26 CFSP: EU support for the Democratic
Republic of Congo
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(31916)
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| Draft Council Decision amending and extending the mandate of the European Union security sector reform (SSR) mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (EUSEC DRC)
Draft Council Decision amending Council Decision 2010/329/CFSP on the European Union Police Mission undertaken in the framework of reform of the security sector (SSR) and its interface with the system of justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo (EUPOL RD CONGO)
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| Legal base | Articles 28 and 43 TEU; unanimity
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| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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| Basis of consideration | EMs of 9 September 2010
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| Previous Committee Report | None; but see (31692) —: HC 428-i (2010-11), chapter 59 (8 September 2010); also see (30992) —: HC 19-xxviii (2008-09), chapter 13 (21 October 2009); (30900)—: HC 19-xxvii (2008-09), chapter 26, (14 October 2009); (30686 ) 10358/09: HC 19-xx (2008-09), chapter 7 (17 June 2009) and (30667) —: HC 19-xviii (2008-09), chapter 21 (3 June 2009); also see (29722) — and (29734) —: HC 16 xxiv (2007-08), chapters 6 and 14 (18 June 2008), and (28650) —, (28651) —: HC 41-xxiii (2006-07), chapter 19 (6 June 2007)
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| To be discussed in Council | 20 September 2010
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared, but further information requested
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Background
26.1 Following elections in the DRC in 2006, two Joint Actions
were agreed by the Council on 12 June 2007, which aimed:
— to
establish a police mission leading on Security Sector Reform and
its justice interface in the Democratic Republic of Congo (EUPOL
DRC);
— via a new and revised mandate, to build
on the progress made during the previous two years and continue
to contribute to the integration of the different armed factions
in the DRC, and assist Congolese efforts to reconstruct the army
(EUSEC RD Congo)
26.2 The previous Committee's consideration of
subsequent amendments involved several exchanges of correspondence
with various FCO Ministers. A common concern has been
that members of the security sector are the perpetrators of what
previous Ministers of Europe regularly described as "a large
proportion of violent crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
including rape and human rights violations." The previous
Committee tried on several occasions to elicit more accurate information
about this, and to ascertain why it seemed to be so difficult
to include a measured level of their involvement in these crimes
as a benchmark against which then to measure these Missions' progress.
Then Ministers' responses are detailed in our predecessor's earlier
Reports.[114]
26.3 The previous Committee continued nonetheless
to feel that it should not be difficult to measure change in a
situation in which, still, it seemed that a large proportion of
violent crime, sexual violence and human rights violations were
committed by members of the Congolese police and military: either
the number of such violations of human dignity and rights, and
the part of the security sector in them, was falling, or it was
not.
26.4 Subsequently, in dealing with the Joint
Action extending EUSEC DRC from 1 October 2009 until 30 September
2010, the previous Committee noted that, in her Explanatory Memorandum
of 14 September 2009, the
then Minister for Europe (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead) said that
the revised Joint Action had a greater emphasis
on tackling sexual violence and human rights issues within the
army reform process. Additional staff positions were to be introduced
to the mission's structure, and shared with EUPOL DRC, focusing
on Human Rights and Gender issues and based both in Kinshasa and
the cities of Goma and Bukavu, allowing the mission to have a
wide geographical influence. As well as having several "strategic
indicators", she particularly welcomed a new initiative to
review mission progress at the six-month
point against pre-defined indicators,
which she said was in line with the wider FCO strategy "to
develop more effective international interventions [which …]
will enable the mission to provide a progress report on the development
of the reform of the FARDC and to evaluate the impact of the mission."
