Written question asked by Mark Oaten (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 8 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 11 March 2010. It was answered by Ivan Lewis (Labour) on Thursday, 11 March 2010 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Armed Conflict

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an assessment of the merits of making the provision of assistance to the Congolese army conditional on progress towards the release from its ranks of those under the age of 18 years and the removal of individuals suspected of having committed human rights abuses.

Answer: The UN Peacekeeping mission, MONUC, has a conditionality clause in its mandate that support will be withdrawn from Congolese army units (FARDC) which commit human rights abuses.We fully support this approach and will continue to maintain pressure on the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to take appropriate action against perpetrators of human rights abuses and uphold the rule of law. My noble Friend the Minister for Africa visited DRC last month and raised the issue with President Kabila, urging progress on security sector reform and implementation of his "zero tolerance" policy on human rights abuses. The Minister also met with FARDC officers and UN Peacekeeping troop commanders in South Kivu, in eastern Congo, and was encouraged by their considered approach to the newly mandated operation, Amani Leo, where they have created a method for vetting FARDC commanders before collaborating with them, shifted emphasis to predominantly civilian protection and developed a robust message on zero tolerance and the need to maintain professional standards. We will continue to monitor the mission through our staff on the ground and UN, non-governmental organisations and independent reporting.

Secondary information