By Noah Fishman

At the Historical Security Council of 1961 (HSC61) meeting this weekend, HSC61 discussed how to proceed in the new year with former Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba jailed and opposing ideological groups continuing to vie for power in the Congo. Previous Resolutions (specifically 143 and 146) were not successful in preventing violence or resolving the brewing crisis in Central Africa.

Ceylon motioned to set the meeting agenda to address the civil unrest in the Congo, and this was adopted with a unanimous vote. 

“There has been a lot of talk of ceasefire, we are a little concerned about that with what happened just eight years ago in the Korean peninsula,” said Representative Payton Mlakar of Ceylon. “No one really got anything out of that ceasefire that they wanted so we are concerned that talks of a ceasefire here could lead to some future issues unresolved in the Congo.”

While the United States is strongly in favor of a ceasefire, they feel that the humanitarian issues and political issues have become too intertwined to view independently. 

“We have talked at length about the political issue at hand and the humanitarian issue, and we have come to the consensus that we can’t juggle priority, unfortunately those two are incredibly intertwined,” said Representative Jack Asmus of the United States. “The only way to achieve any modicum of progress is to have a ceasefire.” Before humanitarian aid is discussed further, Representative Mlakar is interested in exploring statebuilding and stability, including implementing an American-style federal state system down the line. Unlike Ceylon and the United States, the United Arab Republic, France and Ecuador feel that humanitarian aid must be the first step before any political machinations, and that they are not intertwined.

In response to 50 African National Congress (ANC) troops from Leopoldville crossing the Ruzizi Bridge and opening fire at the border of Ruanda-Urundi and Kivu, Secretary-General Dag Hammarsjköld issued a statement calling on Belgium to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that there is no further support of military action by Congolese troops by Belgian authorities, whether within or outside Ruanda-Urundi. The firing resulted in 23 injured ANC soldiers and one civilian casualty from Ruanda-Urundi.

Following this announcement, Representative Sam Schweier of Ecuador motioned to bring Belgium into the formal debate for ten minutes with full privileges. 

Representative Harrison Rothschild of France subsequently spoke up in agreement, but stressed the importance of doing the same with the Congo. At 9:43 pm HSC1961 held a placard vote, which passed 11/0/0, for Belgium to be present at the subsequent session as a party to the dispute.