26.5 The previous Committee noted that, by the
time this latest extension was completed, the EU would have spent
some €26.9 million on EUSEC RD Congo. It also asked the then
Minister to report the findings and recommendations of this review
and comment on progress on the problem
upon which the project would now be more focussed, i.e., sexual
and gender based violence. It again noted that it still could
not see why, when a large proportion of violent crime, sexual
violence and human rights violations was said to be committed
by members of the Congolese police and military, it was said to
be difficult to quantify the number of such violations, and the
part of the security sector in them, and accordingly asked the
then Minister to comment on this particular matter as and when
she reported on the outcome of the review.[115]
26.6 The previous Committee then considered a
revised Joint Action extending EUPOL DRC from 1 November 2009
to 30 June 2010 at a further cost of €5,150,000. The then
Minister (Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead) again recalled the contribution
of the Congolese Police or Armed Forces in SGBV crimes within
the DRC and again said that the revised Joint Action would allow
EUPOL DRC to place a greater emphasis on tackling SGBV through
its work advising and assisting the Congolese reform their National
Police Force. Two multidisciplinary teams of experts would be
deployed to Goma and Bukavu in the eastern DRC in order to provide
advice and assistance on combating SGBV and impunity as well as
assisting with the stabilisation process. One of the main tasks
would be to help ensure that legal services were provided for
victims of sexual violence and offenders prosecuted. She noted
that the mission worked in close cooperation with EUSEC DRC, which
had also recently been given a greater focus on combating SGBV.
Also giving EUPOL DRC a greater emphasis on tackling SGBV would
allow a more consistent approach to be taken on SGBV simultaneously
across both the Congolese Police and Armed Forces. This increased
emphasis would help to achieve wider stability, and increased
faith in the Police and Armed Forces. This was an area in which
she believed the ESDP missions could "make a meaningful difference."
26.7 In a subsequent letter of 16 October 2009,
the then new Minister for Europe (Chris Bryant) provided further
information on the levels of sexual violence committed within
the DRC and the benchmarks being used by the mission to measure
the success of the work undertaken to tackle this serious issue:
"The problem of rape and sexual violence is
one of the most serious aspects of the conflict in the DRC. Sexual
and gender based violence is used systematically as a weapon of
war by the Congolese Army and by militia groups to humiliate and
intimidate women and men of all ages. Conflict-affected areas
continue to be the hardest-hit, with South and North Kivu in the
eastern DRC recording the most cases. The UN Population Fund reported
5,204 cases during the period of January to June 2008 and the
Congo Advocacy Coalition announced over 2,200 cases of rape recorded
in North Kivu in the month of June 2008 alone. The more recent
reports from the mission itself have indicated that the number
of victims for the first half of 2009 (2,587) has exceeded the
total cases reported for the whole of the previous year (2,383).
The US Secretary of State visited the DRC in August 2009. Secretary
Clinton's visit highlighted the issue of sexual violence and reignited
the international community's interest.
"These figures reflect that the level of sexual
crime in the DRC remains a serious concern. However, as my predecessor
explained in the Explanatory Memorandum submitted on 13 October,
the amended Joint Action now grants EUPOL DRC a greater emphasis
on tackling sexual and gender based violence through its work
assisting the Congolese to reform their National Police Force
(PNC). Under the mission's new operational plan, the success of
the mission will be measured against the following benchmarks:
- "the reinforcement of the PNC's capacity
to deal with the victims of sexual violence;
- "participation in a project to help map
the location of sexual violence incidents committed by the police
force;
- "the development of an anti-sexual violence
cell within the PNC; and
- "the implementation of a code of conduct
for members of PNC which reinforces the unacceptability of SGBV."
The previous Committee's assessment
26.8 The previous Committee said that it was
obviously worrying that, notwithstanding all the EU's efforts
thus far, the level of sexual and gender-based violence had increased
so dramatically in 2009.
26.9 It also found it odd that, if "one
of the main tasks of these multidisciplinary teams will be to
help ensure that legal services are provided for victims of sexual
violence and offenders are prosecuted", this was not included
among the benchmarks. The previous Committee also noted that the
then Minister made no mention of any six-month review period here,
as was the case with EUSEC RD Congo. It also asked that, when
he reported on this review (c.f. paragraph 26.5 above), he also
provided an assessment of how well the four benchmarks and the
task referred to in the previous paragraph had been achieved.
26.10 Most recently, the Committee considered
a Council Decision extends the mandate of EUPOL DRC by three months
until 30 September 2010 at a cost of a further €2 million.
