| From 1998 to the present day,eastern DRC is facing a conflict unprecedented in the DRC's history.For more than two decades,this part of the country has been affected by the activities of both national and foreign armed groups.The civilian population has paid a heavy price during all these years of conflict,so much so that there have been more than six million civilian deaths since the beginning of hostilities in 1997.All national and international efforts to bring peace to eastern DRC have been unsuccessful.The peace deal signed between the Congolese Government and the various factions of the armed groups in January 2008 has not brought lasting peace to the east of the country.Despite the presence of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC(MONUSCO),the creation,within MONUSCO,of Force Intervention Brigade with the mandate of neutralizing armed groups,regional agreements and other regional initiatives like joint military operations with the Congolese national army,eastern DRC is still facing a persistent armed conflicts.This study aims to answer the following question: Why have the armed conflicts in eastern DRC lasted so long? This main question is subdivided into two sub-questions as follows: What have been the main obstacles to the pacification of eastern DRC? Why the Congolese Government and MONUSCO have failed to restore peace in eastern DRC? In attempting to answer these questions,based on the ? New Wars Theory?,the findings of the study show that he main obstacles to the stability of the eastern DRC have been endogenous and exogenous.As main endogenous factors: the lack of State with the monopoly on violence has fostered the proliferation of armed groups.Since the Congolese Government has been unable to extend its authority over the entire national territory,armed groups have taken advantage of this situation to establish parallel governments in the areas under their control where they have reigned supreme.To this must be added the dysfunction within the Congolese army as well as the complicity of certain economic and political operators taking advantage of this situation.As exogenous factors,the countries bordering the DRC in its eastern part,including Rwanda and Uganda,played an ambiguous game.Although they are signatories to the agreements and pacts for the security,stability and development of the sub-region,they have continued to provide logistical support to rebel groups and facilitate the illicit trafficking of minerals from conflict zones.The Congolese Government has not been firmly committed to ending the cycles of violence and the proliferation of armed groups in the east of the country.All the pacification efforts undertaken by the Government had proved ineffective,since they focused on the integration of armed groups into the national army or others rewards and not on the causes of the conflicts.MONUSCO,for its part,has been faced with a number of constraints that prevented it from properly carrying out its stabilization mandate,given the UN's lesser determination to address the infernal cycle of conflicts in the DRC.Not only MONUSCO has been hampered by the weak collaboration of the Congolese Government,but it has also lacked the strategic support of the Security Council.As a result,its two decades in the DRC have not brought peace to the eastern part of the country.This study has used qualitative method to collect information through materials from first sources and from second sources.The materials from first sources include documents such as reports of the MONUSCO,NGOs,civil society,regional agreements,UN Security Council Resolutions and materials of second sources include articles,research papers,books and manuscripts from the internet,etc…on the topics related to the study.This study is important because,based on New Wars theory,it examines the main challenges of building sustainable peace in eastern DRC and suggests to the Congolese Government and the international community alternatives for a lasting peace in the DRC,which contributes to the literature on Conflict in DRC.Generally,the study has comprised five chapters: Chapter one covers the introductory part that reviews the most important events that have marked the political and security issue of the DRC since 1996;the significance of conducting this study;the methodology;but also this chapter explains how this topic was discussed by other studies from different authors.Chapter two overviews the main active armed groups in eastern DRC and focuses on the most prominent national and foreign armed groups by highlighting the names of their leaders and year of creation as well as their areas of activity.Also referring to the new wars theory of Mary Kaldor,the section two of the chapter demonstrates how,on the one hand,the absence of effective state authority in eastern DRC has led to parallel government of armed groups and on the other hand,outlines the social and economic motivations of the armed groups in eastern DRC.Chapter three explains the main factors influencing the persistence of armed conflicts in eastern DRC.The chapter focuses on the determining factors contributing to the persistence of conflicts in eastern DRC.It therefore reviews the endogenous and exogenous factors that perpetuate the conflicts in eastern DRC.The section on endogenous factors demonstrates how the dysfunction within the Congolese army has annihilated all efforts to bring peace to eastern DRC.With an army that is a mixture of several components,including former rebels,cohesion and loyalty are a great challenge.It demonstrates also how unresolved land conflicts is fueling the conflict,as agriculture and artisanal mineral exploitation remain the only source of income for the population.The section shows also the links between armed groups active in eastern DRC with certain political actors at the central government as well as at the provincial or local governments.The section two focuses on exogenous factors and highlights the roles of countries bordering the provinces of the eastern DRC in fueling the armed conflict.Rwanda and Uganda are the two countries that benefit enormously from the precarious security situation in the east of the DRC by promoting the illicit trade in minerals from conflict zones as well as arms trafficking,given the porous Congolese borders.Chapter four explains,in section one,the limits of Congolese's government strategies to deal with armed groups.The strategies have included the Military Integration Policy.The strategy has focused on the promise of rank promotions and other rewards in order to entice the rebels to join the peace process.The government has adopted the strategy of negotiation at the expense of military pressure,which can be summed up by “many-carrots-with few-sticks” approach.The section highlights also the erratic government policies resulting in a lack of coordination and coherence.The approach adopted has fostered impunity,given that since the emergence of the conflicts in the east of the DRC,political or judicial pressure on armed groups and supporting elite networks has never been maximal.Section two of chapter four focuses on the constraints MONUSCO has encountered in carrying out its mandate to stabilize the DRC.The principal strategic constraint encountered by the UN Mission in carrying out its mandate has been the level of cooperation with the Congolese Government which has decreased over the years.Moreover MONUSCO had lacked,after 2006,a champion within the Security Council who could influence other members to adopt a blueprint susceptible to deal with the eastern DRC conflict in a comprehensive format,since today the DRC does not seem to attract too much attention from the Security Council compared to other hot spots in the world,such as Syria and others.Finally the section highlights the ambiguity surrounding the mandate of UN Mission in DRC(the mandate can be interpreted in many different ways)witch has undermined the implementation and coherence of actions of the MONUSCO.Chapter five which is the final one concludes and gives some recommendations and actions to be undertaken by Congolese Government and International Community for an sustainable peace in DRC given the current challenges to build sustainable peace in eastern DRC. |
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