Brussels, 18/09/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Union on Wednesday updated the Press the Artemis mission's progress. This operation, which was conducted in Bunia from 12 June to 1 September, saw the involvement of 17 European countries- assisted by Brazil, Canada and South Africa- and the engagement of a total of 2,000 men (including reserves), 400 of whom were stationed at the rear base at Entebbe (Uganda). The operation has now been taken over by the United Nations Mission to the Congo (MONUC); the last soldiers in Bunia, 300 French troops, returned to base last Saturday.
"We feel that this operation has been a great success", said Aldo Ajello, the special representative of the European Union to the Great Lakes region, "from a double perspective, both humanitarian and political". "When the first soldiers arrived, there were few people in the city, lots of soldiers, very often children, with glassy eyes and armed with kalashnikovs taller than they were", he recalled. "A few weeks later, I returned with Javier Solana (the Secretary General of the Council and High Representative for Foreign Policy), the people were back, there were no more guns in the city, at least not that we could see, and the child soldiers were gone. One week ago, the situation was even better and the arrival of the 5,000-strong Monuc contingent, and especially the Indian fighter helicopters, to be deployed in Ituri have made their impression on the militia". From a political standpoint, "obstacles to the peace process have been removed, as has that of the intervention of foreign countries (Uganda and Rwanda). All the institutions are there, and working. A Chief of Staff and four vice-presidents have been appointed. The parliamentary assembly has been set up. A 3,000-strong police unit, made up of all the component parts of the government, is being constituted to be sent to Ituri".
Aldo Ajello did, however, acknowledge that this was a precarious success. "The militia are continuing to engage. But that comes as no surprise. At the end of every conflict, it is the same thing. Everybody tries to take position, to show their strength... we must therefore urgently train a new Congolese army and, at the same time, demobilise the militia and reintegrate them" either into the army, or civil life. Although the special representative assured his audience that "all war criminals will be brought before the new International Criminal Court", he also stressed "that there is a problem with facts dating back to before 2002". This point could be resolved in time. The European Union remains committed in the region via its financial support of 205 million EUR for the peace process (see EUROPE of 4 September, p.12) and technical matters (structuring and training police forces, legal support in the form of training for judges and prison warders, administrative support).
The EU's military Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Rainer Schuwirth, commented that this operation has "shown the European Union's capacity to intervene rapidly and decisively". This view was shared by the French General Bruno Neveux, Commander of the Artemis operation. The military Chief of Staff raised two potential weaknesses for future operations: "transport", especially when the operation is taking place outside Europe, and "transmission and communication facilities". When asked about European headquarters based in Tervuren (see EUROPE of 4 September, p.9), General Neveux observed that this was a "political decision". The Artemis operation commander particularly stressed that "the concept of framework nation worked perfectly. It provided the structure to launch an operation working together with all the institutions in Brussels". France provided the commanders for the operation and the backbone of staff, and was able to make use of the support offered by various bases in several African countries (Chad, Gabon). For the first time, European personnel operating at technical level, the "Operation Headquarters" (OHQ) was arranged from Paris.
Ituri, in western Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), bordering Uganda, has seen violent action causing 50,000 deaths and 500,000 displaced persons since 1991.