August 4, The Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, expressed regret at the decision of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to request that the spokesperson of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) to depart the country.
UN Photo/Loey Felipe
Dujarric said, “in line with the status of the UN, under the Charter of the Organization, any concerns that the Government may have regarding the actions of a member of MONUSCO should be raised directly with the Mission leadership.”
He added that “the Mission and UN Headquarters are accordingly engaging with the Government to address this matter.”
Dujarric said, “we are conducting an investigation into what happened last Sunday, where civilians were killed. We should have some, hopefully, preliminary information in the next couple of days. We are also very much in touch with the Government and in touch with local communities to ensure that there is a very open and frank dialogue with them.”
Asked whether the MONUSCO spokesperson, Mathias Gillmann, was still in the country, he said, “he was not in country when that happened, and Mathias happened to be on leave when that came in.”
According to news reports, Foreign Minister Christophe Lutundula expressed that current tensions between the UN and local population are due to statements made by Gillman.
