VZCZCXRO6323
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0134/01 0331222
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021222Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5540
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
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RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000134 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV CASC MOPS KPKO ASEC CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: PROTESTS TURN VIOLENT IN BAS-CONGO PROVINCE 
 
REF: A. A. KINSHASA 102 
     ¶B. B. 05 KINSHASA 1064 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Protests in Bas-Congo province, sparked 
by the controversial result of the January 27 gubernatorial 
election, turned violent January 31-February 1 with clashes 
between security forces and demonstrators led by adherents of 
an ethnic Kongo political-religious movement, Bundu dia Kongo 
(BDK).  There are unconfirmed reports of as many as 80 
fatalities.  The Consular Section checked with local wardens, 
and there are no reports of any American citizens being 
involved in the incidents.  Business has returned to normal 
in the province and the situation is currently calm, but with 
a strong security presence in the province's major towns. End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Election-related clashes January 31 and February 1 in 
several locations in Bas-Congo province involving security 
forces and adherents of Bundu dia Kongo (BDK), an ethnic 
separatist movement, have left as many as 80 dead according 
to preliminary but unconfirmed reports.  There were civilian, 
police, and military casualties.  Violence was greatest in 
the Congo River ports of Matadi (the provincial capital and 
link to the western DRC) and Boma, and Muanda on the Atlantic 
coast, but several smaller locations, including Kasangulu and 
Kinzaomvwele, were affected as well.  It is not clear to what 
extent the incidents may have been coordinated. 
 
¶3.  (U) Reports received February 2 from residents in the 
province indicate the situation is now calm, but with heavy 
presence of security forces on the streets.  Consular officer 
called registered American citizens in the province, and 
Embassy has no reports of any Americans being involved in the 
violence.  Two MONUC vehicles were stoned by a large crowd, 
and one was set on fire;  no injuries were reported. 
 
¶4.  (U) The violence disrupted economic activity throughout 
the province, resulting in the January 31 closure of all 
commercial ports and the temporary shutoff of the petroleum 
pipeline to Kinshasa.  Most of the western DRC's petroleum 
products enter the region through this pipeline, as do a 
large percentage of the country's imports. 
 
¶5.  (U) The violence was sparked by discontent with the 
results of the January 27 Bas-Congo gubernatorial election 
(ref A).  Provincial assembly deputies narrowly elected a 
nominally independent but pro-Kabila candidate in a province 
that voted heavily for rival presidential candidate 
Jean-Pierre Bemba in the October 2006 general elections.  BDK 
spiritual leader Ne Muanda Nsemi, a member of the National 
Assembly, was the candidate for vice governor on the losing 
ticket, headed by a member of Bemba's MLC party. 
 
¶6.  (U)  Following announcement of the election results 
January 28, the BDK called for people to refrain from going 
about ordinary business the following week and show their 
dissatisfaction through a "ville morte," or general strike. 
From all reports, BDK's call brought little response, 
although its charge that pro-Kabila politicians corrupted 
deputies to vote for their candidate has received wide 
currency in the province. 
 
¶7.  (U) On the evening of January 31, police attempted to 
raid a BDK residence in search of arms.  Nsemi, a National 
Assembly deputy, was in Kinshasa, but the police were met 
with resistance from his supporters; nearly a dozen people 
reportedly died in the incident. 
 
¶8.  (U)  The following day, BDK adherents set up roadblocks 
and burned cars to prevent entry to several towns and impede 
access to the main provincial highway, which links the ports 
of Matadi and Boma to Kinshasa.  Further violence erupted 
when police attempted to clear the streets and disperse the 
demonstrators.  BDK adherents also attacked police and 
government installations.  Later in the day, military forces 
arrived to assist the police in re-establishing order in 
Muanda. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) No official casualty figures have been released, 
but there have been fatalities reported in Matadi, Boma, 
Moanda, and Kinzaomvele. Violence in Boma was apparently the 
worst, and included decapitation of a policeman by 
machete-wielding BDK militants. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Presidency officials rejected claims of electoral 
fraud, and condemned the violence.  Interior Minister Denis 
 
KINSHASA 00000134  002 OF 002 
 
 
Kalume traveled to Matadi February 1 to confer with 
provincial and security authorities and BDK representatives. 
He had earlier met in Kinshasa with BDK leader Nsemi, who 
called on his followers not to engage in violence.  Kalume 
told reporters that President Kabila has ordered the DRC's 
prosecutor-general and auditor-general to the province to 
head an investigation of the incidents.  The Congolese 
military sent a battalion from the Seventh Integrated Brigade 
from Kinshasa to Bas-Congo. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Comment.  This is not the first time that the BDK, 
a millennial movement whose most radical members dream of 
recreating the medieval Kongo kingdom from large parts of 
present-day Angola, the DRC and the Republic of Congo, has 
been involved in violence.  Most recently, BDK-led 
demonstrations in July resulted in several deaths in Matadi 
(ref B).  There is no doubt that Bas-Congo political figures 
who allied themselves with Bemba will attempt to further tap 
into discontent long present in the province among BDK 
adherents. End comment. 
MEECE