Ineffective Technologies of Intervention and the Failure of Rule of Law Development in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

“The clearest way to show what the rule of law means to us in everyday life is to recall what has happened when there is no rule of law.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

The current conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to confound the international community fifteen years after the outbreak of the war. Since 1998, an estimated 5 million people have died, 2 million have been internally displaced, and more than 60,000 have fled to neighbouring countries. The complete collapse of rule of law infrastructure in the DRC landed the country in the 2nd place on Foreign Policy’s 2012 Failed States Index. In the absence of a functioning state, life has only become more precarious for the Congolese. The upsurge of violence over the course of the war in the Kivu provinces has seen an increase in egregious violations of human rights, leaving many innocent Congolese at the mercy of capricious rebels.

The humanitarian aggression in the DRC has been characterized by intervention efforts that have failed to develop feasibility studies of local culture and practice. Instead, these efforts have been marred by governance structures that are symptomatic of lack of accountability, transparency, and responsiveness. Both state, non-state actors and the international community have failed to develop and identify assessments that improve effectiveness of interventions and enhance performance of missions. This in part can largely be blamed on: disproportionate power and unequal partnership in decision making; lack of concrete and resolute proposals by the United Nations, the Congolese government and regional partners; and lack of political will and commitment towards securing the fundamental rights of the Congolese. It is necessary that all interventions moving forward implement robust changes that will break the glass ceiling of geopolitical ineptness towards achieving the rule of law.

Establishing rule of law that is accountable, equitable, and transparent and addresses neglected critical areas will require that:

1. Whether monitoring ceasefires, negotiating peace agreements, or promoting political reconciliation and effective democratic governance, foreign missions support context-specific intervention strategies and Congolese solutions to Congolese problems.  The establishment of a durable peace in the Congo requires that local contingents are trained and given the capacity to manage the region’s security issues. All state and non-state actors should be open to what this could mean: that the UN scramble or reduce its current deployment of peacekeepers, that deployments in the country focus on supporting civil affairs capacity for national institutions and civil society organisations, and that the focus be shifted from military intervention to strengthening political pluralism, private sector development, or security sector reform. The unequal positioning in strategy development for the Kivu region has only led to the excessive focus on foreign military intervention, hence proselytizing the notion that MUNOSCO can be a substitute for local security. There needs to be a geopolitical configuration that will ensure a transfer of responsibility for national and regional security to the DRC and its African allies.
2. The Congolese government, MUNOSCO, and all regional and international actors should be ready and willing to investigate areas of weakness within their missions, prosecute their soldiers when evidence of complicity in violence surfaces, and hold governments and institutions liable when crimes are committed. Accountability within all local and international institutions will ensure that truth and justice prevails over the immunity of interventionists. Increasing institutional impartiality and accountability will enhance local legitimacy of foreign interventions. 

The international community should engage in a broad range of robust multidisciplinary approaches that undertake ambitious post-conflict reconstruction projects and ensure substantial success through policy, management, and accountability improvements within their missions.  Accountability within institutional frameworks in the DRC is one measure of ensuring limitless potential for stabilization in the region. It highly augments measures of best practice in interventions and can lead to significant advancements in areas where the rule of law has failed. If the international community and African partners in the DRC have the political commitment to creating resolute solutions and seeing and end to this conflict, then accountability within their institutions is just the first step.