‘Intervention Brigade’ for the Congo: A Precedent for UN

Summary/Abstract: The Democratic Republic of Congo has been devastated by internal armed conflict which has continued since 1996 till date. This conflict has further impoverished the nation resulting in internal displacement of over a million people, prevalent incidences of armed attacks on defenseless villages and people, abduction of women and children, conscription of children into paramilitary armies, forced labor, widespread epidemics and diseases, loss of lives, systematic rape, and sex slavery. The UN intervened in the form of peace-keeping, peace-making, protection of civilians, and the legitimate government of the country. Recently, the conflict has taken a new worrisome dimension which threatens the peace and stability of the whole Eastern Africa region. In April, 2013 the UN Security Council established an ‘Intervention Brigade’, the first of its kind, for Congo within the MONUSCO system with a clear mandate to take certain ‘offensive operations’ with the aim of ‘neutralizing and disarming the rebels’ involved in the conflict with an aim to ending the half-a-century-long conflict. While appraising the recent initiatives at peace maintenance, peace building, peace keeping, peace enforcement regarding the crisis, and the prospects for peace in the future for Congo, the article presents an analysis as to whether the establishment of the ‘Intervention Brigade’ will be a precedent or not.

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