Source: Dr. Frank Okuthe
Executive Director,
ICGLR LEVY MWANAWASA CENTER
July 15 2012
We, Heads of State and Government of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the Headquarters of the African Union on 15th July 2012, in the margins of the 19th Ordinary Session of the African Union Meeting (15–16 July 2012), on the security situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo with the view to consolidating peace, security and development in the Great Lakes Region;
Having considered the report from the Extraordinary Meeting of the Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee (RIMC) of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region held in Addis Ababa on 11th July 2012 at the Headquarters of the African Union on the security situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo;
Cognisant of the gravity of the security and humanitarian situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the fact that it constitutes a serious threat to peace, security, stability and development in the entire Great Lakes Region;
Aware of the persistence of the negative forces and armed groups in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo;
Mindful of our commitment as expressed in the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration on Peace, Security, Democracy and Development in the Great Lakes Region of 20th November 2004, stating our “collective determination to transform the Great Lakes Region into a space of sustainable peace and security for States and peoples, political and social stability, shared growth and development, a space of cooperation based on the strategies and policies of convergence within the framework of a common destiny which we are determined to build..”
Acknowledging the firm commitments made by the Heads of State of the Great Lakes Region in the ICGLR Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region on 15th December 2006 and its Protocols, specifically the Protocol on Non-Aggression and Mutual Defence in the Great Lakes Region;
Evoking the decision made during the 4th Ordinary Summit of the ICGLR Heads of State in Kampala on 15th and 16th December 2011 to eradicate existing armed groups in the Region in conformity with the ICGLR Protocol on Non-Aggression and Mutual Defence:
DO HEREBY decide as follows:
1. Approve and endorse the decisions of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Regional Inter-Ministerial Committee (RIMC);
2. Condemn in the strongest terms the actions of the M23 and other Negative Forces operating in the Region and support the efforts deployed by the Government of the DRC for the restoration of peace and security in the North Kivu Province.
3. Condemn in the strongest terms the continued and unfettered activities of the FDLR and call for immediate military action to eradicate this threat.
4. Direct the appropriate structures of the ICGLR to work with the AU and the UN for an immediate establishment of a neutral International Force to eradicate M23, FDLR and all other Negative Forces in Eastern DRC and patrol and secure the Border Zones.
5. Direct the ICGLR Ministers of Defence to reconvene in the shortest possible time to review, oversee and fast track the implementation of the decisions on negative forces in the Great Lakes Region made during their meeting in Kigali on 9 September 2011.
6. Demand that the Negative Forces, in particular M23, immediately stop armed activities and no support should be given to any Negative Force to destabilize the Region and Eastern Congo in particular.
7. Call upon the ICGLR Member States to fully implement the Pact on Security, Stability and Development in the Great Lakes Region and in particular the Protocol on Non-Aggression and Mutual Defence in the Great Lakes Region.
8. Urge the Governments of DRC and Rwanda to fully implement their existing bilateral mechanisms in addressing the insecurity in the East of DRC and specifically the full operationalisation of the Joint Verification Mechanism and should open up the latter to other Member States.
9. Call upon the International Community to provide, as a matter of urgency, an appropriate humanitarian support to victims of violence in the Eastern DRC, especially in the North Kivu Province, and extend assistance to the victims wherever they maybe.
10. Urge the Officials in Member States of the Great Lakes Region to ensure that their actions, behaviour, speeches, public statements, contributions and any other utterances be inscribed in the logic of peace, security and stability and be artisans and promoters of peace.
11. To immediately establish a Follow-up Mechanism by the revival of the Team of Special Envoys namely H.E. Benjamin Mkapa and H.E. General Olusegun Obasanjo to address the root causes of the problem of insecurity in Eastern DRC and propose a sustainable solution. The Secretary General of the UN is requested to facilitate the exercise.
12. To set up an Ad-Hoc Group of Experts composed of six independent experts as per Article 25 of the Pact that would prepare and submit a report on Eastern DRC to the next RIMC Meeting.
13. To direct the ICGLR Secretariat to follow up on the implementation of the decisions of this Extraordinary Summit and provide regular reports thereof to the Chairperson of the ICGLR.
14. To urge the Member States to urgently pay their annual contributions to the Secretariat to facilitate the work of ICGLR.
15. To convene an Extraordinary Summit on 6th and 7th August 2012 in Kampala, Uganda on the Security situation in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the shortest possible time. Consultations on the dates to be decided through consultations between the respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Member States.
Done in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 11th July 2012
1 H.E. JOSE EDUARDO DOS SANTOS, Angola
2…H.E. FRANÇOIS BOZIZE,Central African Republic…
3.H.E. JOSE EDUARDO DOS SANTOS H.E PIERRE NKURUNZIZA,Burundi
4.H.E. FRANÇOIS BOZIZE H.E. DENIS SASSOU-NGUESSO, the Republic of Congo
5 H E JOSEPH KABILA, DRC
6 H.E. MWAI KIBAKI,Kenya
7 H.E. PAUL KAGAME,Rwanda
8.H E. OMAR HASSAN AHMED EL BASHIR, Sudan
9.H.E. JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, Tanzania
10.H E YOWERI MUSEVENI, Uganda
11…H.E S.E. MICHAEL CHILUFYA SATA, Zambia
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