Luanda - The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday in New York demanded an immediate end to hostilities in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the unconditional return of the warring parties to the negotiating table.
According to a press release sent to ANGOP, at this second emergency meeting in 48 hours on the situation in the DRC, the Security Council called on all parties to act in good faith and to return to the Luanda process, under the mediation of Angolan President João Lourenço.
In his intervention, Angola's representative to the United Nations, Francisco José da Cruz, called for an immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of M-23 from the occupied territories, and an end to the establishment of parallel administrations on the territory of the DRC.
The Angolan diplomat called for full respect for the territorial integrity of the DRC, in accordance with the UN Charter, international law and the principle of sovereign equality of all member states.
Francisco José da Cruz urged the parties to fully respect human rights and international humanitarian law, the protection of civilians, camps for displaced persons, medical facilities and peacekeepers.
He stressed that attacks on civilians and peacekeepers constitute war crimes.
According to the Angolan diplomat, hostilities in eastern DRC have already claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and injured many others, and he called on the parties to resume the Luanda process, stressing the need to preserve the hard-won gains achieved through this process after months of intense negotiations.
AU Peace Champion
As part of his responsibilities as AU Champion for Peace and Reconciliation, mandated to mediate between Rwanda and the DRC, João Lourenço has taken several initiatives to resolve the differences between the two countries and has made significant progress, including the signing of a ceasefire agreement on July 30, which entered into force on August 4.
On January 24, the Angolan Head of State expressed his deep concern at the serious deterioration of the peace and security situation in the east of the DRC.
He condemned and denounced the actions of the M-23 and its supporters, which undermine the progress made within the framework of the Luanda process, and reaffirmed that there is no military solution to the conflict.
João Lourenço reported that, due to the rapid deterioration of the security situation, the members of the Reinforced Ad-hoc Verification Mechanism and the Extended Joint Verification Mechanism, deployed in the city of Goma under the Luanda Process to support the pacification process in eastern DRC, had to be evacuated to Angola on January 27.
In recent days, the Angolan Head of State has been in contact with several African leaders on the situation in the east of the DRC, in particular with his counterparts from Mauritania and current AU Chairperson, Mohamed Ould Ghazouan, and from Equatorial Guinea and Chairperson of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Teodoro Obiang Nguema.
Angola reiterated its President's firm commitment to continue playing its role as mediator mandated by the AU to contribute to the normalization of diplomatic relations between the DRC and Rwanda in order to achieve peace and security in the region. FMA/VIC/AMP
