Global Policy Forum

By Evelyn Leopold

The U.N. Security Council has scheduled a vote for Monday to impose an arms embargo on all rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo and punish violators with a travel ban and assets freeze. The measure, drafted by France, expands an arms ban first imposed in mid-2003 on armed groups in the volatile eastern provinces and others that had not accepted a cease-fire.

The new five-page resolution would ban weapons and military assistance to "any recipient" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo except those soldiers and police operating under the command of the transitional government in Kinshasa. But even these bodies must notify a Security Council committee in advance, coordinate with U.N. peacekeepers and have weapons delivered to designated sites.

Continuous fighting in the east -- areas bordering Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi -- has cast a shadow over elections due to be held in June, but now delayed. They were meant meant to mark an end to a five-year war that drew in six countries before it was declared over in 2003. The resolution expresses "serious concern regarding the presence of armed group and militias in the eastern part" of the Congo "particularly in the provinces of North and South Kivu and in the Ituri district, which perpetuate a climate of insecurity in the whole region."

The document also demands that neighboring states bordering the Congo, particularly those in the east, rich in minerals and other natural resources, maintain a registry of all flights going to the Congo that a council committee can review. In case of violations, the resolution says nations should "immediately freeze funds, other financial assets and economic resources which are on their depositories." Violators would also be subject to a travel ban.

The vast Congo, formerly Zaire, has seen some of the worst violence in Africa during a civil war that began in 1998. An estimated 4 million million people have died, most from disease and hunger. Despite a peace deal, armed bands still wreak havoc in the east, killing civilians, looting and calling elections into question.

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