In his Explanatory Memorandum of 10 June 2010, the Minister for
Europe (Mr David Lidington) said that the mission's tasks would
be unchanged, viz:
— contribute
to the reform and restructuring of the Congolese National Police
by supporting the implementation of a viable, professional, and
multi-ethnic/integrated police force, with the full participation
of the Congolese authorities; and
— contribute to improved interaction between
the police and the wider criminal justice system.
26.11 The Minister noted that the DRC remained
a focus of international attention because of the potential for
conflict not least caused by the poor humanitarian situation in
most of the country. The Congolese police and justice sectors
remained weak. Impunity for major crimes, including rape and murder,
was common, with justice rarely delivered for victims. Without
international assistance parts of the DRC could slide back into
a state of conflict which would destabilise the wider region.
Security sector reform (SSR) was, therefore, a high priority for
the international community. But, he said, over the last 12 months
EUPOL DRC had struggled to fully achieve its mandate. Despite
this, the Minister supported a three month extension until 30
September 2010. There were many international actors involved
and they were not always coordinated effectively. The key player
was the UN Peacekeeping Mission to the DRC (MONUC). Negotiations
regarding MONUC's new mandate had been delicate and, as the second
largest peacekeeping mission in the world, the way forward for
MONUC must be decided before discussions could begin on the future
focus of EUPOL DRC.[116]
The three month extension would facilitate this and allow for
a more informed decision to be taken on the longer term future
of EUPOL DRC.
26.12 The Minister also explained that the Council
Secretariat were to undertake a strategic review of EU engagement
in the DRC this summer to look at EU coherence, including between
EUPOL DRC and the separate and "better performing" EUSEC
DRC. The review would look to assess the effectiveness of EU activity
so far and identify areas where the EU could add most value in
the future. The three month extension would enable the UK, the
EU and other Member States to assess carefully the DRC's SSR and
police reform needs, particularly in view of the refocused UN
mission and the EU's strategic review. If the strategic review
failed to identify an area where continued CSDP engagement in
police reform could add sufficient value going forward, the Minister
said that he would "push to close EUPOL DRC."
26.13 In clearing the document, we noted that
the Minister had nothing to say about the earlier reviews into
both EUPOL DRC and EUSEC RD Congo about which the previous Committee
had asked to have information prior to the presentation of further
proposals extending their mandates. There was also no mention
by the Minister of the mission's impact since the last extension,
though the implication was that it had been limited, to say the
least. However, rather than raking over the coals, we asked the
Minister to deposit whatever document emerged from strategic review
of EU engagement in the DRC, so that the House might have an opportunity
to consider the Government's views prior to the presentation of
any further Council Decisions.[117]
The first Council Decision
26.14 This Council Decision replaces the Council
Decision 2009/709/CFSP to provide the legal basis for a two-year
extension to EUSEC DRC from 1 October 2010 until 30 September
2012.
26.15 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 9 June
2010, the Minister for Europe says that the mission's main tasks
will be to continue the work of the previous mandate, namely:
— implementing
the biometric census project to accurately identify the correct
number of Congolese soldiers across the country;
— continuing the introduction of military
ID cards to further FARDC battalions which are helping to identify
legitimate soldiers;
— continuing the chain of payments projects
which is designed to ensure that soldiers are paid correctly and
therefore reduce the levels of financial corruption;
— support the opening of military training
schools in Kinshasa and Kananga as well as the development of
training programmes for FADRC officials; and
— helping the Congolese introduce and implement
policies that will promote human rights and prevent sexual violence.
The Government's view
26.16 The Minister comments as follows:
"With its vast mineral resources the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) has the potential to become a prosperous
nation. However, Congolese citizens remain amongst the poorest
in the world and the country still suffers from the effects of
the Second Congo War that took place between 1998 and 2003. Despite
the end of the war various militia groups remain active in the
eastern DRC and the Congolese military (FARDC) lacks the capacity
to remove them and fully stabilise the eastern provinces. With
the DRC bordering nine other countries this instability has the
potential to affect the wider Great Lakes region. Effective reform
of the Congolese military is therefore crucial to securing lasting
stability and better protection for the Congolese population.
