RESOLUTION(1)

on the situation in the Great Lakes and the Lusaka agreements

The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,

- meeting in Nassau (Bahamas) from 11 to 14 October 1999,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in the Great Lakes,

A. alarmed at the continuing instability in the Great Lakes Region,

B. commending the efforts being made by the countries of the region, with particular regard to the signatories to the Lusaka agreement, to find a lasting solution to the crisis in the Great Lakes Region,

C. whereas the Lusaka cease-fire agreement includes a pledge from neighbouring countries to withdraw their forces, withdraw and disarm the militias operating from the RDC and secure Congo's borders in order to guarantee the safety of neighbouring countries,

D. whereas the obstacles to the implementation of the Lusaka agreement are enormous, given the grave instability and ethnic tensions that persist in the region and the continuing presence of refugees across the region, which has resulted in a tremendous crisis,

E. having regard to resolution AHG/16/1 which was adopted by the OAU Conference of Heads of State and Government in Cairo (Egypt) on territorial integrity and the inviolability of national frontiers,

F. stressing the obligation which all the parties concerned are under to observe strictly the general principles of international humanitarian law and human rights,

G. having regard to the fundamental nature of the respect which must be shown for the sovereignty of each country's right to make its own social, political, cultural and economic choices,

1. Deplores all human rights violations, summary executions, acts of torture, harassment and rape, ethnic propaganda, incitements to ethnic violence and the enlistment of children as soldiers;

2. Welcomes the Lusaka cease-fire agreement and calls for it to be supported and implemented without delay, inter alia by means of the deployment of international observers responsible for supervising its implementation ; calls on all parties to the conflict to honour the undertakings given in accordance with the Lusaka cease-fire agreement, and points out that that agreement is crucial to the stability and security of all the countries in the region;

3. Deplores all the massacres perpetrated on DRC territory and calls for those responsible to be identified and brought to justice, and for an international inquiry into all such events, particularly the massacres in South Kivu in the areas in which those massacres were extremely extensive, to be opened;

4. Reaffirms its commitment to the principle of the inviolability of the current frontiers, pursuant to the spirit and the letter of the relevant provisions of the UN and OAU Charters; recalls that all ethnic groups and nationalities living inside those frontiers have full citizenship and must therefore enjoy the same rights and protection;

5. Welcomes the imminent holding of the "national dialogue" in the DRC in which all active Congolese forces have been invited to take part ; calls on the various Congolese parties to come to an agreement on the mediator at the earliest opportunity, so as to enable that dialogue to be opened; calls, with this in mind, on the authorities of the Democratic Republic of Congo immediately to release all political prisoners and to authorise party political activities with a view to the dialogue and preparations for elections;

6. Calls on the European Union to provide the resources needed to support the peace initiative in the Democratic Republic of Congo;

7. Calls on the EU Member States and the ACP countries concerned to arrest and bring to justice or extradite perpetrators of genocide;

8. Calls on the EU to step up its humanitarian aid to the region in order to cope with the continuing presence of refugees, and its assistance to the neighbouring countries so as to enable them to help returnees;

9. Calls on all parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo to ensure that humanitarian aid organisations have unrestricted and unconditional access to those in need;

10. Deplores the killing in southern Burundi of United Nations personnel on a humanitarian mission, as well as Burundian civilians and soldiers, and stresses the vital need for all parties involved in conflicts in the Great Lakes region to take all steps possible to ensure the safety of for those working to provide humanitarian aid there;

11. Re-emphasises the importance of holding, under the auspices of the UN and the OAU, an international conference on peace, security and stability in the Great Lakes Region, to be attended by all the governments of the region;

12. Draws attention to the European Union's duty to support efforts to implement the Lusaka agreement and calls on it to take appropriate political and economic action without delay with a view to ensuring that the agreement is properly implemented;

13. Calls on the Council and the Member States to honour the undertakings they have given with regard to controlling arms exports to the region and preventing the illicit sale of such arms and the trafficking which finances it;

14. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission, the signatories to the Lusaka agreement, the United Nations Secretary-General and the OAU.

(1) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 14 October 1999 in Nassau (Bahamas).