US embassy cable - 04KINSHASA1492

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001492 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PINS, EMIN, PINR, KNNP, CG 
SUBJECT: MONUC FEARS URANIUM SMUGGLING IN CONGO 
 
REF: EMAIL E.BESTIC-J.BERNTSEN 4/9/04 
 
Classified By: Poloff Edward Bestic for Reasons 1.5 B and D 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY:  A MONUC official based in Katanga province 
recently visited Shinkolobwe, a local mining area and source 
of uranium, and expressed concern to Kinshasa-based diplomats 
about possible illegal uranium-related mining activity. 
Although Post sees no cause for immediate alarm, Shinkolobwe 
is definitely a long-term problem, because the Congo's weak 
state institutions and easily corrupted officials cannot be 
counted upon to secure the mine site.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
MONUC Tries to Investigate Shinkolobwe 
-------------------------------------- 
2. (C) On July 23, MONUC/Lubumbashi chief Magda Gonzales 
briefed P5 plus South African and Belgian diplomats on her 
recent visit to the mining center at Shikolobwe, in Katanga 
province.  (Note:  Shinkolobwe is the source of the uranium 
used by the USG to develop and manufacture the original 
atomic bombs used during WW2.  End Note.)  She provided a 
written report in French, forwarded reftel.  Gonzales, a 
geologist from University of Lubumbashi named Prof. Loris, 
and a Radio Okapi journalist traveled o/a July 14 to the city 
of Likasi and the mining site at Shinkolobwe, to investigate 
a reported cave-in that killed nine and injured possibly a 
dozen more.  Gonzales' group first visited four survivors at 
Daco Hospital in Likasi.  The survivors were "in bad shape," 
she said, and their skin was green--which the professor told 
her was a sign of radiation poisoning.  She added that the 
attending physician said the four men would be dead within 
six months (NFI).  Gonzales later said that other artisanal 
miners in the area reportedly have developed cancerous tumors. 
 
3. (C) The group next proceeded to the reported accident site 
at Shinkolobwe (NFI).  Local authorities at first refused 
them entry, then relented, but other officials countermanded 
this closer to the supposed site.  To Gonzales' surprise, 
members of the GDRC national atomic energy commission and 
officials from the Presidency were already there, with 
"sophisticated equipment."  While Gonzales argued, the latter 
group left to examine the mine's apparently disused uranium 
concentrator, but the Radio Okapi journalist secretly 
followed them.  According to Gonzales, the instruments 
carried by the GDRC group signaled a high level of 
radioactivity (NFI) at the concentrator.  In the end, local 
authorities escorted the U.N. team to the supposed accident 
site, but instead led them astray and took them to a 
different area.  When the U.N. team realized this, Gonzales 
said, she decided to leave Shinkolobwe without having seen 
the real accident site. 
 
4. (C) After the aborted visit, Gonzales met with the state 
prosecutor at Kipushi, who reportedly had begun an 
investigation into the accident.  The prosecutor told 
Gonzales he believed a Congolese army officer had sent a 
group of young miners to the uranium site at night, but they 
inadvertently caused the mine to collapse.  The same 
prosecutor also "confirmed" that civil, military and local 
security authorities were all engaged in exploiting this 
particular site.  Gonzales added that previously, the foreign 
buyers of illegally-exploited minerals in south Katanga were 
mostly of Pakistani or Indian origin, but that today, they 
tend to be from China or Korea. 
 
5. (C) The Belgian poloff attending the MONUC meeting 
reported that a Lubumbashi-based human rights organization, 
ASADHO, had drafted a report on the accident but later 
"withdrew it under pressure."  He added that the 
International Atomic Energy Agency visited Shinkolobwe only a 
few weeks earlier, and according to the IAEA internal report, 
said there was nothing to be concerned about at Shinkolobwe. 
 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
6. (C) Post has previously reported on Shinkolobwe, and sees 
no cause for immediate alarm.  In our view, MONUC's 
"findings" in this case are short on detail and therefore far 
from conclusive.  Shinkolobwe is definitely a long-term 
problem, however, because the Congo's weak state institutions 
and easily corrupted officials cannot be counted upon to 
secure the mine site.  END COMMENT. 
MEECE