US embassy cable - 04KINSHASA1257

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KINSHASA 001257 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
 
STATE FOR AF/C A.N. EASTHAM, C.PASCHALL 
STATE FOR INR/AA 
STATE FOR PRM TSTOLTZFUS 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA - JBORNS, MMARX, IMACNAIRN, 
  TMCRAE 
AID/W FOR DCHA/FFP - JBRAUSE, NCOX 
AID/W FOR DCHA/OTI - GGOTTLIEB, AMARTIN 
AID/W FOR AFR - KO'DONNELL 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/OFDA/ARO - JMYER 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/FFP - PFESSENDEN, ADEPREZ 
ROME FOR USUN FODAG - TLAVELLE 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NSC FOR JDWORKEN 
 
E.O. 12958; NA 
TAGS: EAID, PREF, PGOV, PHUM, CG 
SUBJECT: OFDA REP VISIT TO BARAKA AND FIZI 
 
 
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Summary 
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1. (U) OFDA Rep Victor Bushamuka visited Baraka and 
  Fizi, South Kivu province from May 18 to 20 to 
  evaluate the security and humanitarian situations 
  in that part of South Kivu Province.  The area was 
  found to be highly militarized, the situation 
  still remains somewhat tense, and the population 
  still fears a renewal of hostilities. Authorities 
  estimate that only 30% of the Fizi pre-war 
  population, and 60% of Baraka population, have yet 
  returned.  For logistic and security reasons, 
  UNHCR does not plan to assist in the return of 
  refugees to this area until 2005. END SUMMARY. 
 
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Military Control and Security between Uvira and 
Baraka 
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2. (U) Traveling from Uvira to Baraka on May 18, OFDA 
  Rep Victor Bushamuka observed many heavily armed 
  troops deployed along the road, and felt that the 
  general climate was more of continuing hostilities 
  rather than peace. Ex-RCD/G army and Mai-Mai 
  forces control different villages along this road. 
  The villages on the Uvira-Lweba stretch, about 60 
  km long, are generally under Mai-Mai control. 
  However, within this area, key villages having 
  road access to the high plateau are all controlled 
  by ex-RCD soldiers. The remaining section of the 
  road, running about 30km from Lweba to Baraka, is 
  exclusively under the control of ex-RCD troops. 
  When OFDA Rep traveled, there were multiple check 
  points along the road where "taxes" were extorted 
  from commercial vehicle operators and bicycle 
  traders.  Although, well-marked humanitarian 
  vehicles are not taxed, humanitarians are 
  nevertheless obliged to stop at these check 
  points. It was claimed by some of OFDA Rep's 
  fellow travelers that though they constituted 
  harassment of civilians by military, the 
  establishment of these revenue-collection posts 
  had actually resulted in a reduction in the 
  soldiers' supplying themselves via other means 
  such as pillaging and hostage-ransom schemes. 
 
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Baraka and Fizi under separate control 
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3. (U) Before the war, Baraka was under Fizi's 
  administrative authority.  However, during the 
  war, Baraka and Fizi came to be controlled by 
  different factions, which led to the establishment 
  of two administrations-an RCD/G-appointed one in 
  Baraka and a Kinshasa-appointed one in Fizi. 
  These continue to the present day, with Mutambala 
  Bridge, situated at about 10 km south of Baraka, 
  separating the RCD-controlled Baraka area from the 
  Mai-Mai controlled Fizi area. (Note: The first 
  village after Mutambala Bridge also used to be the 
  main resistance base of the Burundian rebel group 
  FDD (Front de Defense de la Democratie), which has 
  now left that area.  The Mai-Mai is well implanted 
  in Fizi, and is known to be fiercely opposed to 
  any Rwandan presence/influence in eastern DRC, 
  including all RCD/G elements. 
 
4.  (U) Though the FARDC hierarchy has reportedly 
  sent a commander to unify the military in Baraka 
  and Fizi, military administration remains as 
  separate as the civil administration.  The forces 
  on the ground continue to take orders from the 
  same leaders they did during the war and remain 
  extremely distrustful of one another.  All 
  vehicles traveling from Baraka to Fizi, including 
  those of humanitarians, are thoroughly searched 
  before being allowed to enter Mai-Mai areas. The 
  Territorial Administrator of Fizi even prevented 
  his people from collecting seeds and tools offered 
  by the USAID/OFDA partner Action Against Hunger 
  (AAH)-USA last season simply because the 
  distribution was being conducted from an RCD/G- 
  controlled area and was therefore to be considered 
  suspect. Thus not only does the situation present 
  a security concern, but also further complicates 
  the implementation of humanitarian activities in 
  the territory. 
 
5. (U) There are no check points in Fizi, except at 
  the entrance of the town. However, anywhere in Mai- 
  Mai territory, vehicles can be stopped and 
  searched by soldiers at any moment. In Fizi, where 
  the system of military taxing vehicles does not 
  yet exist, the inhabitants indicated that they 
  often have to share their meager food supplies 
  with soldiers. 
 
