December 16, 2008, Democratic Republic of the Congo: Dozens of human rights organizations – including three Advocacy Project (AP) partners – have signed an open letter to the United Nations Security Council, asking the UN to strengthen its arms embargo on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

In the letter, the groups say that daily abuses against civilians, including widespread killings, rape and other serious human rights violations continue to be committed in the DRC because of the proliferation of weapons and ammunition.

Advocacy Project partners Arche d’Alliance, Women in Black-Serbia and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA) have all signed on to the letter. AP Peace Fellow Ned Meerdink is currently volunteering in the DRC with Arche d’Alliance.

Clashes between heavily-armed groups and government forces in the North Kivu region of eastern DRC have forced nearly 300,000 people to flee, and millions have died in the past 10 years. Despite a UN arms embargo that has been in place for years, armed groups have been able to get hold of weapons, ammunition, military equipment and other supplies. The Congolese army has also been responsible for numerous human rights violations.

The open letter describes the lack of any procedure for MONUC, the UN’s peacekeeping force, to ensure that military equipment is properly safeguarded, stored and used by named units of the DRC armed forces. The letter calls on the Council to extend the arms embargo to the whole of the DRC, or at least to implement five recommendations focusing on how military material must be better tracked under MONUC supervision.

The letter concludes by urging UN member states to not only rely on arms embargoes but to cooperate towards the early establishment of a global Arms Trade Treaty with the principles of the UN Charter and international human rights law at its heart. The United Nations General Assembly is set to vote on moving forward on an Arms Trade Treaty next week.