Resolution nº S/RES/2409 (2018) of the United Nations Security Council

• Issuer: Security Council of the United Nation

United Nations

S

/RES/ 2409 (2 018)

Security Council

Distr. : Genera l

27 M arch 201 8

Orig inal: En glish

18-048 51 (E) 28031 8

*1804851*

Resolution 2409 (2018)

Adopted by the Security Council at its 8216th m eeting , on

27 March 2018

The S ecurity Counci l,

Reca llin g its previous resoluti ons and th e stateme nts of its Preside nt concer ning

the D emocrat ic Republ ic of the C ongo (DR C), espe cially it s resolut ions 2 389 (201 7),

2360 (201 7), 2348 (20 17), 2293 (2 016), 2277 (201 6), 2211 (201 5), 2198 (20 15), 2147

(201 4), 21 36 (201 4), and 2098 (2 013),

Reaf firm ing the b asic pri nciples of pe acekeep ing, incl uding co nsent of the

part ies, imp artialit y, a nd non -use o f force , excep t in self-de fence a nd def ence o f the

mand ate, an d recog nizin g that th e manda te of each pe acekeep ing mis sion is specif ic

to th e need and situ ation of the cou ntry con cerned,

Reaf firm ing its stro ng com mitment to the sovereig nty, indep endence , unity and

terri torial i ntegrity of the DR C as wel l as all S tates in the regio n and emphas izing th e

need to res pect fully the pr inciples of non -inter ference, go od-nei ghbourli ness and

regi onal coo peratio n,

Reca llin g that th e Gov ernment of t he DRC bears the primary respo nsibilit y to

prot ect civilia ns within its ter ritory and subject to its jur isdictio n, includi ng protect ion

from crimes against humanit y and wa r crime s,

Reaf firm ing its strong suppo rt fo r the “Com prehens ive an d Inc lusive Politic al

Agre eme nt” sig ned in Kin shasa on 31 Decemb er 2016, which re mains the only viab le

path out of the cur rent po litical situatio n, ca lling fo r a swi ft and full im plement ation

of the agreeme nt, in go od faith and in all its comp onents, i n order t o organiz e

peac eful, cr edible, inclusi ve and timely election s on 23 Decemb er 2018 , in li ne with

the e lectoral calenda r, leading to a pe aceful tr ansfer o f power, i n accord ance wi th the

Cong olese Co nstituti on,

Reca llin g that full an d time ly i mplement ation of the 31 Dec ember 201 6

agre ement and the elector al ca lendar is critical in suppo rting the legitim acy o f th e

tran sitional insti tutions, stre ssin g the c rucial impor tance of a peac eful a nd cr edible

elect oral c ycle, i n accor dance with the Con stitutio n and r especti ng the Af rican

Char ter o n De mocracy, Elect ions and Governa nce, for lasting stabi lization , rul e of

law and conso lidation of cons titutiona l de mocracy in the DRC, and cal ling on the

DRC go vernmen t to immedi ately impl ement the co nfidence -build ing measur es in

full, as pe r the a greemen t, incl uding b y putti ng an end to restrict ions o f the p olitical

spac e in th e DR C, in particul ar a rbitrar y ar rests and deten tion of member s o f th e

S/RES/2409 (2018)

18-04851

2/18

poli tical op position and o f civi l socie ty, as w ell as rest rictions of fun damenta l

free doms s uch as the freedom of opinion and express ion, f reedom of th e pres s, and

the r ight of peacefu l assemb ly,

Reca llin g t he imp ortance of taki ng urge nt mea sures t o resto re con fidence

betwe en al l actor s inv olved in the elect oral pr ocess, stress ing the i mportan ce of the

