"Guaranteeing justice and human rights will promote social progress"

teleSUR English

Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, during his speech on the third day of the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations, addressed issues concerning the climate and food crises and the increase in armed conflicts that plague the world. teleSUR

Transcript

00:00 We will return to the UN headquarters to continue listening to the statements of the President

00:06 of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

00:11 The military personnel loyal to the President of the Republic pitted them against the rapid

00:20 support forces under the command of General Mohamed Hamdi de Gallo.

00:27 This war has already caused much death and much material damage as well.

00:33 The international community is virtually indifferent to the Sudanese tragedy.

00:41 This is also the place to broach a question of paramount importance to the Democratic

00:45 Republic of Congo and also of prime importance for building peace in the Great Lakes region.

00:52 I'm referring to the withdrawal of the United Nations Mission for Stabilization in the Democratic

00:57 Republic of Congo, MONUSCO, the withdrawal of MONUSCO from our territory.

01:07 Following a presence of more than two decades by the UN, it's time for my country to fully

01:15 take its destiny in hand and to become the main protagonist of its own stability.

01:21 We are grateful to the international community and to the United Nations for their support

01:25 and their partnership.

01:27 But we are also aware that the phased withdrawal of MONUSCO is a necessary stage to consolidate

01:34 progress that we have already achieved.

01:37 Nonetheless, it should be deplored that the peacekeeping missions that have been deployed

01:44 in various forms for 25 years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have not been able to

01:55 stop rebellions and armed conflicts that have torn apart the DRC and the Great Lakes region,

02:02 nor have they succeeded in protecting the civilian populations.

02:06 Therefore, the phased, responsible, and sustainable withdrawal of MONUSCO, which was announced

02:15 in 2018 and whose transition plan was adopted in 2021, is that planned withdrawal an anachronism

02:25 given the changes in the political, security, and current social contingencies?

02:31 It is thus illusory and counterproductive to continue to cling to maintaining MONUSCO

02:38 to reestablish peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to stabilize it.

02:45 Furthermore, the accelerated withdrawal of MONUSCO is absolutely necessary to ease the

02:52 tensions between MONUSCO and our citizens.

02:56 It is the time to explore new avenues for strategic collaboration with the United Nations,

03:02 mechanisms that are more in lockstep with our current realities.

03:07 This is why in my capacity as an institution, guarantor of the territorial integrity, sovereignty,

03:13 and independence of my country, and to ensure the good conduct of our nation and the well-being

03:18 of my compatriots, in this capacity I've instructed the Government of the Republic to begin discussions

03:25 with the UN authorities to ensure an accelerated withdrawal of MONUSCO from the Democratic

03:30 Republic of the Congo, moving up the deadline from December 2024 to December 2023.

03:38 This is the meaning behind the step of our government, which addressed a letter to the

03:46 President of the Security Council of the United Nations dated 1 September 2023, asking for

03:52 the accelerated withdrawal of MONUSCO.

03:57 In line with this accelerated withdrawal of MONUSCO, the DRC reiterates its demand to

04:03 the Security Council of the United Nations to sanction all physical and legal persons

04:09 acknowledged to be perpetrators, co-perpetrators, and accomplices, both material and intellectually,

04:18 victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and serious violations of human rights, international

04:24 law, and the Charter of the United Nations on Congolese territory.

04:29 It is unjust and unacceptable for persons deemed to be responsible for the serious crimes

04:38 mentioned in various reports of UN experts themselves on the security situation in the

04:44 DRC.

04:45 It is unacceptable for these persons to remain – to continue to enjoy impunity with the

04:51 complete silence of our organization and its member states, which have placed the combating

04:58 impunity as among their main priorities when it comes to internal and external governance.

05:04 In this regard, the government of the DRC warmly welcomes the sanctions recently imposed

05:09 by the United States on Rwanda for its support for the M23 terrorist groups and against one

05:18 of its senior officials involved in the criminal undertakings in Congo.

05:25 To recall, this terrorist group, which is a proxy for Rwanda, has not honored any of

05:32 the commitments entered into by the heads of states of the region in the context of

05:37 the Rwanda and Nairobi process.

05:41 Indeed, not only have they not left the positions they conquered, they are continuing to massacre

05:49 the civilian population and they are refusing pre-cantonment and cantonment.

05:57 They are demanding a dialogue that will never be granted to them.

06:02 The Democratic Republic of the Congo hopes that the other states will follow this good

06:19 example set by the United States of America in order to support the common struggle against

06:26 impunity to ensure the triumph of the ideals of justice and solidarity among peoples.

06:34 The government of the DRC is awaiting the next meeting of the Security Council, which

06:41 will focus in particular on our request, and we want it to be constructive when it comes

06:51 to the management of the delicate and laborious process of crafting peace in our country.

06:57 President, there's another challenge.

07:06 The warming of our planet.

07:09 Needless to say, there's been an increase in temperature.

07:22 We were listening to the statements of the President of the Democratic Republic of the

07:25 Congo, Felicity Shikeri.

07:28 The President referred to the withdrawal of MONUSCO from the DRC, saying it is time for

07:33 the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to take the reins of their own destinies

07:37 and find new mechanisms to solve the issue of insecurity and try to achieve stability,

07:42 but referred to the fact that MONUSCO has been on the country for many years and still

07:48 results are not there.

07:49 So that's why they believe, the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo believe

07:53 that it's time for new mechanisms of cooperation with the United Nations even to solve the

07:59 situation.

08:00 The President and also the head of state accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 rebel group,

08:04 which has brought havoc among the civilian population.

08:09 Stay tuned with Televisory English as we continue to provide regular updates on what's happening

08:14 at the United Nations during the 70th session of the General Assembly's general debate.

08:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended