VZCZCXRO1583
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0422/01 1011605
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111605Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5956
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000422
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPKO CG
SUBJECT: MONUC PUSHES GDRC TO PROTECT HUMAN RIGHTS WITH
RELEASE OF SECOND 2006 HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
1. (SBU) Summary: MONUC characterized its human rights
findings for the second half of 2006 as a matter of "grave
concern." It documented a substantial increase in the number
of politically motivated incidents during the electoral
period, a decrease in the proportion of human rights
violations committed by the Congolese army, and an increase
in the number of human rights violations by the police.
Congolese ministers promised to issue "zero tolerance"
messages on human rights and to create follow-up committees
to discuss MONUC's monthly human rights reports. End summary.
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MONUC Meets with Ministries on Human Rights Situation in DRC
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2. (SBU) MONUC Deputy Special Representative to the
Secretary General (DSRSG) Haile Menkerios and DRC UN Human
SIPDIS
Rights Office Director Fernando Castanon presented on March
12 the MONUC Human Rights Office report for the period July
to December 2006 to newly-appointed Defense Minister Chikez
Diemu and Human Rights Minister Eugene Ilwaaloma . According
to Castanon, both ministers called the human rights situation
in the DRC "critical" and stressed the importance of MONUC
assistance in the fight against impunity. Ilwaaloma said he
would create a mechanism for working with MONUC on human
rights cases. Chikez pledged to make a public statement of
zero tolerance for human rights violations committed by the
army. He pledged to create a follow-up committee to include
MONUC representatives and high-level Defense, FARDC, and
military justice officials to review monthly MONUC reports on
FARDC human rights violations.
3. (SBU) Castanon also met with Interior Minister Denis
Kalume on March 14 to discuss human rights violations by
Congolese police (PNC). He told us Kalume agreed to issue a
"zero tolerance circular" to all provincial police inspectors
and to instruct the Special Services branch of the Kinshasa
police, implicated in politically motivated illegal detention
and mistreatment, to act in accordance with human rights
standards. Kalume promised to ensure unhindered access for
MONUC human rights investigators to the Special Services' Kin
Maziere Detention Facility and to create a follow-up
committee of MONUC representatives and high-level Interior
Ministry and police officials.
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Politically Motivated Incidents Rose During Elections
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4. (U) The report, entitled "The Human Rights Situation in
the Democratic Republic of Congo," was published by the
United Nations Human Rights Office (UNHRO). It noted a
marked increase in politically motivated arbitrary arrests
from the beginning of the first electoral campaign in July
2006, particularly in Kinshasa. The office investigated 170
political arrests and found that most were followed by ill
treatment and torture of detainees. The main perpetrators,
according to the report, were the Republican Guard, the
National Intelligence Agency (ANR), the PNC (especially its
Special Services branch), and the private guard force of
Senator and former Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba.
5. Per the report, the Republican Guard was responsible for
more than 100 cases of torture and/or cruel, inhuman, and
degrading treatment of civilians thought to be supporters of
Bemba's MLC party. Most ANR violations involved illegal
detention. The Police Special Services were accused of
carrying out most politically sensitive arrests in the
capital. It regularly detained people beyond the legal time
limit, was responsible for torture and ill treatment, and
systematically denied detainees visits from lawyers and
family members. Bemba's personal guard forces also carried
out a number of illegal detentions in Kinshasa, which were
often followed by ill treatment and torture.
--------------------------------------------- --------------
FARDC Violations Decrease as a Percentage of All Violations
--------------------------------------------- --------------
6. (U) The report found that cases involving the Congolese
army had decreased from 53 percent of all human rights
violations from January to June 2006 to 40 percent of all
human rights violations from July to December 2006. This was
not because of any improvement in FARDC behavior but because
of a large increase in police violations. The report noted
KINSHASA 00000422 002 OF 002
that the FARDC continued to be responsible for summary
executions, torture, rape, arbitrary arrest, and intimidation
of civilian exercising their political rights. These
violations frequently involved high-ranking FARDC officers,
none of whom had been brought to trial by the time of the
report's release. In particular, UNHRO found that FARDC
human rights violators continue to be appointed and promoted.
UNHRO reported FARDC soldiers throughout the country
committed acts of abuse of power, attempted to illegally
carry out law enforcement activities, and erected illegal
check points to extort money and food from civilians.
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PNC Violations Increase
-----------------------
7. (U) According to the report, the number of human rights
violations committed by the PNC increased in the second half
of 2006 by 15 percent, from 24 percent to 39 percent of all
violations. In addition to the politically motivated arrests
noted above, there was an increase in the number of mass
rapes of women and girls committed by police officers
throughout the country. UNHRO reported that PNC officers
carried out arbitrary arrests of civilians and often subject
them to cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or torture.
They were also reportedly involved in human rights abuses
related to the illegal exploitation of natural resources in
North and South Kivu and Katanga provinces.
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Justice Denied by Condition of DRC Prisons
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8. (U) Efforts to bring human rights violators to justice
were "invalidated by the dilapidated state of national
penitentiary facilities, which facilitated prison escapes,"
according to the report. Dring the second half of 2006, at
least 429 detaiees, including some convicted of serious
human rghts violations, escaped from prisons and detention
centers throughout the country. Some escapes wee due to the
condition of the facilities or neglgence, others to the
assistance of guards and prson authorities. Those
incarcerated faced "appaling" detention conditions: lack of
electricity, food, drinking water, and basic medical care.
Deahs due to malnutrition were regularly reported to NHRO.
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Comment
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9. (SBU) he MONUC report is credible and well-documented,and it paints a stark picture of the serious human ights
violation in the DRC. Previous engagementby MONUC to engage
with the Transitional Government produced little change in
the human rights situation. With an elected overnment,
however, officials can be held accounable for failing to
protect the human rights of itizens. Post will monitor the
follow-through o ministers on their commitments in this
area. End comment.
MEECE