Examination of the impact of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2098 on the protection of civilians in North-Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

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Date
2018-10
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Publisher
Kampala International University
Abstract
The United Nations Security Council has taken several measures to stabilise the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1960. Facing so many security issues and civilians’ human rights violations, in 2013 the Resolution 2098 created the Intervention Brigade with the mandate of using all necessary measures to protect civilians. This study intended to examine the impact of the UNSC Resolution 2098(2013) on protection of civilians in North-Kivu, DRC, with the following specific objectives: To examine the effectiveness of the 2098 Resolution on peacekeeping in DRC with respect to the protection of civilians and the neutralisation of rebel group; to determine measures taken by the brigade to ensure, within its area of operations, effective protection of civilians under imminent threat of physical violence; to assess how the brigade mitigates the risk to civilians before, during and after any military operation; to identify challenges faced by UN peacekeepers in carrying out the Resolution 2098. This study is social-legal as its used both doctrinal and non-doctrinal methods to address the objectives. The qualitative approach was applied to access findings and key respondents were purposively selected within members of the community of Rutshuru in North Kivu, DRC. The major tools used were Interviews and document analysis. The researcher noticed that the lack of the Interventions Brigade promptness and completeness has the outcomes on civilian attacks and human rights violation by rebel groups. Thus, the intervention Brigade delay in time did not mitigate the risk of civilian attacks, kidnapping and other human rights violation as provided by the 2098 Resolution; The unclear definition mandate of the Brigade and the inexistence of specifics mechanism of civilian protection lead to the ineffectiveness of the Resolution and the mistrust of the mission by the population. Since there is no need of adopting Resolutions which, at the end of the day, will not sort out the conflict and restore peace and security in the country or region concerned, for the further effectiveness of the United Nations Security Council resolution, the mandate should be clearly defined and provide for measures of its implementation. As the implementation tool of the UNSC 2098 Resolution, the Brigade must follow the guidelines provided by the UNSC on civilian protection task. Moreover, the DRC collaboration with the Brigade is most welcomed to ensure the effectiveness of the Resolution 2098.
Description
A research thesis submitted to the school of law in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award degree of master of laws of Kampala International University.
Keywords
United Nations Security Council, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Human Rights Violations, Peace Keeping, Civilians
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