US embassy cable - 05KINSHASA1860

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 001860 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/08/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KDEM, KPKO, CG, UNSC 
SUBJECT: UNSC REITERATES SECURITY, ELECTION CONCERNS IN 
KINSHASA 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Roger Meece.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
1. (C) Summary: An intense schedule for the visiting U.N. 
Security Council in Kinshasa focused on the election process 
and security sector reform.  There was some focus of good 
governance issues, although clear misgivings by some UNSC 
members limited those discussions.  For reasons that are 
unclear, President Kabila delayed his scheduled meeting with 
the Council until 6:00 a.m. Monday morning.  Given its 
prestige and importance to the DRC, the UNSC provided welcome 
reinforcement of messages from the members of the 
International Committee to Accompany the Transition (CIAT) on 
the need to respect the election calendar, rapidly adopt and 
implement the pending EUSEC military pay and support reform 
package, and accelerate movement toward the next cycle of 
military integration training.  The responses provided by the 
Congolese to these points were for the most part familiar, 
but nonetheless the Council,s message was helpful.  End 
summary. 
 
The Sixth Visit 
---------------- 
 
2. (SBU) The U.N. Security Council arrived in Kinshasa on 
Saturday evening, November 6 for its sixth visit in six years 
to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The Council had an 
internal working dinner hosted by SRSG Swing on Saturday 
night, and the delegation leader, the French PermRep 
accompanied by the Algerian PermRep, met with opposition UDPS 
leader Tshisekedi Saturday night at the French Ambassador,s 
residence (being reported septel).  The Council held a full 
day of meetings on Sunday in Kinshasa, and departed Monday, 
November 7 for an election-related visit to Mbuji Mayi 
(Eastern Kasai province) and security sector related visit to 
the military integration center at Kamina (Katanga Province) 
before proceeding on to Bujumbura. 
 
Kabila Delayed 
--------------- 
 
3. (C) President Kabila, originally scheduled to meet with 
the UNSC Sunday morning, sent word late last week that he 
would not return from Lubumbashi in time, proposing instead a 
Monday morning meeting.  SRSG Swing was apparently unable to 
convince Kabila or his key aides that such a course would be 
counterproductive and notified at least the French and 
American Ambassadors of the problem.  Calls late last week 
from both similarly produced no change.  The reasons cited 
for the problem were not credible.  For example, Presidency 
Ambassador-at-Large Ghonda told the Ambassador that Kabila 
had originally been informed the UNSC was arriving on Sunday, 
not Saturday, and that his plans were already firm.  The end 
result was that Kabila reportedly returned to Kinshasa 
Sunday, but did not meet with the Council until Monday.  To 
accommodate the UNSC,s travel for the day, the Kabila 
meeting took place at 6:00 a.m. 
 
UNSC/CIAT Breakfast 
-------------------- 
 
4. (C) The UNSC opened its Sunday schedule with a 7:00 a.m. 
breakfast with the member Ambassadors of the International 
Committee to Accompany the Transition (CIAT).  Most of the 
discussion during the breakfast focused on the election 
process, with some debate about good governance issues, and 
military pay.  Time expired before a scheduled discussion of 
Security Sector Reform could get underway, as the Council 
held an impromptu internal meeting to decide how to revise 
its schedule to include a Monday Kabila meeting (see the 
previous paragraph). 
 
5. (C) The discussion of elections focused on familiar 
themes, including the enormous logistical challenges still 
ahead.  The Japanese Ambassador asked if delays by DPKO and 
the UN bureaucracy requesting and disbursing money to MONUC 
for elections logistics support created major problems.  The 
answer was a firm yes.  Registration operations were 
reviewed, and plans described to distribute election 
materials to 40,000 polling centers for the scheduled 
December constitutional referendum.  All agreed on the 
importance of continuing to push as much as possible to 
ensure key milestones on the election calendar are reached as 
quickly as possible.  Delay beyond the scheduled Jun 30, 
2006, transition deadline was simply unacceptable and could 
produce chaotic conditions in the country. 
 
6. (C) The Russian and Chinese UNSC representatives, and to a 
lesser extent some other Council members, expressed their 
discomfort about taking issues of good governance too far, 
repeating points that have been previously reported from USUN 
during UNSC discussions.  The Ambassador and other CIAT 
members, however, noted the central importance of military 
pay and support issues to all aspects of the Transition.  In 
this regard, he and other CIAT members encouraged Council 
members to urge rapid adoption and implementation of the 
pending European Security Mission (EUSEC) report for FARDC 
administrative and support reforms in their meetings with the 
Congolese, noting the issue was both one of good governance 
and essential security sector reforms. 
 
