DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO.

On 22 June, the Security Council called on all parties to cease hostilities throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo, cooperate with the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) and implement all provisions of the Lusaka Agreement and relevant Council resolutions. It also deplored the decision by the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to close the Kinshasa office of the Facilitator of the National Inter-Congolese Dialogue, former President Ketumile Masire of Botswana. The Council urged the Government to reaffirm its full commitment to the Dialogue, a central element of the Lusaka Agreement.

The Council remained "deeply concerned" that not all Rwandan and Ugandan forces and armed groups had withdrawn from the eastern town of Kisangani. It also deplored the humanitarian effects of the fighting there, which had killed 600 civilians and injured 3,000 people, including UN staff.

The Council on 16 June unanimously adopted a resolution urging Ugandan and Rwandan forces to pull out from Kisangani. Stressing that the two countries had violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Council demanded that they withdraw all their troops from the territory "without further delay". Urging all Congolese parties to "engage fully" in the National Dialogue process, the Council called on the Congolese Government to cooperate with the Facilitator and allow for the full participation of political parties and civil society groups in the dialogue.

The Council also condemned the massacres and atrocities carried out in the territory and urged that an international investigation bring those responsible to justice. In the Council's view, Rwanda and Uganda should make reparations for the loss of lives and damage to property suffered by the civilian population of Kisangani. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was asked to submit an assessment of the damage as a basis for such reparations. The Council also urged the parties to the Lusaka Accord to cooperate with MONUC in its efforts to monitor the cessation of hostilities, the disengagement of forces and the withdrawal of foreign armies.

Council President Jean-David Levitte of France said that some 1.7 million victims of the conflict had died either in massacres while trying to flee the violence, or as a result of the lack of humanitarian aid due to insecurity. He said that the resumption of hostilities between Rwanda and Uganda had drastically aggravated the situation and seemed to toll the bell for the Lusaka accord.

In his report of 13 June, the Secretary-General urged the Council to resort to an enforcement mechanism under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to help end the fighting. Mr. Annan hoped that with the demilitarization of Kisangani the Democratic Republic of the Congo would move closer to a comprehensive ceasefire and eventually to a stable and durable peace.