VZCZCXRO3081
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0983/01 2291230
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171230Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6715
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 KINSHASA 000983 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OREP PREL PGOV EAID ECON PREF PHUM MARR ASEC
CG 
SUBJECT: DRC: SCENESETTER FOR CODEL FEINGOLD (AUGUST 24-26, 
2007) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is 
slowly feeling its way in the search for solutions to 
fundamental governance, security and development challenges 
following historic 2006 national elections.  Achievements to 
date, the promise of peace and democratization, and the 
importance of the DRC as the linchpin of central Africa and 
beyond have made it one of the Department's seven priority 
assistance countries in Africa.  Your visit will reinforce 
U.S. commitment to a long partnership with the Congolese 
people to develop democratic institutions and reinforce our 
shared objective of a peaceful and prosperous DRC.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Your August 24-26 visit to the Democratic Republic 
of the Congo, on the heels of recent visits by the Ugandan 
Foreign Minister and by South African President Thabo Mbeki, 
will be the first visit by a senior U.S. official since the 
installation of the DRC's first freely and democratically 
elected government in over 40 years.  It comes at a critical 
time following a difficult transition from dictatorship, 
mismanagement and devastating wars and provides a timely 
opportunity to build on the successful presidential and 
parliamentary elections in 2006.  The electoral process 
produced a government which is now confronting the challenges 
of developing democratic institutions amid popular 
expectations of change.  This situation calls for continued 
and sustained U.S. engagement in a country the size of 
western Europe that could be the linchpin for the development 
of all of central Africa. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Department's 2006 decision to identify the DRC 
as one of seven priority assistance countries in Africa 
reflected achievements to date, the promise of the peace and 
democratization processes, and the country's importance to 
regional stability and development.  Our assistance program 
fully supports and reflects the transformational diplomacy 
goals laid out by the Secretary.  The Mission's overriding 
policy goals focus on implanting a culture of democracy and 
accountable governance, while promoting broad economic 
development in a stable Congo at peace with its neighbors and 
itself.  USAID's 2006 budget for DRC programs totaled USD 68 
million, including funds received from central accounts but 
excluding IFDA (disaster assistance).  Comparable figures for 
2007 have risen to USD 71 million (with supplemental 
funding), and are projected to rise in 2008 to USD 80.2 
million, including increases in the areas of peace and 
security, governing justly and democratically, and economic 
growth. 
 
------------------ 
PEACE AND SECURITY 
------------------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) The security situation remains precarious in many 
areas, particularly in the eastern provinces.  The Congolese 
military (FARDC) suffers from weak command and control, 
corruption, poor operational planning, limited training, and 
questionable loyalty on the part of some troops.  Military 
forces are also responsible for some of the worst human 
rights abuses in the country.  The Kivu provinces merit 
particular attention.  Tensions in North and South Kivu are 
on the rise. The challenges posed by dissident General 
Laurent Nkunda and the Rwandan Hutu fighters of the 
Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) are 
testimony to long-standing and unresolved differences among 
local communities.  In South Kivu, the Congolese military 
launched operations in July 2007 against a small group of 
armed insurgents, most of whom belong to a specific Congolese 
Tutsi ethnic sub-group called Banyamulenge.  Government 
officials are currently planning for an inter-ethnic 
conference to be held at the end of September to address 
specific issues and grievances. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The government's approach to military integration in 
the Kivus has added to security concerns.  In January 2007 
the government abandoned its traditional integration program 
-- known as "brassage" -- in favor of a new arrangement that 
"mixed" soldiers loyal to Nkunda and pro-government forces 
into new units.  The "brassage" process attempted to break up 
former chains of command and regional ties by combining 
troops from different armed groups, providing them with a 
common training plan, and dispatching them away from their 
past area of operations.  By contrast, "mixage" kept these 
new units in North Kivu, allowing pro-Nkunda elements to 
 
