US embassy cable - 04KINSHASA1814

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001814 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PINS, PREL, CG, PKO 
SUBJECT: ITURI'S DISARMAMENT PLAN LAUNCHED BUT MILITIAS 
RELUCTANT TO PARTICIPATE 
 
1. (SBU) Summary. The UN and the GDRC launched Ituri's 
disarmament plan September 1st. Very few people have visited 
the transit sites since they opened, however, and only a 
handful of those have turned in their weapons. Militia 
leaders such as Jerome Kakawave are demanding full 
integration of their forces into the Congolese army instead 
of disarmament. MONUC is facilitating discussions between the 
government and the militias to find a compromise involving 
integration of top officers in exchange for militia 
participation in the disarmament plan. End Summary. 
 
Ituri's Disarmament: The Plan 
----------------------------- 
 
2. (U) The UN and the GDRC launched Ituri's Disarmament and 
Community Reinsertion Plan (DCR) September 1st. Under the DCR 
plan, combatants from Ituri armed groups will need to gather 
into five transit sites for disarmament, registration, and 
selection for either reintegration into the community or 
future participation in a national army. The armed groups 
that have agreed to participate and their assigned transit 
sites are as follow: 
 
-Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), Iga Barriere/Nizi 
-Front for National Integration (FNI), Kpwandroma 
-People's Armed Forces of Congo (FAPC) and the Popular Force 
for Democracy in Congo (FPDC), Mahagi 
-Patriotic Force of Resistance in Ituri (FRPI), Aveba 
-Party for Unity and Safeguarding of the Integrity of Congo 
(PUSIC), Kasenyi 
 
3. (U) MONUC will provide security at the transit sites and 
an integrated unit of the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) will 
disarm the combatants. A UNDP volunteer will coordinate 
humanitarian activities, while an NGO will be responsible for 
managing the transit site. Upon entering the camp, each 
combatant will receive civilian clothes, food, a blanket, 
utensils and hygiene items. When departing, former combatants 
will be given a month's worth of food, a domestic kit with 
household items, a production kit with mostly agricultural 
items and a $50 transportation allowance to get home. 
 
Reality on the Ground: Militias Reluctant to Participate 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
4. (SBU) According to MONUC sources, militias, especially 
that led by Jerome Kakawave, have been reluctant to 
participate in plan DCR. Jerome and other militia leaders 
have recently begun claiming that the GDRC promised them full 
integration of their militias into the army and therefore no 
disarmament will take place unless this promise is honored. 
MONUC notes that the engagement act signed between the GDRC 
and the militia leaders on May 14, 2004 did not include such 
a promise. In order to enlist Jerome's group as well as 
ensure the participation of other armed groups, however, 
MONUC is now facilitating talks between the GDRC and the 
militias to incorporate some of their officers in the 
Congolese army. 
 
5. (SBU) A Bunia NGO source told poloff September 25 that 
people in Ituri are skeptical about the DCR plan. He said 
that only a handful of people have gone to the disarmament 
centers since they opened in early September, and that most 
of them had not brought any of their weapons with them. 
PUSIC's Chief Khawa Mandro told a Bunia NGO recently that 
MONUC had nothing to offer them at this point through this 
disarmament plan. (Comment: The Hemas from the Lake Albert 
region who constitute PUSIC have long been distrustful of the 
Lendu/Ngiti militias and are unlikely to disarm unless they 
are convinced that these militias will disarm at the same 
time. End Comment.) 
 
6. (SBU) MONUC points to the September 19th attack by Ngiti 
militias against Bira civilians in the village of Lembo (10 
kms South of Bunia) as evidence of the strong need for 
disarmament in Ituri. During this ethnically motivated 
attack, 300-400 Ngiti militias killed approximately 16 people 
and burned many Bira homes. MONUC characterized this attack 
as an act of revenge based on local factors unrelated to 
other groups in Ituri. Following this incident, Petronille 
Vaweka, Ituri's District Commissioner, helped mediate a 
dialogue between leaders of both communities. According to 
her, they agreed not to engage in further confrontations and 
to solve future problems peacefully. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
7. (SBU) The Ituri militias' commitment to disarmament has 
long been questionable. Despite the Engagement Act they 
signed in Kinshasa, they now argue the GDRC promised full 
integration of their members into the Congolese army. Such a 
promise is not contained in the accord they signed and it is 
unlikely that the GDRC would have orally agreed to full 
integration of the estimated 15,000 militia members in Ituri. 
Current negotiations between the GDRC and the militias could 
lead to the integration of some of the top militia officers 
into FARDC. It is unlikely this will be enough to persuade 
them to participate in the DCR plan. 
 
 
MEECE