United Nations S/ PV.8397 Security Council Provisional Seventy-third year 8397th meeting Tuesday, 13 November 2018, 3 p.m. New York President: Mr. Ma Zhaoxu ................................. (China) Members: Bolivia (Plurinational State of) ..................... Mrs. Cordova Soria Côte d’Ivoire ................................... Mr. Toure Equatorial Guinea ............................... Mr. Esono Mbengono Ethiopia ....................................... Ms. Guadey France ........................................ Mr. Delattre Kazakhstan .................................... Mr. Temenov Kuwait ........................................ Mr. Almunayekh Netherlands .................................... Mrs. Gregoire Van Haaren Peru .......................................... Mr. Meza-Cuadra Poland ........................................ Mr. Lewicki Russian Federation ............................... Mr. Polyanskiy Sweden ....................................... Mr. Skoog United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland .. Mr. Hickey United States of America .......................... Mrs. Haley Agenda The situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo . This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the translation of speeches delivered in other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room U-0506 ([email protected]). Corrected records will be reissued electronically on the Official Document System of the United Nations (http://documents.un.org). 18-37409 (E) *1837409* S/PV.8397 The situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo 13/11/2018 The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m. meeting would be held in Kinshasa in the near future to introduce the joint opposition candidate, an agreed Adoption of the agenda programme and the campaign staff. The agenda was adopted. The choice of Martin Fayulu, however, as the joint presidential opposition candidate has given rise to The situation concerning the Democratic Republic strong opposition among the militant elements of the of the Congo Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS) and the Union pour la nation congolaise (UNC). In The President (spoke in Chinese): In accordance response to their challenges, the leaders of the UDPS with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of and the UNC announced their parties’ withdrawal procedure, I invite the representative of the Democratic from the agreement signed the day before. Concerning Republic of the Congo to participate in today’s meeting. the Front commun pour le Congo, it has just made In accordance with rule 39 of the Council’s public the team that will support the campaign of its provisional rules of procedure, I invite the following candidate — Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary — whose briefers to participate in this meeting: Ms. Leila programme should be unveiled on 15 November. Zerrougui, Special Representative of the Secretary- At the same time, preparations for the holding of General and Head of the United Nations Stabilization elections continue. Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and On 31 October, President Joseph Kabila Kabange Ms. Joséphine Mbela of the Congolese Association for chaired an inter-institutional meeting to assess Access to Justice. the electoral process, in which the United Nations Ms. Mbela will join today’s meeting via video- Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic teleconference from Kinshasa. Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), as a partner organization, was invited to participate. The Government The Security Council will now begin its consideration reported that it had disbursed $322.2 million to the of the item on its agenda. Independent National Electoral Commission on I give the floor to Ms. Zerrougui. 23 October, with the latter announcing that it had been provided the means for ground and air transport and Ms. Zerrougui (spoke in French): I thank the was ready to distribute election materials throughout members of the Security Council for this opportunity to the country in time for the 23 December elections. In brief them on the situation in the Democratic Republic addition, as announced by the Independent National of the Congo, including the latest developments with Electoral Commission, the training of approximately regard to the electoral process under way and the 600,000 election workers is under way so as to ensure implementation of the 31 December 2016 agreement. the smooth operation of 75,563 polling stations at more The scheduled holding of presidential and legislative than 23,000 different sites. elections at the national and provincial levels is fast Although the accreditation process for witnesses, approaching, as we are now only nine days away from observers and journalists has begun, Congolese civil- the beginning of the official campaign and less than society organizations have announced their intention to six weeks away from the scheduled date of elections deploy thousands of observers on the ground so as to on 23 December. It should be noted that, despite ensure the transparency and credibility of the process. continuing differences, in particular with regard to the The Southern African Development Community use of voting machines and the reliability of the voter (SADC) also expressed its desire to deploy an electoral registry, all stakeholders remain firmly committed to observation mission. That commitment at the regional the electoral process. The main opposition candidates level was reinforced by two high-level visits last week for the presidential elections agreed on a single in Kinshasa: one by the SADC Electoral Advisory candidate on Sunday in Geneva. After a three-day Council and one by the African Union Commissioner conclave facilitated by the Kofi Annan Foundation, for Peace and Security. they appointed Martin Fayulu to represent them within a new coalition called Lamuka, which means “Wake In order to contribute to the holding of peaceful up!” in Lingala. The coalition announced that a public elections, a platform made up of various religious 2/22 18-37409 13/11/2018 The situation concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo S/PV.8397 leaders — through the Commission for Integrity and (spoke in English) Electoral Mediation — has just organized a forum These long-awaited elections will take place in for peace and reconciliation with the aim of bringing a volatile security environment in many parts of the participants together to sign an act of commitment country. Allow me to highlight several of our biggest for the holding of peaceful, credible and transparent concerns today. elections. Similarly, the Conférence épiscopale First, I have grown increasingly alarmed over the nationale du Congo (CENCO) will hold its fifty-seventh situation in Beni in recent months, where we continue plenary assembly from 20 to 22 November in Kinshasa, to face major challenges in implementing our mandate. also in order to evaluate the electoral process. As I mentioned to the Council during my previous It is worth noting that, in a recent interview with briefing (see S/PV.8370), civilians, the Forces armées international press, the Vice-President of CENCO de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC) and new Archbishop of Kinshasa, Monsignor Fridolin and MONUSCO alike are being targeted by the Allied Democratic Forces and Mayi-Mayi groups. Despite Ambongo Besungu, emphasized the need to reach FARDC efforts and the Mission’s robust patrolling and consensus with regard to the voting machines so that ongoing joint operations — the latest of which started that element does not constitute an obstacle to the yesterday — the attacks continue and are increasingly holding of elections. taking place near the centre of the town of Beni. In spite of this dynamic that is setting the course As members know, we are not only facing for the elections on 23 December, the opposition is security challenges in Beni, but also supporting a concerned about the narrowing of the political space, major Ebola response effort. The recent visit by the including the impossibility of holding meetings Director-General of the World Health Organization throughout the country and a lack of equitable access and the Under-Secretary-General of the Department to public media. The opposition also condemns what of Peacekeeping Operations helped to underscore the it regards as the alleged use of State resources for the commendable results that can be achieved through benefit of the candidate of the Front commun pour coordinated efforts. Teams from the Ministry of Health, le Congo. the World Health Organization and other humanitarian partners are doing a remarkable job, with the support There is still much progress to be made to create of MONUSCO. an environment conducive to credible elections. It is However, we are still seeing a growing number precisely for that reason that I am sparing no effort of cases in the major population centres of Beni and in my good offices. I have initiated meetings with Butembo, as well as significant community resistance all the candidates for the presidential election and, in to response efforts. Women are disproportionately each of my encounters, I have insisted on the need to affected, representing about 60 per cent of all probable demonstrate