UNSC DRC SANCTIONS COMMITTEE ARMS EMBARGO

UNCLAS STATE 070831 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EFIN ETTC KTFN PREL PTER ZF UNSC SUBJECT: UNSC DRC SANCTIONS COMMITTEE ARMS EMBARGO EXEMPTION (AF/RSA) ¶1. This is an action request. USUN is requested to send a letter to the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo ("the DRC Sanctions Committee" - www.un.org/sc/committees/1533/index.shtml) with the information found in para 2 below in connection with United States' military training programs for the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. -------------- STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE -------------- ¶2. The strategic objective is for the United States to comply with its UN obligation to notify the DRC Sanctions Committee in advance of any shipment of arms and related materiel for the DRC or any provision of assistance, advice or training related to military activities in the DRC. Advance arms embargo exemption requests to the DRC Sanctions Committee should contain all relevant information, including, where appropriate, the end-user, the proposed date of delivery and the itinerary of shipments (per operative paragraph 5 of UN Security Council resolution 1807 (2008)). -------------- LETTER -------------- ¶3. The United States inadvertently erred by providing military training and assistance to the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) without notifying in advance the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the DRC. We regret this oversight, and will work to ensure this does not happen again. Additionally, the United States requests approval consistent with paragraph 5 of UN Security Council resolution 1807 (2008) in connection with its efforts to support security sector reform in the DRC by providing additional military training and equipment to the Government of the DRC. Finally, the United States requests the Chair share this information with the Group of Experts established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) and thank them for their continuing diligence in ensuring all UN Member States comply with the measures renewed by resolution 1857 (2008). The United States Government (USG) has provided the following training and assistance to the Government of the DRC: - Military Information Support Team: The USG sent a team to eastern DRC to assist the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) and the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC) in developing and delivering messages to negative forces in eastern DRC, particularly the FDLR, urging them to demobilize. (February ) September 2009) - HIV/AIDS Conference: The USG provided an HIV/AIDS prevention program within the FARDC. (One week in December 2008) - Anti-Corruption Seminar: The USG provided two "Legal Aspects of Combating Corruption" seminars in a regional capital outside of Kinshasa. (One week in February and one week in March 2009) - Center for Civil Military Relations: The USG provided two seminars on the role of the military in a peacetime period. (February 2008, July 2008) - Defense Resource Management Initiative Seminar: The USG conducted a seminar to provide an overview of defense resource management to the FARDC. (March 2009) - Defense Acquisition Management Seminar: The USG conducted a seminar to provide an overview of planning and acquisition best practices. (February 2009) - DRC Military Officer Professionalization Training: The USG provided support to the professionalization of the FARDC through training officers at the brigade and battalion commander levels. Training included courses in leadership, human rights issues, and basic officer skills. Officer training took place outside of Kinshasa at the Groupement des Ecoles Superieures Militaires. (September 2007 ) September 2010) - Refurbishments to Officer Training Center: The USG funded physical infrastructure improvements at the Groupement des Ecoles Superieures Militaires to allow for a more professional environment for the military to learn. (November 2007 - January 2009) - Officer Training Center - Operations and Maintenance Training: The USG provided operations and maintenance assistance and training to support the FARDC training center for six months to build the capacity of the FARDC to operate and maintain its facilities. (April ) August 2009) - Military Justice Training: The USG provided four iterations of sex crimes investigations training for FARDC military magistrates, prosecutors and investigators. Additional training is now being provided to focus on building the capacity of the Ministry of Defense to properly discipline the military, particularly in regard to addressing crimes committed by FARDC personnel in eastern Congo, and educating FARDC personnel on human rights issues. Participants received Congolese law books and investigator kits. (February 2008 ) September 2011) - Advisory Support to the Ministry of Defense: The USG supports building the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) by offering an advisor to assist in the development of a comprehensive training strategy for the FARDC. The advisor works with the MoD and the Chief of Defense to ensure necessary support (i.e., pay, food, clothing, lodging, transport, etc) of the FARDC personnel who will participate in upcoming Rapid Reaction Force training. (September 2008 ) September 2010) Additionally, the United States requests approval consistent with paragraph 5 of UN Security Council resolution 1807 (2008) in connection with its efforts to support security sector reform in the DRC by providing the following military training to the Government of the DRC: - Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) Training to Address Negative Forces in Eastern DRC: The USG requests to provide training and equipment to the FARDC to support a light infantry battalion. The assistance package, worth $20,000,000, will include refurbishments to a training center in Kisangani, commander and instructor training in Kinshasa, and training and equipping of a FARDC battalion in Kisangani. The training would be conducted by U.S. military officers and U.S. contractors. The purpose of this training would be to develop a model unit that is well-trained, led, equipped, and supported by the Government of the DRC. A subset of the successfully trained FARDC officers would then be able to serve as future trainers in training activities undertaken by the FARDC itself. (June 2009 ) August 2010) - HIV/AIDS Conference: The USG would like to provide another HIV/AIDS prevention program within the FARDC. (One week in December 2009) - Anti-Corruption Seminar: The USG would like to provide the FARDC another "Legal Aspects of Combating Corruption" seminar in a regional capital outside of Kinshasa. (One week in September 2009) - English Language Training and Labs: The USG requests to provide the FARDC training and equipment to support English language training and technical assistance to establish English language training labs in Kinshasa. (October ) December 2009) Finally, the USG would like to provide the following equipment for use during the Rapid Reaction Force (RRF) Training to Address Negative Forces in Eastern DRC: - Trucks, to transport students to various training activities (3-6 carrying trucks or 1-2 buses - Rentals) - Binoculars, waterproof, 8x40 (20) - Radios handheld with batteries (15) - Global Positioning Satellite / Navigation set (20) - Compasses (220) - Chem lights for signaling and marking sites (1,000) - Medic aid bags-M17 series (4) - Protractors for map reading (400). - Litters/stretchers (5) - Map sheets, 1:50,000 series, for navigation training (400) - Moulage kits/first aid kits (1) END LETTER ¶4. Department appreciates Mission's efforts. CLINTON