WRITTEN QUESTION E-0319/98 by Magda Aelvoet (V) to the Commission (17 February 1998)

Subject: Security in Great Lakes Region of Africa

Does the Commission intend to support international efforts for the reactivation of the United Nations International Commission (Rwanda) and the extension of its mandate to investigate arms flows to the Great Lakes region, as called for by the European Parliament? Does the Commission support international calls for the deployment of United Nations or Organization of African Unity military observers to key airstrips and crossing points in the Great Lakes region?

Answer given by Mr Pinheiro on behalf of the Commission (22 April 1998)

The International commission of inquiry to investigate arms trafficking to former Rwandan government forces in the Great Lakes region, established by the United Nations security Council (UNSC) resolution 1013 (1995), accomplished its work in late 1996 and submitted a report, which was completed by information the United Nations (UN) secretariat received from governments during 1997. At a UNSC briefing on 22 December 1997, the UN secretary general special envoy for the Great Lakes region, Mohamed Sahnoun, advocated a resumption of the work of the commission of inquiry. Various members of the UNSC, which is now considering reactivating the commission, supported the proposal. The decision to resume the inquiry as well as the determination of its mandate, including its geographical scope, falls under the competence of the UNSC.

As regards the Commission's position in the framework of the common foreign and security policy of the Community, the Commission has repeatedly expressed concern about the violence in Rwanda and Burundi as well as about the presence of various armed groups in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is true that to a certain extent, the arms trade has fuelled the violent conflicts in the Great Lakes region. However, in the absence of a regional security agreement or a regional arms embargo imposed by the United Nations, an inquiry into the trade of weapons in the Great Lakes region would encounter serious difficulties. Many of the arms deliveries in the Great Lakes go to governments, which are not subject to any international restriction in arms trade. These governments are likely to object to any investigation with no legal justification in international law.

The only existing international arms embargo is that imposed on the former Rwandan government forces ex-Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), which are but one of the many armed factions in the region. The embargo imposed on Burundi by eight countries of the Great Lakes region, following the July 1996 coup d'état in Bujumbura, has not been followed by a UN embargo. Likewise, the Rwandan government's obligation to notify to the UN sanctions committee any procurement of weapons and military material, decided by UNSC Resolution 1011 (1995), has been suspended since September 1996.

The Commission supports any realistic effort to curb arms deliveries to the Great Lakes region. However, such efforts need a sound legal basis and have to take into account the legitimate right of governments to defend themselves against armed insurgency. A regional arms embargo would only be a useful measure if it was properly implemented and combined with a regional security agreement among the states of the Great Lakes region, including mutual guarantees for border security. Since there are no such agreements, nor any initiatives in that direction, the resumption of the commission of inquiry or the deployment of UN or Organisation of African unity (OAU) observers on the main airstrips of the Great Lakes region will have little effect in limiting the arms trade and reducing the notorious ethnic and political violence in this region.

Finally, it is worth recalling that the genocide in Rwanda was carried out largely with agricultural instruments like machetes and hoes, and not with military weapons. Even a strictly implemented regional arms embargo could not prevent such excesses of ethnic violence. This underscores the importance of searching for sustainable political solutions to the conflicts in the Great Lakes region, and the necessity to promote national reconciliation at all levels of society.