KIMOKA, DR Congo // Ten Indian soldiers march in formation down a dusty road, their blue helmets shining in the hot sun. At an intersection, they kneel down, rifles at the ready, while a scout looks around the corner. The group leader gives the all clear, and they continue marching through banana fields, past mud huts.
Villagers come out to wave at the UN peacekeepers who are patrolling the one-kilometre-wide buffer zone between the Congolese army and a rebel group. For these villagers, the blue helmets mean security. "Our mere presence is a deterrent for armed groups not to do anything," said a commander of the troops who, like most peacekeepers, is not allowed to be quoted by name. The United Nations has made its presence felt in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. UN lorries and armoured vehicles shuttle blue-helmeted peacekeepers between well-armed bases across the region. UN helicopters and planes patrol overhead.
The UN mission in the DR Congo, known as Monuc, is working behind the scenes to keep the peace in this central African country's civil war. Monuc's image in DR Congo is not entirely positive, though. Sex and arms-trading scandals have plagued the nine-year-old mission. Peacekeeping is just one aspect of Monuc's role in DR Congo. The UN also has a mandate to disarm the foreign fighters operating in DR Congo and send them back to their home country.
Foreign fighters, mostly from Rwanda, continue operating from bases in DR Congo destabilising the country and prolonging the 10-year conflict. One of the militias, known as the FDLR, is made up of Hutu perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. To date, the UN's demobilisation and repatriation team has convinced 5,000 FDLR fighters to come out of the bush and turn in their guns. Still, another 6,000 foreign armed rebels remain entrenched in their positions.
"What we call the hardliners don't want to surrender," said Tahirou Diao, a Monuc public information officer. "They stay in the bush and prevent others from surrendering." Those that turn in their weapons are sent to transit camps inside Rwanda where they are trained in a skill before being reinserted into society. Many of the rebels have been fighting for 14 years, and the reintegration process is not easy.
Besides disarming the rebels, Monuc is also training DR Congo's police and the military to deal with armed groups. As part of a peace deal last year, the Congolese army was supposed to attack the FDLR and drive them from the country. But DR Congo forces have made little progress to get rid of the rebels. Historical ties between the Congolese government and the Rwandan militia have caused DR Congo to drag its feet. The government's army is also ill-equipped to deal with the well-armed foreign fighters.
Until Monuc can train the DR Congo security forces, the UN will continue trying to convince the FDLR to surrender. "Right now it's a voluntary basis," Mr Diao said. "The Congolese army is being trained by Monuc, and, in a few months, we hope that they will be able to use force against the foreign armed groups." The sheer size of Monuc, 22,000 people, including 17,000 peacekeepers, makes it one of the largest UN missions in the world. Inevitably, it had some bad elements, and the organisation's image has been tarnished by recent scandals.
An internal UN investigation released last week found evidence that Indian peacekeepers in DR Congo may have engaged in sexual exploitation and abuse. The peacekeepers, who are no longer in the country, were involved in a child prostitution ring, aid workers said. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, said he was "deeply troubled" by the outcome of the UN investigation. India said it was investigating the allegations.
A UN investigation in 2005 also found that peacekeepers in DR Congo were sexually exploiting Congolese women and girls. Another UN investigation earlier this year uncovered an arms-dealing scheme in which peacekeepers traded UN guns and ammunition to rebel groups in DR Congo, including the FDLR, in exchange for gold and ivory. A UN peacekeeping commander in DR Congo is currently under investigation after being caught on tape meeting leaders of a Tutsi rebel group and expressing support for its militia.
This same Tutsi militia is lurking in the hills above the base at Kimoka, and the peacekeepers of Indian Battalion 3/XII patrolling this buffer zone are on high alert. According to the UN rules of engagement, the troops will open fire if they feel their base or the surrounding villagers are threatened. Since these peacekeepers took over in April, there has been a decline in attacks in the area and 300 displaced people have moved back into the buffer zone, a commander said. The armed groups respect the blue helmets.
"Our aim is for area domination," the commander said. "We ensure no armed groups are allowed in the buffer zone." @Email:mbrown@thenational.ae