KINSHASA 00000983  002 OF 005 
 
 
spread their influence and control throughout the province. 
The deployment of these forces -- particularly of the Nkunda 
loyalists who had recently fought against some of the local 
population where they were now stationed -- exacerbated 
ethnic tensions, increased security fears, and contributed to 
a deterioration in the province's humanitarian situation. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Foreign armed groups operating in the DRC are a 
source of friction between the Congo and its neighbors. 
While the number of foreign fighters has diminished in recent 
years, they still pose a threat to a country's overall 
security and stability, and the FARDC has been largely unable 
to eliminate them.  The FDLR, formed from the remnants of the 
Army for the Liberation of Rwanda and former Interahamwe 
fighters, remains the largest of these groups, with 
approximately 6,000-8,000 combatants in the Kivus.  An 
estimated 500 members of the Allied Democratic 
Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) 
operate in northeastern North Kivu along the Ugandan border. 
In addition, a small number of fighters with the Lord's 
Resistance Army operate in a remote northern section of 
Garamba National Park on the Sudanese border. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Congo's relations with its nine neighbors are 
relatively peaceful, though there are some underlying 
problems.  The USG-facilitated Tripartite Plus Commission -- 
composed of the DRC, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi -- has made 
progress in reducing general cross-border tensions in the 
Great Lakes region, but greater political will is needed to 
normalize relations.  The last meeting of the Commission in 
June 2007 produced wide agreement to work cooperatively to 
negate the influence of the region's armed groups, and 
foreign ministers plan to meet again in Kampala in September. 
 Poorly-defined borders have become a recent cause for 
concern.  The Congolese government (GDRC) and Angola remain 
at odds over control of a strip of land in a diamond-rich 
frontier area, resulting in a outcries of protest in the 
Kinshasa press.  Both have agreed to resolve the disagreement 
via a technical boundary demarcation with assistance from 
former colonial powers Belgium and Portugal.  In early 
August, Ugandan and Congolese military forces exchanged fire 
in Lake Albert, bordering Uganda and the DRC's northeastern 
Ituri District, after an oil exploration team reportedly 
crossed into DRC territory.  The dispute centers on a small 
piece of land occupied by Congolese but claimed by Uganda; 
both sides have agreed to establish a joint commission to 
resolve the issue. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Donor-funded security sector reform (SSR) and 
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) programs 
have achieved mixed success at best, and low-level conflict 
remains in many eastern areas.  More than 70,000 combatants 
remain to be disarmed and demobilized nationwide.  A new 
phase of DDR in Ituri, with USD 500,000 from USAID, was 
launched in early August 2007 with the aim of demobilizing an 
estimated 4,500 militia members.  The European Union has long 
had a major involvement in the security sector, including 
established European Security (EUSEC) and European Police 
(EUPOL) missions directing programs in the Congo.  Other EU 
countries, notably France and Belgium, have provided 
substantial funding support.  South Africa and Angola have 
also played major roles, including the training and equipping 
of integrated military brigades. 
 
¶9. (SBU) USG involvement in security sector reform has 
received relatively little funding, but we anticipate 
additional activities in the near future.  A training program 
for brigade-level officers is ongoing in Kinshasa.  Thanks to 
USD 5 million in funding from FY2006 PKO funds, we plan to 
rehabilitate the officer training academy, provide officer 
training, and make significant investment in the military 
justice system.  IMET funds U.S.-based courses that include 
English-language training.  NADR currently funds destruction 
of obsolete ordnance.  For FY2008, USD 8.4 million already 
allocated from FMF, INCLE, NADR and PKO funds will enable 
greater involvement in SSR activities including, for the 
first time, police training. 
 
----------------------------------- 
GOVERNING JUSTLY AND DEMOCRATICALLY 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Congolese people continue to hold high 
expectations that the democratic process will improve their 
 
