiwanja areas, MONUSCO is more…
Kinshasa, 26 October 2013: Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region Robinson and Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kobler are concerned by the ongoing violence in eastern DRC. We request all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to resume negotiations in Kampala. We call on all parties to refer reports of military incidents to the EJVM for investigation and to…
Kinshasa, 26 October 2013: The MONUSCO strongly condemns the multiple attacks perpetrated against civilians by elements of the Mayi-Mayi Cheka armed group, in some instances jointly with Raïa Mutomboki combatants, in several villages of the territory of Masisi, North-Kivu province, during the last weeks. At least 34 civilians, including 20 children, were brutally killed by the Mayi-Mayi Cheka elements in different attacks in Eastern DRC. "These…
Kinshasa, 25 October 2013: MONUSCO is extremely concerned about the resumption of hostilities between the FARDC and the M23 in the Kibumba area, province of North Kivu. “I urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint. I call upon the M23 to return to the negotiation table in Kampala”, said the Special Representative of the Secretary General in the DRC, Martin Kobler. "I am serious in our efforts to protect civilians and neutralize all armed…
Kinshasa, 23 October 2013: The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, MONUSCO, is extremely concerned over persistent reports of child recruitment by armed groups in the DRC and calls on all actors to help stop and prevent this grave violation against children. According to the report published today [1], almost 1,000 cases of child recruitment by armed groups were verified by MONUSCO between 1…
Goma, 21 October 2013 - The last batch of the Malawi troops committed to the MONUSCO Force Intervention Brigade arrived in Goma, North Kivu province, on 7 October 2013. They will be part of the 3000- strong force to which Tanzania and South Africa are the other two troop contributing countries. Since the arrival of its first troops in June 2013, the Intervention Brigade has already gone into action resulting in the withdrawal of M23, 30 kms from…
Kampala, 21 October 2013: Special Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Great Lakes Region Mary Robinson, U.S. Special Envoy for the Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) Russ Feingold, Special Representative of the African Union Boubacar Diarra, European Union Senior Coordinator for the Great Lakes region Koen Vervaeke, and UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in the DRC Martin Kobler took note at certain progress…
Kinshasa, 19 October 2013: MONUSCO deplores the lack of progress in prosecuting the perpetrators of gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including mass rape, committed in November 2012 in Minova, Kalehe territory, South Kivu province, and in neighboring villages by troops of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). Almost a year after these incidents, none of the presumed perpetrators of…
Kinshasa, 18 October 2013: The head of MONUSCO, Martin Kobler, and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mary Robinson, strongly condemned a new attack by the M23 against an unarmed MONUSCO helicopter, the second in less than a week. The latest attack occurred this morning when the helicopter came under direct fire from positions held by the March 23 (M23) rebel movement over Kibumba, Rutshuru, in the North Kivu. Martin Kobler and Mary…
Dungu, 8 October 2013 – Congolese armed Force (FARDC) officers In Dungu, Haut-Uélé district, in the Eastern province were trained by the Guatemalan peacekeepers of the UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) on the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS).The training ended on 8 October 2013. Altogether twenty officers were awarded certificates after receiving the training in an official ceremony, during which…