"A more effective and capable FARDC will aid
the DRC in the following areas:
- Helping with efforts to stabilise the key eastern
regions and reduce the possibility that the country will slide
back into conflict;
- Improve the level of Congolese governance over
their territory; and
- Improving the relationship between the Congolese
population and the FARDC by ensuring that members of the Armed
Forces are held accountable for criminal activity.
"Security sector reform in the DRC is a long
term process and the two-year extension to EUSEC DRC will allow
the mission continue and build on the good work it has undertaken
so far. EUSEC DRC is delivering crucial reform projects to help
professionalise the Congolese Army which are helping reduce the
levels of corruption and fraud. They will continue to be implemented
under the proposed extension and the two-year extension will allow
for longer term planning and implementation of projects to take
place.
"EUSEC DRC has struggled with under staffing
over the course of its previous mandate. As a result, the mission's
work in certain projects has been affected. The chain of payments
project has suffered and certain FARDC wage packets meant for
April did not reach soldiers until mid-May. However, the biometric
census and military ID card projects have continued to be successful.
3,000 demobilised soldiers were identified by the mission in May
and subsequently removed from personnel databases. The military
ID card project has also been completed in Katanga and Kasai.
"EUSEC DRC has organised training courses which
have successfully been held in Kinshasa, Bandundu and the western
Kasai province. 'Train the trainer' courses were completed in
May which trained 50 Congolese trainers in effective training
techniques in order to cascade best practice across the FARDC.
The organisation of seminars in the eastern DRC is also progressing
with 19 seminars targeted to be held in Kivu, Katanga, and Maniema
in the future."
26.17 With regard to the financial implications,
the Minister says that
— the
amount allocated to cover the two-year extension to EUSEC DRC
is €12.6 million which will be taken from the EU's Common
Foreign and Security Policy budget;
— as a guideline, the UK's contribution
to the overall EU budget in 2010 is currently estimated at 13.8%;
— this would suggest a UK contribution
to the costs for this extension of approximately €1.7 million
(£1.4 million).
The second Council Decision
26.18 In his separate Explanatory Memorandum
of 9 September 2010, the Minister for Europe (David Lidington)
says that, under this proposed twelve month extension, EUPOL RD
CONGO will be "refocused towards the implementation of smaller
specific projects against a set of clearly defined tasks",
and that these "will be delivered through training programmes
for the Congolese National Police (PNC) and by mentoring, monitoring
and advising senior officials." Specifically, he says, the
mission will take forward the following tasks:
— mentoring,
monitoring and advising key PNC personnel to take forward the
implementation of the reform process;
— supporting the Audit Police Service to
strengthen its operational capacity in order to provide Congolese
citizens and authorities with a key instrument of democratic control
over the PNC;
— mentoring and advising the criminal police
in Kinshasa to improve standards and their capability to effectively
prevent and investigate crimes;
— supporting the professional development
of senior PNC officials with a view to improving their leadership
and management skills;
— supporting the development of a coherent
PNC policy against sexual violence; and
— helping create and monitor specialised
units within the PNC to fight against sexual violence.
The Government's view
26.19 The Minister puts the proposal in much
the same context as he did in June (c.f. paragraph 26.11 above),
and continues as follows:
"Over the last twelve months EUPOL RD CONGO
has experienced difficulties implementing the tasks in its mandate.
Constant understaffing has limited the scale and impact of the
work EUPOL RD CONGO has been able to take forward. In addition,
the reform tasks in the mission's previous mandate were focused
at the strategic level, while the SSR requirements in the DRC
have moved into an implementation phase. The Government's explicit
starting point for the negotiations was, therefore, that we would
only agree to a new mission if it was smaller, focused on a set
of clearly defined and achievable tasks and which dovetailed effectively
with the rest of the international effort.
"Importantly, the mission's tasks will be supported
by a set of measurable benchmarks of progress which will help
inform the Member States when they consider a review of the mission's
activity. The Council Secretariat will be required to produce
this report six months into the new mandate period.