6. (U) Control of Fizi Territory itself is divided 
  between two major warlords.  Mai-Mai chief Dunia 
  controls Fizi town and the peninsula of Ubwari, 
  while Colonel Masunzu, a Congolese Tutsi 
  commanding some strongly anti-Rwanda Banyamulenge 
  forces, reigns over the high plateau area from his 
  headquarters in the village of Minembwe.  Any 
  movement activity in either of these areas must 
  first be approved by these commanders. 
 
7. (U) Humanitarian actors with whom OFDA Rep spoke 
  felt that the establishment of the transitional 
  government in Kinshasa had indeed resulted in 
  somewhat improved security for the populations of 
  Baraka and Fizi, but noted that the continued 
  presence of so many armed groups responding to 
  different control hierarchies nevertheless leaves 
  the area very susceptible to renewed conflict. 
 
 
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IDPs and Refugees 
----------------- 
 
8. (U) On the road from Uvira to Baraka, the OFDA Rep 
  saw many empty houses and many fully or partially 
  destroyed villages.  There were, however, also 
  many houses under construction, suggesting that 
  people are indeed gradually returning to the area. 
  According to the administrator of Baraka, about 
  60% of the population has returned. 
 
9. (U) The situation on the Baraka-Fizi axis was very 
  different. Here almost all the villages were 
  completely destroyed and they remain covered with 
  tall grass. The road itself is overgrown by grass 
  and bush.  Only a few recent returnees were 
  observed trying to clear the grass around the 
  remains of their houses. In Fizi, the 
  administrator estimated that the territory has 
  regained only about 30% of its population of the 
  pre-war period. 
 
10. (U) According to the UNHCR estimates, about 
  150,000 of the refugees who are in camps in 
  Tanzania are from the territory of Fizi, with 
  100,000 of these believed to be from Fizi and the 
  remaining 50,000 from the villages on the axis 
  from Makobola to Baraka.  Recent returnees 
  reported that food rations were being reduced in 
  the camps, leading more refugees to consider a 
  return to DRC.  Many refugees have reportedly 
  stated, however, that they would prefer to wait 
  until July or August to make the move, so as to 
  permit their children to complete the school year 
  in Tanzania.  The recent security problems in 
  Bukavu and Kamanyola may, of course, make refugees 
  less willing to return to DRC than they were a 
  month ago. 
 
11. (U) A joint UN humanitarian mission was recently 
  conducted in Baraka and Fizi to evaluate the 
  possibility of UNHCR assisting refugees returning 
  to Fizi and Baraka from Tanzania. It was concluded 
  that while Baraka is relatively stable, Fizi is 
  still highly insecure and that security issues 
  would need to be addressed before serious 
  humanitarian intervention could be undertaken.  In 
  addition, UNHCR will not be able to make full use 
  of the port of Baraka unless it undergoes serious 
  renovation nor deliver supplies to Fizi until the 
  Baraka-Fizi road, and most particularly Mutambala 
  Bridge, is repaired.  UNHCR is thus currently not 
  planning to assist refugees to return until 2005. 
 
12. (U) Fizi residents felt that most people who had 
  taken refuge in the forest during the war, rather 
  than fleeing to Tanzania, have already returned. 
  While visiting returnee families, it was OFDA 
  Rep's impression that many of those who had come 
  from the forest were in relatively poor health and 
  manifesting clear signs of malnutrition, whereas 
  those that had been in refugee camps in Tanzania 
  seemed considerably better off. 
 
 
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Humanitarian Assistance in Baraka-Fizi 
-------------------------------------- 
 
13. (U) Though humanitarians have become more active 
  in Fizi Territory over the past year, most 
  activities have, until recently, been concentrated 
  only in and around Baraka.  AAH-USA has been 
  implementing an OFDA funded food security program 
  in which seeds, tools, and fishing equipment have 
  been distributed to IDPs and returnees. With ECHO 
  funding, AAH-USA also runs a nutrition program 
  with several feeding centers located on the Uvira- 
  Baraka axis. Also in Baraka, Aide Medicale 
  Internationale(AMI) and MSF-Spain have been 
  providing basic health care assistance to IDPs and 
  returnees. 
 
14. (U) Due to insecurity and logistic constraints, 
  Fizi was inaccessible to humanitarian activities 
  until December 2003. AAH has started, under the 
  OFDA-funded food security project, assisting the 
  population of Fizi with the rehabilitation of fish 
  ponds. Seeds and tools distribution for IDPs and 
  returnees of Fizi is planned for September 2004. 
  AMI had its first distribution of medicines to 
  selected health clinics in Fizi in May, 2004. In 
  addition, AMI is currently looking for funds to 
  rehabilitate some key village clinics in rural 
  Fizi that were destroyed during the war. The MSF- 
  Spain staff in Baraka indicated to OFDA Rep that 
  they are not yet active in Fizi, but plan to 
  provide basic assistance to the Fizi main hospital 
  later this year. HOOKS.