US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA63

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000063 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR DS/IP/AF 
DEPT FOR DS/ITA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CASC, ASEC, PGOV, PINS, PHUM, CG 
SUBJECT: JANUARY 10 PROTESTS IN KINSHASA 
 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY:  Violent protests in outlying parts of 
Kinshasa over the possibility of delayed elections claimed 
the lives of several civilians on January 10.  Post issued 
two warden messages; no Amcits were injured during the 
events.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) Violent demonstrations took place in outlying parts of 
Kinshasa on January 10, days after the DRC's electoral 
commission president implied that elections would take place 
in October instead of June 2005.  Major police/protestor 
clashes occurred in the areas of Masina (en route to the main 
airport), Kingasani, and Binza IPN, all 7-10 kilometers from 
the Gombe area where all USG facilities are located and where 
all Embassy employees reside.  Police did not allow 
demonstrators to mass and move into the Gombe area.  Instead, 
they deployed to known "hot spots" and broke up the 
malcontents before they could get transport into the Gombe 
area.  An estimated four to thirteen civilians and two 
policemen died, dozens were wounded, and authorities arrested 
over seventy on charges of vandalism.  One Amcit was the 
victim of a carjacking by protestors in the Binza-IPN area, 
but was unharmed and retrieved his vehicle on January 11. 
The U.S. Mission maintained normal operations throughout the 
day with no incidents noted, although some locally-engaged 
staff were unable to come to work because of the 
unavailability of public transportation early in the day.  No 
other cities experienced demonstrations or unrest, and 
Kinshasa itself was quiet on January 11 and 12. 
 
3. (SBU) Most observers directly or indirectly blamed 
political opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi for the 
unrest, though GDRC officials such as the Minister of 
Information did not say so publicly.  If it was an attempt to 
demonstrate the amount of support for Tshisekedi, it fell 
flat because university students by and large did not 
participate.  (Comment:  In the 1990s, support for Tshisekedi 
was such that his party, the UDPS, could literally bring 
Kinshasa to a halt through strikes and boycotts.  At a 
January 12 meeting with the Ambassador, Tshisekedi denied any 
involvement in the recent unrest.  End Comment.) 
 
4. (SBU) COMMENT:  Post will continue to monitor the 
situation.  Already the Kinshasa rumor mill is speculating 
about the possibility of more unrest on Friday, January 14, 
close to the the January 17 anniversary of Patrice Lumumba's 
assassination and the January 18 anniversary of Laurent 
Kabila's assassination.  END COMMENT. 
MEECE