Gove rnment of th e DRC a nd its n ational p artners taking all n ecessar y steps to

acce lerate pr eparatio ns for the electio ns withou t furthe r delay, and to ensur e an

envi ronment condu cive t o the peace ful a nd inc lusive conduct of politic al acti vities,

inclu ding the securit y of all poli tical actors, and rei tera ting its commitm ent to ac t

acco rdingly regard ing all Congo lese a ctors whose a ctions and st atement imped e the

impl ementati on of th e agree ment a nd the ti mely or ganizati on of th e electi ons,

Call ing upon all par ties to contin ue to reject viol ence of any kind , e xercise

maxi mum res traint i n their actions and stat ements, to refr ain fro m provoc ations s uch

as violen ce a nd vi olent speech es, so as not to furth er in flame the situati on, and t o

addr ess thei r differe nces pe acefully,

Rema ining dee ply conce rned by r eports of i ncrease d serious v iolatio ns and

abus es of human right s and violat ions of int ernation al hu manitari an la w comm itted

by so me me mbers of t he Arme d Fo rces of the DRC (FARD C), t he N ational

Inte lligence Agenc y (A NR), the Republ ican Guard and Con golese Natio nal Police

(PNC ), includi ng agains t member s of the oppo sition and of civil soc iety in the c ontext

of the elect oral process , s trongly cond emning the kill ing of civilian s by St ate and

non- State ac tors and disprop ortionat e use of force b y element s of the securit y forces ,

inclu ding d uring p eaceful protest s, in a ccordan ce with nation al legi slation, stres sing

the import ance of re leasing all person s de tained arbitr arily, i ncluding huma n rig hts

defe nders and pe rsons of diff erent poli tical affili ations, an d empha sizi ng tha t the

Gove rnment o f the DRC must resp ect huma n rights a nd refra in from di sproport ionate

use o f force,

Welcomi ng in tha t regar d the rep ort of the Join t Comm ission of Inq uiry,

comp osed of r epresent atives o f the Min istries o f Human Rights, Justice a nd Secur ity,

the Nati onal Commiss ion of H uman Rights and civ il s ociety, set up to i nvestiga te

alle gations of hu man r ights violation s and abus es co mmitted on 3 1 Dec ember 2017

and 21 Janu ary 2018 , which notes “cases of ille gal use of forc e” and o f viola tions of

the right o f freed om of religio us asse mbly, an d cal ling fo r the impleme ntation of its

reco mmendat ions, in cluding regardi ng banni ng the u se of live am munitio n,

Reit erating i ts conce rn over t he lack o f progre ss in the i nvestig ations a nd

pros ecutions agains t allege d perpe trators of h uman ri ghts vio lations and abus es

comm itted duri ng the 2011 elect oral pr ocess, in Jan uary 2 015, S eptember and

Dece mber 20 16, in Decemb er 2017 , and J anuary and Feb ruary 2 018, an d ca lling fo r

furt her effor ts to ho ld those respons ible to account and fig ht impun ity,

Rema ining de eply con cerned by the persi stent hi gh level s of viol ence and

viol ations and abuses of huma n rig hts a nd v iolation s of inter national hum anitaria n

law, co nde mnin g i n partic ular tho se invol ving targ eted att acks aga inst ci vilians,

wide spread sexu al and gender -based viol ence, recr uitment and us e o f c hildren by

arme d gro ups a nd mi litias, th e forc ed di splace ment of sign ificant n umbers of

civil ians, e xtrajudi cial ex ecution s and arbitrar y arres ts, rec ogn izin g t heir de leteriou s

effec t on the stabiliz ation, recons truction and devel opment effort s in the DRC, and

emph asizing tha t a ll those respo nsible for all s uch violati ons and abuses mu st be

swift ly ap prehend ed, br ought to j ustice and held account able, and callin g upo n th e

Gove rnment of t he DRC to fac ilitate, in l ine with pre vious agr eements, full and

unhi ndered acce ss f or t he J oint Human Rig hts Office in the DR C to all de tention

centr es, hosp itals and morgues and all o ther prem ises req uired for documen ting

huma n rights violati ons, as applica ble,