US embassy cable - 04KIGALI1169

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KIGALI 001169 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C AND PRM 
EUCOM FOR POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/16/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PREF, SMIG, RW, CG 
SUBJECT: CONGO'S VICE PRESIDENT RUBERWA VISITS RWANDA TO 
URGE BANYAMULENGE'S RETURN 
 
REF: KIGALI 00730 
 
Classified By: ERIC WONG, POLITICAL OFFICER.  REASON: 1.4 (D). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY: Following meetings in Kigali with President 
Kagame and other GOR principals, DRC Vice President Ruberwa 
met with Banyamulenge refugees in Cyangugu and urged them to 
return to eastern Congo.  Banyamulenge are concerned about 
their personal safety and economic security, including lost 
government jobs.  Ruberwa's unanticipated visit came one day 
after a Banyamulenge leader was to have met senior GOR 
officials.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (S/NF) On August 10 and 11, DRC Vice President Azarias 
Ruberwa led a ministerial delegation to Kigali to discuss the 
situation of approximately 3,500 Banyamulenge refugees who 
have fled eastern DRC for Rwanda since May (reftel).  The 
GDRC delegation--comprised of the Minister of Social Affairs 
and three vice ministers (including interior and 
security)--met with senior GOR officials, including President 
Paul Kagame, Foreign Minister Charles Murigande, and Special 
Envoy for the Great Lakes Amb. Richard Sezibera. 
 
3. (S/NF) Ruberwa and the GDRC delegation met with the 
Banyamulenge refugees at Cyangugu on August 11, addressing 
the refugees as a group, and then meeting selected refugee 
leaders.  Ruberwa urged the refugees to return to the DRC, 
assuring them it would be safe to do so.  Some refugees 
responded to Ruberwa's comments, most indicating that they 
believed it was still too dangerous to return to their homes 
in the DRC.  A major concern of the refugees was that those 
who had been government employees learned that they had been 
replaced and had lost their jobs. 
 
4. (U) State-run Radio Rwanda reported Ruberwa's meeting with 
Banyamulenge refugees who cited incidents of harassment and 
who called for Gen. Mbusa Mabe's removal.  MONUC's Radio 
Okapi also reported on Ruberwa's visit. 
 
5. (S/NF) Ruberwa and the DROC delegation proposed the 
following course of action to the refugees: 
 
-- the GDRC would assure their security by deploying troops 
to their home regions; 
 
-- those refugees who had been employed by the GDRC would 
return home first, and would be 
entitled to return to their positions in the government; 
 
-- the government would arrange for those who return home 
first to communicate with their families still in Rwanda and 
arrange for their eventual return. 
 
Ruberwa assured the refugees that they would not be forced to 
return to the DRC until they felt secure. 
 
6. (S/NF) Ruberwa's visit to Rwanda was hastily arranged.  He 
arrived in Bukavu on August 7 and proposed the visit on 
August 9.  GOR officials were unhappy about the lack of prior 
notice, but believed they could not reject his proposal. 
 
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BANYAMULENGE LEADER NOTES GDRC HARASSMENT 
----------------------------------------- 
 
7. (C) Ruberwa visited Kigali the day after a Banyamulenge 
community leader, Etienne Rusimara, was to have met Amb. 
Sezibera and Dr. Emmanuel Ndahiro, Kagame's former national 
security advisor who now serves as Director of External 
Intelligence.  In an August 9 meeting with Poloff, Rusamira 
discussed the GDRC's victimization of Banyamulenge (septel), 
citing intimidation and harassment--including "hate radio" 
broadcasts by "Radio Patriot"; special government checkpoints 
at Uvira and Bukavu for Banyamulenge; and incidents of 
military forces, not civilians, targeting Banyamulenge. 
Rusamira said that Banyamulenge refugees who had fled to 
Rwanda needed not only military but also social protections, 
citing concerns about jobs.  While outlining the plight of 
the Banyamulenge, Rusamira nevertheless criticized the GOR 
for using attacks on Banyamulenge to justify possible 
military intervention, saying such statements endangered 
Banyamulenge in the DRC by playing into fears that they were 
pawns of Rwanda.  (NOTE: Ruberwa and Rusamira both made their 
comments before the August 13 attack on Gatumba refugee camp 
in Burundi that claimed the lives of 170 Banyamulenge; in a 
August 14 communique (septel), the GOR attributes the attack 
to ex-FAR/Interahamwe collaborating with Mai-Mai and FNL 
rebels.  END NOTE.) 
 
8. (C) COMMENT: While rhetoric describing a "massacre" or 
"genocide" of Banyamulenge in eastern DRC is likely 
inflammatory, the refugees' comments to Ruberwa--coupled with 
Rusimara's observations--highlight that acts of violence and 
intimidation have led Banyamulenge refugees to flee to 
Rwanda.  Rwandaphone Congolese---whether Banyamulenge from 
South Kivu, or Banyarwanda from North Kivu--have struggled 
for decades for Congolese citizenship and recognition.  They 
are likely to remain in Rwanda until their genuine concerns 
about personal safety and economic security are addressed. 
END COMMENT. 
 
9. (U) Bujumbura minimize considered. 
PATRICK