Security Sector 
------------------ 
 
7. (U) The UNSC met Sunday afternoon with Congolese and 
international members of the Mixed Commission on Security, 
chaired by Vice President Ruberwa.  Commission members 
present included the Ministers of Defense and Interior, Vice 
Ministers of several ministries, the head of the military 
integration and DDR processes, and several Ambassadors, 
including the U.S. Ambassador, among others. 
8. (C) French PermRep de la Sabliere started the session by 
underscoring UNSC concerns about delays in getting the next 
wave of integration training underway, and continuing 
problems to provide salaries and other support to deployed 
FARDC troops.  Clearly anticipating the topics, VP Ruberwa 
responded with a long presentation outlining GDRC plans. 
Ruberwa identified integration delays as related to 
preparation of training centers, ongoing transport problems 
to get troops to the right centers, and, introducing a topic 
not cited in prior meetings with the CIAT or Mixed 
Commission, Ruberwa said growing numbers of troops were 
choosing to be demobilized rather than integrated into the 
new national army creating shortages for the integration 
centers.  Referencing detailed discussions in recent Mixed 
Commission and Espace Presidentiel/CIAT meetings, Ruberwa 
laid out a planning calendar that will produce 18 integrated 
brigades prior to June, 2006.  Ruberwa asserted two centers 
will be filled this week, a result of decisions taken by the 
Mixed Commission last week, and asserted that six additional 
integrated brigades can and will be formed by the end of the 
calendar year. 
 
9. (C) Regarding salaries and support, Ruberwa noted that 
this subject has received substantial discussion with the 
CIAT and in Mixed Commission meetings.  He reiterated that a 
key element to provide progress is completion of the South 
Africa-led census now underway, and noted that claimed 
numbers of combatants have already been substantially 
reduced.  Ruberwa also repeated assurances earlier provided 
to the CIAT and Mixed Commission that the pending EUSEC 
reform report would be adopted, likely with a few amendments, 
at the next meeting of the Supreme Defense Council.  Ruberwa 
also indicated that IMF emphasis on a pro-poor budget also 
created constraints for the government to provide adequate 
resources to the security sector. 
 
10. (C) Subsequent questions from UNSC members focused on 
money disbursed for the past two years for salaries paid to 
fictitious soldiers (Ruberwa: there will be investigations), 
whether former belligerents are willing to come together 
against FDLR and for common purpose (Ruberwa: two years ago, 
that was not the case, but the situation has evolved and this 
is not a problem now), integration delays, and inadequate 
support to the troops.  Regarding his earlier assertion that 
too few FARDC soldiers are opting for integration, Ruberwa 
indicated that an increased information ("sensibilisation") 
campaign would address the problem.  Ruberwa also reiterated 
that he saw no resistance by any of the ex-belligerent 
faction leaders to sending their troops for integration, 
asserting that he did not think that &card is now playable8 
by these leaders, all now in the Transition government. 
 
11. (C) Ruberwa also reported that police training is less 
problematic than the military, without many of the same 
"ex-belligerent" faction issues.  He noted that, per a 
discussion and decision last week by the Mixed Commission, 
police training would be decentralized, which would further 
simplify the police training program. 
 
12. (C) The Tanzanian PermRep noted the severe limitations of 
current FARDC capability, and questioned whether the FARDC 
would be truly ready to take on the FDLR in less than a year 
or more. In addition, there are many doubts about a proposed 
African Union force in the DRC. Given these problems, is 
there a DRC timeline?  Ruberwa answered by asserting that the 
Security Council had the means to "impose peace" relatively 
quickly on the eastern DRC should it choose to do so through 
MONUC.  He added that the UN sanctions imposed recently on 
various negative force leaders were weak - an important 
symbol, but only that.  Ruberwa observed that the AU force 
seemed a "dead letter," and again asserted the UNSC held the 
answer.  He did acknowledge that the FARDC has "disarmament 
plans" with various operations already planned for North and 
South Kivu, as well as Ituri District. 
 
13. (C) Closing the session, Defense Minister Onosumba 
repeated information previously supplied to the Mixed 
Commission regarding adjustments already being implemented to 
begin to pay soldiers by grade instead of flat amounts.  The 
French Ambassador noted that the FDLR problem would seem to 
demand political as well as military means to achieve a 
solution. 
 
Other Sessions 
--------------- 
 
14. (SBU) The UNSC also held meetings during the day with the 
DRC,s four Vice Presidents, with National Assembly President 
Kamitatu and Senate President Msgr. Marini, with the 
Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) and the High Media 
Authority, and with civil society and religious leaders.  No 
member of the Kinshasa U.S. Mission participated in those 
meetings. 
 
15. (U) French PermRep de la Sabliere held a press conference 
on Monday following the Kabila meeting prior to the UNSC,s 
departure for Mbuji Mayi and Kamina, being reported septel. 
 
Comment 
----------- 
 
16. (C) Kabila,s odd behavior, delaying his scheduled 
meeting with Council members, has no obvious explanation. 
Most CIAT member speculation centered on possible bad advice 
from some of the less wise members of Kabila,s entourage and 
perhaps lingering resentment over too many international 
chiefs trying to tell him how to run the country.  Whatever 
the cause, de la Sabliere was visibly annoyed, and Kabila did 
himself no favors with the Council as members got up for the 
6:00 a.m. meeting.  We do not find credible Ruberwa,s new 
premise that too many combatants are opting for DDR, posing 
problems for the integration program.  Nonetheless, a 
stepped-up information campaign about the merits of the 
integration process has been recommended by the Mixed 
Commission and would be welcome, if it is in fact being 
implemented.  While the Congolese have heard most of the 
messages from the Council before in meetings with the CIAT, 
Mixed Commission or other fora, given the Council,s prestige 
and importance for the DRC, its reinforcement of key points 
is welcome.  While unlikely to provide a decisive answer to 
the many problems of the Transition, the visit was helpful in 
the DRC, as well as hopefully to members of the Council.  End 
comment. 
 
 
MEECE