The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution today that cuts the UN peacekeeping force in Congo by 2,000, a far smaller reduction than what Congo President Joseph Kabila has wanted.
The resolution defies Kabila's wish that the UN's largest peacekeeping force shrink by at least 7,000.
The vote comes amid weeks of tension after the UN backed out of a planned joint operation with Congo's military against a rebel group, saying the two Congolese generals in charge have been involved in "massive human rights violations."
Last week, Congo Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda told the Security Council that the time has come for Congo to "assume full responsibility" for its own security, indicating that his country wants the peacekeepers to leave. The top UN envoy to Congo, Martin Kobler, warned that making the peacekeeping mission leave Congo too early would be disastrous.
The resolution extends the USD 1.3 billion, 21,000-strong peacekeeping force for a year and says its exit from Congo should be "gradual and progressive."
It also says that the mission's force intervention brigade, which has a unique mandate in the UN peacekeeping system to take offensive military action against rebel groups, can act "either unilaterally or jointly with" the Congolese military.
The resolution notes in particular the threat from the FDLR rebel group, whose defeat the UN sees as key to security in eastern Congo. The mineral-rich region is home to multiple armed groups.
Congo's military has gone ahead on its own in recent weeks with operations against the FDLR, a UN-sanctioned group that includes Hutus, who committed the 1994 Rwanda massacres.
Congo's ambassador, Ignace Gata Mavita wa Lufuta, told the council today that he objected to language in the resolution that "accuses the Congolese army of collaborating with the FDLR," but he thanked the UN for its overall efforts in helping to bring some peace to the region.
The resolution notes that almost a half-million Congolese have been displaced by the various armed groups in the eastern part of the country.
