VZCZCXRO5106
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0129/01 0321424
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 011424Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5532
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 000129 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KJUS PHUM KPKO CG
SUBJECT: CONGOLESE MILITARY JUSTICE FIGHTING AN UPHILL 
BATTLE 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  The numerous obstacles to effective 
application of military justice in the Congo are in stark 
evidence in the province of Katanga.  Military courts are 
fighting an uphill battle against crumbling infrastructure, 
poor facilities, and the lack of legal training for 
practitioners, relevant legal texts, and adequate security 
for detainees and prisoners alike.  Military tribunals have 
jurisdiction over both military and certain civilian criminal 
cases.  Structural parallels to the U.S. justice system, as 
well as Congolese interest in American participation, provide 
an opportunity for U.S.-Congolese cooperation.  The Mission 
has therefore made military judicial sector support a high 
priority.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Poloff's visits to military tribunals in Kalemie 
and Lubumbashi and to the Kalemie prison painted a stark 
picture of the faults in the Congolese military justice 
system.  While the situation is dire everywhere, the reality 
in Katanga is as bad as, if not worse than, other areas in 
the DRC.  Nevertheless, military prosecutors, judges and 
other officials remain eager for U.S. advice and assistance. 
Collaboration with MONUC Rule of Law personnel, and 
discussion with other donors, reveal that very little 
assistance is planned for the military justice system.  As a 
result, Post has identified this sector as one of the areas 
with the greatest need and the greatest potential for 
successful intervention. 
 
---------------------------- 
Military Tribunal in Kalemie 
---------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U)  In Kalemie, a functioning military court hears cases 
in a facility plagued by abysmal infrastructure.  In the 
courtroom, there is a single battered desk from which the 
judge presides, yet no benches or chairs for any other 
participants.  Ancient bench supports remain embedded in the 
cement floor without seats laid across them.  Planks are 
sometimes brought in to create temporary seats for witnesses, 
victims, and their supporters -- or not. 
 
¶4. (U)  Military judges' offices are bare; they lack even 
basics such as copies of current laws, legal texts and 
reference books.  In one office, case files were piled on its 
single shelf.  Despite the efforts of the recent transitional 
government to update the legal code, one weary magistrate 
made continual reference to a battered and much-used copy of 
the "Code Penal Zairoise."  He stated that he had never seen 
a copy of the recently-passed (and immediately relevant) Law 
Against Sexual and Gender-Based Violence. 
 
¶5. (U)  Given the lack of basic office furniture, the lack of 
equipment was no surprise.  Computers, printers, 
photocopiers, and internet access are all a distant dream. 
The five magistrates who worked out of the Kalemie tribunal 
shared one vintage-era manual typewriter to document all 
cases and record courtroom proceedings. 
 
¶6. (U)  After giving a tour of the tribunal, the magistrate 
asked if poloff would like to visit the "cachot" (literally 
"dungeon," but in common usage in the DRC a temporary holding 
cell or make-shift jail).  The "cachot" which housed 
detainees waiting for trial and those awaiting transport to 
the prison was a small building approximately 12 feet by 15 
feet.  It had no windows, minimal ventilation, no lights, no 
electricity, no running water, and no toilet facilities.  The 
single wooden door was bolted with a padlock, barricaded with 
stones, and guarded by four soldiers. 
 
¶7. (U)  When the door was opened, the eleven men laying on 
the cement floor inside recoiled from the light.  The 
magistrate explained that most were soldiers accused of petty 
crimes; three had already been convicted but had not been 
moved (after several weeks) to the prison due to lack of 
transport.  Some of the occupants had been there for months. 
 
-------------- 
Kalemie Prison 
-------------- 
 
¶8. (U)  The Kalemie prison houses all detainees in the 
region, both civilian and military.  Its single greatest 
challenge is security.  The building, dating from 1928, has a 
brick and mortar shell that can be penetrated within several 
hours using only a spoon.  The prison was originally built 
 
KINSHASA 00000129  002 OF 003 
 
 
next to a small river, but time and erosion have so damaged 
the site that approximately one quarter of the facility is in 
danger of crumbling down the bank. 
 
¶9. (U)  There are few perimeter lights, and even those are 
rendered useless during frequent blackouts.  There is no 
security wire around the top of the walls; prisoners have 
been known to boost one another over the top when the guards 
aren't watching closely.  One of the magistrates described 
detention in the facility as "voluntary imprisonment," adding 
that there had been 44 separate escapes in 2006 alone. 
 
¶10. (U)  There are close to 200 prisoners at the Kalemie 
facility, including 13 women, a handful of juveniles, and 
three infants living there with their mothers.  Some of the 
prisoners are violent criminals, and thirty have been 
condemned to death.  The local magistrate lamented the 
impossibility of transferring the most dangerous prisoners to 
a more secure facility, citing the lack of vehicles, 
gasoline, and costs to effect a secure transfer. 
 
¶11. (U)  As in most Congolese prisons, prisoners do not eat 
unless their families bring them food and pay off (or provide 
food to) the guards.  Nevertheless, these prisoners are 
relatively fortunate; being from the immediate area, they 
have family members nearby to assist, and while thin, none of 
them were visibly starving. 
 
------------------------------- 
Military Tribunal in Lubumbashi 
------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (U)  Even the regional military tribunal headquarters in 
Lubumbashi, although superior to facilities in the outlying 
regions, is beset by the same deficiencies:  legal texts and 
professional materials; furniture, modern office equipment 
and supplies; and the means to manage security and transport 
of prisoners. 
 
¶13. (U)  When asked about the greatest challenges, the 
president of the military court in Lubumbashi stated that the 
system needs "everything from bricks to paper."  Echoing his 
provincial colleagues, he emphasized that modernization of 
the system required professional training, significant 
material support, and security at every level in the military 
justice process. 
 
--------------------- 
Military Jurisdiction 
--------------------- 
 
¶14. (U)  Congolese law, similar to the American system, makes 
a distinction between civil and military jurisdiction. 
However, it stipulates trial in a military court when the 
defendant is a soldier, a policeman, or a civilian who has 
used a "weapon of war" in the commission of a crime.  In some 
cases, jurisdiction is clear and unambiguous, such as when a 
soldier is accused of rape, looting, or murder. 
Justification for military jurisdiction is much more murky in 
other cases, such as a civilian accused of committing a crime 
-- usually against another civilian -- with a "weapon of 
war." 
 
----------- 
The Future? 
----------- 
 
¶15. (U)  Conditions in Katanga military tribunals are 
unfortunately representative of courts throughout the DRC. 
Those working in the military justice sector are managing the 
best they can in a broken system.  Most of the military 
magistrates we spoke with in Katanga are hopeful that the new 
Congolese government, with international support, will 
address the problems and improve the system. 
 
¶16. (U)  Even if the new government is able to enact broad 
military justice sector reforms, military tribunals must 
continue to manage the flood of cases already before them. 
Long-term reform will take time and cannot alleviate the 
immediate strains or address the urgent needs of the existing 
system. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
KINSHASA 00000129  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶17. (SBU)  The clear needs in the DRC's military justice 
system, combined with acknowledged American expertise, create 
a unique opportunity for U.S. engagement.  Targeted U.S. 
assistance programs could have an immediate, visible impact 
and would enhance the DRC's military effectiveness by 
addressing military impunity, a major security deficit.  The 
Congolese have expressed interest in U.S. involvement and 
other donors are not committed to assistance in this sector. 
Post is therefore pursuing opportunities to provide support 
to the military justice system.  End comment. 
MEECE