US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA1668

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001668 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PREF, CG, AO 
SUBJECT: RETURN OF THE TIGERS TO DRC 
 
Classified By: PolCouns MSanderson, reasons 1.4 b/d. 
 
1. (C)  PolCouns met October 4 (at their request) with a 
group of Katangan Tigers in Kinshasa to, as they put it, pave 
the way for the return of the exiles.  (Note: The Tigers are 
seeking to return after over 30 years in exile, as Kapend 
stressed several times.  Given evidence of their attacks on 
civilians in Katanga province, however, their return is 
problematic at best and provocative at worst.  End Note.) 
General Kapend Elie Kanyumba, supreme commander of the 
Tigers, headed the three-person delegation, which also 
included General Andre (no last name given), the Inspector 
General of the Tigers, and Colonel William, head of security 
for the Tigers.  General Kapend said within the next two to 
three weeks, approximately 40,000 Tiger ex-combatants and 
family members will begin their return to the DRC, mostly 
entering through Katanga province and then dispersing to 
other points of origin (he cited Bukavu, in South Kivu, for 
instance, in the case of General Andre, and Mbandaka, 
Equateur province, for Colonel William, and mentioned both 
Kasai provinces as well). Kapend said they have not been in 
touch with UNHCR, nor with MONUC (except via a protocolary 
letter to SRSG Swing).  Kapend expects to have a press 
conference in Kinshasa on/about October 12 to announce the 
coming of the Tigers, and said that by October 20 he will 
have filed the necessary paperwork to register his political 
party, which will enable him to run for election as president 
of the DRC. 
 
2. (C)  Kapend gave PolCouns copies of documents indicating 
that 8,040 of the returnees are military, and said that he 
expects that they will be integrated into the FARDC, after 
which some may elect to be demobilized.  (Note:  Separately, 
Kapend indicated that 1,250 of the above number represent the 
command staff of the Tigers militia, who would expect to 
retain their ranks and enter the FARDC "with dignity."  End 
Note.) He also gave PolCouns a copy of a letter from Defense 
Minister Onusumba indicating that, while the GDRC might 
consider this possibility, at the moment there is no 
provision for folding the ex-Tigers into the ongoing brassage 
(mixing) process.  Kapend had no answer to PolCoun's question 
as to what the civilian members of the group would do once 
they returned, particularly given existing unemployment in 
the DRC.  Instead, he stressed the importance of returning in 
the stated period, in order to ensure that "his people" are 
registered to vote in next year's elections.  In addition, he 
said that he already counts on about 6,000 supporters, mostly 
in Katanga, his home province. 
 
3. (C)  Comment:  Another problem brewing. There would never 
be a good time to have the former Tigers return, but this is 
a particularly inopportune moment.  Several months ago 
PolCouns had heard talk in Katanga that the Tigers might 
return to Congo, but it was phrased in the context of a 
post-electoral process. It seems clear that the GDRC is not 
prepared to receive them (regardless of what informal 
conversations might have taken place), and their "voluntary" 
return is likely to come as yet another unpleasant shock to 
the UNHCR, already bracing for unexpected demands to assist 
the return of refugees from Tanzania and Rwanda -- also 
motivated by the upcoming elections.  Having Tigers again in 
the Congo forests clearly has the potential to create more 
problems in terms of security and social instability, above 
all in Katanga. 
MEECE