KINSHASA 00000983  003 OF 005 
 
 
lives.  The relatively high voter turnout in the July and 
October 2006 presidential and legislative elections 
demonstrated citizens' engagement.  The new institutions have 
been slow to generate momentum.  The National Assembly and 
Senate have only a small number of members with legislative 
or government experience and are just beginning to consider a 
backlog of important legislation.  Provincial officials, 
lacking resources, money and experience, are unfamiliar with 
exercising newly-decentralized authority.  Elections for 
local and municipal officials are tentatively scheduled for 
mid-2008. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The role of the political opposition, as well as 
its rights and responsibilities, remain to be defined. 
Parties and candidates aligned with the Alliance for the 
Presidential Majority (AMP), Kabila's electoral coalition, 
won majorities in the National Assembly and Senate, as well 
as eight of eleven provincial assemblies and ten of eleven 
gubernatorial contests -- leaving the opposition with little 
apparent political clout.  The National Assembly and Senate 
passed legislation giving the Opposition certain protections 
and rights, and a conference bill is scheduled for debate in 
September.  Prominent opposition figure Jean-Pierre Bemba 
departed for Portugal in April 2007, following fighting in 
Kinshasa between government troops and his forces.  He 
remains there in de facto political exile.  Members of his 
party claim security forces harass their members and have 
attempted to muzzle their media outlets.  Bemba has 
conditioned his return on concessions concerning his personal 
protection. 
 
¶12. (SBU) USG governance and institutional reform programs, 
budgeted at USD 10.2 million for FY2007 and a proposed USD 20 
million for FY 2008, focus on combating corruption and human 
rights abuses, developing independent judicial and 
legislative institutions, and facilitating decentralized 
state authority.  Their objectives incorporate long-term 
transformation as well as direct citizen access to services. 
We continue to work with National Assembly deputies on 
drafting key legislative proposals, including laws relating 
to the financing of political parties, decentralization, the 
establishment of a national election commission, and the 
protection of human rights.  We have also conducted 
capacity-building seminars for deputies and their staffs, 
supported the creation of provincial watchdog and advocacy 
groups to encourage citizen participation in democratic 
processes, and worked to develop skills of political party 
members, foster grassroots anti-corruption initiatives, and 
establish mobile courts and legal aid clinics. 
 
--------------- 
ECONOMIC GROWTH 
--------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) The Congolese population, estimated at over 60 
million people, has not benefited from the country's vast 
array of natural resources (minerals, forests, hydroelectric 
potential).  With over 90 percent unemployment and an 
informal sector that rivals the formal economy, most people 
survive on less than one dollar a day.  Despite annual GDP 
growth since 2003 of over five percent, per capita GDP is 
only just over USD 100.  It is estimated that at the current 
growth rate, it will take until the middle of this century 
for per capita income to reach pre-independence levels. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Despite some progress on macroeconomic and 
financial reform objectives since 2003, the International 
Monetary Fund Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) 
lapsed in April 2006, due mainly to continued government 
overspending.  This resulted in further losses of outside 
assistance for a budget of only USD 2 billion in 2006.  The 
DRC has been granted Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) 
status, but with no PRGF in place, is not making progress 
toward achieving the debt reduction envisioned.  If an IMF 
program can be renegotiated before the end of 2007, the DRC 
could see some debt forgiveness (including nearly half a 
billion dollars still owed to the U.S.) by the end of 2008. 
 
¶15. (SBU) The 2007 budget, signed into law by President 
Kabila in the second half of this year, calls for an 
unrealistic expenditure level of USD 2.4 billion, much of it 
for government salaries (including civil servants, public 
school teachers and military personnel) and the security 
sector.  Without much-needed outside budget support, the GDRC 
 
KINSHASA 00000983  004 OF 005 
 
 
faces large deficits again in 2007, which historically it has 
reacted to with large amounts of currency issuance.  The GDRC 
is normally able to support less than half of its budget from 
revenues.  So far in 2007, GDRC spending has been strictly 
contained within budgetary limits, but many of its expenses 
come due only during the last quarter of the year. 
 
¶16. (SBU) The GDRC is attempting to implement its Poverty 
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) as approved in mid-2006 by 
the IMF and World Bank boards.  The five-year government 
program approved by the National Assembly in February 2007 is 
based on the PRSP and focuses heavily on the five areas 
highlighted by President Kabila in his campaign: 
infrastructure, employment, education, water/electricity, and 
health.  Economic growth depends upon all of these 
objectives, but the GDRC will need to dramatically increase 
revenues from the natural resource sector, continue to 
control spending, and renegotiate an IMF program if it is to 
achieve debt relief and obtain additional outside budget 
assistance. 
 