"This smaller set of implementation-focused
staff will require a smaller mission. The UK pushed hard to reduce
the size of the mission on efficiency grounds, but also in an
effort to help address the persistent understaffing that the mission
experienced previously. The new mission will be reduced from 60
to 49 international staff. Deployment in the eastern provinces
has been scaled back to include only an eight person antenna in
Goma. Deployments in Bukavu and proposed deployments in Lubumbashi
have been removed. This will ensure that the mission will retain
some form of engagement in the key eastern provinces (where the
majority of acts of sexual violence crimes are committed) but
also address the fact that under the previous mandate the mission
struggled to make an impact in the east in a crowded international
landscape. The eight person antenna in Goma will focus on taking
forward work to address sexual and gender based violence in the
east. The mission's head quarters will remain in Kinshasa."
26.20 The Minister goes on to explain that:
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the financial reference amount for the extension has not yet been
agreed, but will be "scrutinised in Brussels working groups"
before the Council Decision is agreed;
— in the meantime, he would "expect
the costs to be less than under the previous mandate (a three
month extension under the last mandate cost €2.02 million)";
— as a guideline of costs to the UK for
this mission, the UK's contribution to the overall EU budget in
2010 is currently estimated at 13.8%; and
— he will update the Committees as soon
as the financial reference amount is agreed.
Conclusion
26.21 The impression, a year ago, was that
a greater emphasis was being place on SGBV and, by implication,
tackling the part of security forces in it (c.f. paragraphs 26.5
and 26.6 above). The impression now is that it has slipped down
the scale of priorities or, at best, has marked time. We would
like to know:
— what
the level of SGBV now is;
— what the level of security forces'
participation in it is, and if this is any improvement on earlier
years; and
— what has happened with regard to the
provision of legal advice to the victims.
26.22 We also note that there is still nothing
about the findings of any of the reviews talked about by both
previous and the present Minister for Europe. The latter said
the review of the MONUC (now MONUSCO) mandate would be central
to determining how to take EUPOL forward. We would like to know:
— what
the outcome was of the MONUC/MONUSCO review mandate, and how the
refocusing of EUPOL reflects this;
— what the findings of the Council Secretariat
review of the two missions were, and in particular what area or
areas it identified where continued CFSP engagement in police
reform would add sufficient value to warrant the continuation
of EUPOL (c.f paragraph 26.12 above);
— what "clearly defined and achievable
tasks" were discerned, and how they dovetail effectively
with the rest of the international effort (c.f paragraph 26.19
above);
— what the rest of that international
effort consists of;
— what the benchmarks are against which
progress is to be measured.
26.23 Looking further ahead, we ask the Minister
to write in six month's time with information about what has been
achieved vis à vis the benchmarks and he thinks about the
outcome thus far and the prospects for the future.
26.24 On the financial aspects, we note that
spending on EUSEC RD Congo will now reach $39.5 million.
26.25 We also note the lack of financial information
on EUPOL RD Congo. When he writes to the Committee once the financial
reference amount is agreed, we ask the Minister to explain why
it was possible to agree one financial reference amount but not
the other; and to provide information on what the total expenditure
on EUPOL has been thus far.
26.26 In the meantime we clear the documents.
114 See headnote. Back
115
See headnote: (30900)-: HC 19-xxvii (2008-09), chapter 26, (14
October 2009). Back
116
Following the signing of the Lusaka Ceasefire Agreement in July
1999 between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and five
regional States in July 1999, the Security Council established
the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (MONUC) by its resolution 1279 of 30 November 1999,
initially to plan for the observation of the ceasefire and disengagement
of forces and maintain liaison with all parties to the Ceasefire
Agreement. Later in a series of resolutions, the Council expanded
the mandate of MONUC to the supervision of the implementation
of the Ceasefire Agreement and assigned multiple related additional
tasks. In accordance with Security Council resolution 1925 of
28 May 2010, MONUC was renamed as of 1 July the United Nations
Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (MONUSCO) to reflect the new phase reached in the
country. See http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/monuc/
for full information on MONUSCO. Back
117
See headnote: (31692) -: HC 428-i (2010-11), chapter 59 (8 September
2010). Back
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