Dar es Salaam — The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has decided to activate its stand-by force and dispatch it to the troubled eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where rebels of the M23 movement are fighting against the Congolese government.
The unit will be under the auspices of the Neutral International force (NIF), and its commander will be appointed by Tanzania.
This decision was taken on Saturday, during an extraordinary one day summit of SADC heads of state and government in Dar es Salaam, chaired by Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, in his capacity as the current SADC chairperson.
SADC has about a week to activate its stand-by force, and the entire deployment could cost about 100 million US dollars. Part of this sum has already been made available by the DRC itself. Tanzania and South Africa have promised to send a battalion and logistical support to the NIF.
The idea for such a neutral force, to be placed along the border between the DRC and Rwanda, was backed by the African Union in September, after frustration at the failure of the United Nations force in the region (MONUSCO) to deal with the M23 rebellion.
In SADC’s understanding, MONUSCO has been unable to cope with the problem, and so the summit urged the UN to change the mandate of MONUSCO, granting it the power for direct armed reaction to any attacks.
To date, MONUSCO’s physical presence only exists to guarantee humanitarian activities. Such activities are of dubious value in an area where murder, rape and looting by armed groups are reported every day.
The summit reaffirmed the indivisibility of the DRC, and respect for its sovereignty and territorial integrity. It expressed deep concern at the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the eastern DRC and strongly condemned the M23 for its attacks against civilians, the UN forces and humanitarian agencies.
“We are open to dialogue, but we are also not prepared to continue watching as defenceless people are killed”, said Guebuza at a press conference held immediately after the close of the summit.
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