The Peace Keeping Mission of United Nations - Research Paper Example

The Peace Keeping Mission of United Nations United Nations organization is an international organization established in 1939 to solve the conflicts among world nations after the Second World War. Further, it aimed at preventing an outbreak of another war. The organization has spread its arms to the Democratic Republic of Congo to end their continued tribal wars (Ager 8). The United Nations Security Council established a resolution mission in Congo on 1999 whose main task was to oversee the Lusaka ceasefire. The mission extended later to reflect the new phase in the country, liaise with all the warring factions, and give technical assistance for deployment of the military of the country. Democratic Republic of Congo is a large country. It is also the home for the prestigious rain forest, rare species of the world and valuable minerals as well as natural resources. However, Congo is one of the poorest countries and most chaotic on the planet. The unrest in the country is estimated to have claimed lives of millions in the past decade (Mays 11). The country lacks necessities like electricity, medical facilities, law, and order in most of its parts. Mass rape and human brutality have been a common phenomenon in these parts of the country. In the first year after of independence of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko seized the country and declared himself as the president (Youtube). He ruled the country for five years. Several events occurred in the country that led to the deterioration of Mobutu’s government. First, the army of the country mutinied, the governor of Katanga attempted a coup, and the prime minister of the country died (Sitkwoski 87). All these events led to the United Nations peacekeeping mission respond to restore order in the country. When Kabila took over as the president, he tried reforms that saw a relative peace prevail in the country for about two years. Kabila was, however, weakened by domestic protests, international critics of his poor tyrannical governance and the poor economic drive of the country (Mays 12). The soldiers and the military defense of the country deployed and rioted to protest against the poor leadership of Kabila. Kabila, instead, enforced his rule in a dictatorial way, a process that led to a sharp schism of the country into three segments. One of his bodyguards allegedly assassinated him and the act led to the incision of the United Nations militia force into the country (Tull 18). Upon its establishment, the United Nations organization authorized deployment of military liaison from all other stable world countries into the Democratic Republic of Congo. The authorized personnel in Congo worked under the chapter seven of the United Nations charter that allows peacekeepers to use force where necessary in execution of their duties. The United Nations organization commonly vetted as MONUC passed a number of resolutions that strengthened its operation. They implemented the cease-fire agreement, verified disengagement and deployed its forces (Mays 12). These resolution policies provided the mandate to protect its personnel and the citizens from any imminent physical threat as well as protection of their property. In 2004, the UN expanded its personnel in order to ensure civilian protection and to seize illegal groups in the eastern Congo. The organization supported the government of Congo and all its officials and assisted it to disarm the foreign combatants and expatriate them back to their country. The United Nations organization had power to use all criteria to execute its duties (Katayanagi 4). These combined efforts of the United Nations organization saw the restoration of peace in the country and the establishment of a stable, democratic government. The United Nations has been actively involved in the mediation efforts and protection of the civilians under any imminent threat. The United Nations has tried all that it can to cool the difficult conditions in Congo and in the resettlement of the massive number of the internally displaced persons during the military clashes (Mays 16). The United Nations Security Council has advised the Congolese government to hold peace talks with FARDC and FDLR, which are the illegal military groups in the country. The UN has called the intervention of all other African countries to aid in settling critics of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kron A12). The organization has, however, pledged its full support in the peace restoration missions of the Democratic Republic of Congo. United Nations ventured in Rwanda in early 90s for peacekeeping mission. Its main objective was to end the Rwandan civil war that had resulted in massive killings. After the German colonization of Rwanda in the nineteenth century, Belgium took over. Belgium led to the deterioration of the relation between the two ethnic groups in the country that is Hutu and the Tutsi (Alger 20). After the Belgium tyranny realized that Tutsi – the majority – was lobbying for control over them, they encouraged the Hutus to rise up against the Tutsi usurpers. What ensued was a massacre of thousands of Tutsi, hence the power fell on the Hutus though they were the minority. A peacekeeping operation was established six months later by the United Nations to enhance the security of Kigali and establish parties in and around the city to monitor the cease-fire mission and agreement (Mays 18). The Security Council did not use force in Rwanda, however, it had to take action of self-defense against persons who threatened to deliver and distribute humanitarian relief across the country. The security council of the United Nations in Rwanda commonly referred to as UNAMIR had to expand its mandate to contribute to the security and protection of the displaced persons due to the increase of the ongoing violence in Rwanda (Sitkowski 113). The organization established feasible and secure humanitarian security that supplied relief operations and authorized the security force to take action in self-defense against unauthorized groups that claimed to offer security and fight for human rights. However, the action by the peacekeeping mission of the United Nations came a bit late because Rwanda had recorded deaths of more than eight hundred thousand people in the previously named massacre (Tull 24). Despite its late arrival and failure to accomplish its main mission in Rwanda, the United Nations is recognized up-to-date for having saved thousands of lives of the Hutu and the Tutsi who would otherwise have been killed (Mays 21). The United Nations Secretary General reported that the general Reconnaissance mission to Rwanda is in place and their anticipation is to make the country stabilize and acquire the development levels to be at par with other African countries. The United Nations has established a Reconnaissance team in the country whose main objective is to report the contributions of United Nations to the republic of Rwanda. This is in order for other non-governmental organizations to know where to chip in and assist the Africa Union in the implementation of the Arusha peace agreement of 1993. Following the massacre that occurred in Rwanda the United Nations was very concerned with the causes of the genocide and the possible prevention measures of the same. Therefore, the United Nations suggested indicting the criminals who were involved in the inhuman activities in Rwanda (Katayanagi 8). They thus created International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to bring prosecutions to those suspected as the masterminds of the Massacre. A United States citizen was assigned as the prosecutor of the court and he ardently argued that sexual violence against women was carried out with an intent that amounted to genocide (Tull 17). Jean-Paul Akayesu was found guilty of incitation of the people to riot against the then present regime. He was also termed as responsible for the massive rapes done in the country. Later on, the United Nations adopted the International Criminal court simply to make it known that impunity was no longer the option for those who commit it. The United Nations gave the ICC court the mandate to try all the alleged suspects of crime of genocide or any other crime against humanity (Alger 34). The court became operational in July, two thousand and two after a minimum of sixty United Nations members ratified as members and supporters of the Rome statute international court and its process. United States of America was one of the countries which did not ratify as part of the Rome statute of the Hague-based Court. However, it was later clear that its leadership would not be necessary in order to establish a highly moral body that would be free of challenge by any state. The United States has sought for place but is has instead received a lot of dismay from the UN leaders, other nations, and the human rights activists (Mays 29). The United Nations in agreement with these bodies have placed the United States outside the court’s jurisdiction. Time will tell whether the ICC’s principles will reckon the case of United States. Works Cited Alger, Chadwick. The United Nations System. California: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Print. Katayanagi, Mari. Human Rights Functions of United Nations Peacekeeping Operations. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2002. Print. Kron, Josh. “Rebels Kill 3 in U.N. Force in Congo.” New York Times Aug. 18, 2010: A12. Print. Mays, Terry. Historical Dictionary of Multinational Peacekeeping. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2010. Print. Sitkowski, Andrzej. UN Peacekeeping. Hagelstein: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. Print. Tull, Denis. “Peacekeeping in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Waging Peace and Fighting War.” International Peacekeeping 16.2 (2009): 215-230. Print. Youtube. United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Web. 14 April 2012. https://www.youtube.com/topic/w-ODR2lpRBY/united-nations-mission-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo?feature=relchannel Read More