Situation Report: Learning to Use Force on the Hoof in Peacekeeping. Reflections on the Experience of MONUC`s Eastern Division, Maj Gen Patrick Cammaert

Since 1997, the United Nations (UN) has been requested to undertake challenging new tasks. Several of the peacekeeping missions (18 in total), and the Mission d`Organisation des Nations Unies en Republique Democratique du Congo (MONUC) in particular, had to operate in a very volatile environment with a mandate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. Chapters VI and VII define the use of force in UN peacekeeping. While Chapter VI limits the use of force to self-defence only, a mission under Chapter VII is allowed to use all necessary means, including the pre-emptive use of deadly force, within its capacity and int the areas where its armed units are deployed, to carry out its tasks in accordance with its Rules of Engagement. The Rules of Engagement are an instruction of when and how to use force - the Bible of Qu`ran of the military component, so to speak. In most cases, the UN is called to intervene when all other options have failed to resolve conflict within a country, but also conflicts including neighbouring countries (e.g. United Nations Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL)), which often destabilize regional security and lead to a catastrophic humanitarian situation. In many cases the UN operates in regions where a state has either collapsed or is severely weakened, with no underlying structure or infrastructure for a mission to lean or build on. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of these countries. After 32 years of mismanagement by former President Mobutu Sese Seko and two civil wars involving a number of neighbouring countries, the environment was volatile and the military component of the mission had to take the lead in providing security, in protecting civilians under imminent threat and in countering threats to peace from different groups and armed factions, including a number of women and children.