Canadian NGOs call for greater engagement in peace effort

Several Canadian non-governmental organisations have appealed to their government to goad the world's most powerful states to greater engagement in the peace effort in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and to help reduce poverty in that region.

In its petition issued on Wednesday, the 12 NGO's also called on the Canadian government to place this issue to the Group of Eight leaders due to meet in June 2002. In addition, they called on Ottawa to pressure Angola, Rwanda, DRC, Uganda and Zimbabwe to abide by the peace accord on the DRC they signed on 10 July 1999 in Lusaka, Zambia. None of the rebel leaders signed the deal.

The NGOs also called for "all necessary means" to be given to the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, to undertake its duties in that country; one of which will be to disarm and demobilise rival rebels groups in the east. The NGOs suggested that disarmament and demobilisation be voluntary and put under the supervision of the Joint Military Commission (comprising delegations of those involved in the war), with UN aid. The NGOs said, however, that the world leaders should oppose deployment of a joint special force of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Goma (RCD-Goma) and Mouvement pour la liberation du Congo (MLC) rebels groups in Kindu, eastern DRC, "because that would threaten the local populations".

They called for inquires into the deaths of Rwandan and Congolese civilians in the DRC since 1996.

The petition was signed by Alternatives, Centre canadien d'études et de coopération (CECI), Centre missionnaire oblat, Développement et Paix, Droits et Démocratie, Groupe Justice et Libération (Canada), Jeunesse du Monde, Maison Lukula, Missionnaires d'Afrique, Oxfam-Québec, Religieux de Saint-Vincent, Terre sans Frontières