¶17. (SBU) The USG is an active participant in the 
international donors' Country Assistance Framework (CAF) 
process for the period 2007-10, designed to align assistance 
strategies and support GDRC efforts to implement the PRSP. 
USG programs in support of economic growth are fairly modest, 
with USD 4 million going to agricultural production, but this 
may be doubled for FY2008.  U.S. commercial interests in the 
DRC are small but growing, with an American company running 
the largest flour mill in the country and an American mining 
company gearing up to produce an estimated 100,000 tons of 
copper metal by the end of 2008.  USAID and the British 
Department for International Development (DFID) are 
collaborating on efforts to help the GDRC implement the 
Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).  USAID, 
through the Central African Regional Program for the 
Environment (CARPE) and the Congo Basin Forestry Partnership 
(CBFP) is working to promoted better management of the 
forestry sector.  Finally, a U.S. Trade and Development 
Agency (USTDA) initiative is looking at the hydroelectricity 
and transportation (river and rail) sectors for opportunities 
for U.S. business contributions to DRC infrastructure. 
 
----------------------- 
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE 
----------------------- 
 
¶18. (SBU) Disaster relief and food assistance funds represent 
approximately one-half of all U.S. foreign assistance to the 
DRC, excluding support to MONUC.  Four million people are 
estimated to have died as a consequence of 10 years of war 
and conflict.  Low-level combat continues to cause 
large-scale population displacements in eastern areas of the 
country.  Many social and economic support structures have 
collapsed as a result of neglect, corruption and lack of 
resources, leaving victims without livelihoods, access to 
medical services and in many cases, places to live. 
 
¶19. (SBU) A July 2007 report from the UN Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance estimated there are 
more than 1.1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in 
the DRC, most in the eastern regions of North Kivu, South 
Kivu and Ituri. While the number of IDPs has substantially 
decreased in Ituri in recent months, the number of displaced 
in North Kivu has dramatically increased due to pervasive 
insecurity.  An estimated 321,000 Congolese refugees remain 
in neighboring countries awaiting repatriation. 
 
¶20. (SBU) Total non-food IDFA funding in FY2006 was USD 26 
million.  The U.S. Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance 
(OFDA) provides transportation and a start-up cash package to 
returning IDPs, and is mounting labor-intensive road 
rehabilitation programs.  The USG provided USD 36 million of 
food assistance in 2006, most channeled through the World 
Food Program for distribution in conflict areas. 
 
------ 
HEALTH 
------ 
 
¶21. (SBU) Congolese social indicators are dismal:  the DRC 
ranked 167th out of the 177 countries in the 2006 UNDP Human 
Development Report.  Health indicators are among the worst in 
the world.  Infant and child mortality are 126 and 213 per 
 
KINSHASA 00000983  005 OF 005 
 
 
thousand live births, respectively.  Many preventable 
infectious diseases are prevalent, notably malaria, HIV/AIDS 
and tuberculosis.  HIV/AIDS infection rates stand at 4 
percent of all adults, or approximately 1 million people -- 
among the top ten totals in the world. 
 
¶22. (SBU) Health is our largest development effort.  The 
public health care system is in near complete collapse 
throughout the country.  Lack of equipment, trained 
personnel, adequate facilities and supplies are among the 
obstacles preventing access to basic health care. 
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide an estimated 80 
percent of the limited care available.  We plan to program 
over USD 55 million for primary pediatric health care in 82 
rural health zones over the next three years, and continue to 
support national tuberculosis and polio eradication efforts. 
USAID plans to provide USD 12 million over four years for 
HIV/AIDS prevention and care; CDC funds surveillance and 
pediatric HIV/AIDS programs DOD has programs for military 
prevention and care; and State has an innovative public 
diplomacy program to increase HIV/AIDS awareness. 
 
---------- 
YOUR VISIT 
---------- 
 
¶23. (SBU) Currently the mood in Congo is hopeful, as the 
Congolese people look to their newly-elected leadership to 
put in place institutions and practices which will build on 
its democratic gains, and urgently address their very real 
needs.  There are, however, signs the population is growing 
impatient with the pace of the government's efforts.  We ask 
that you help us to reinforce the following messages: 
 
-- The Congolese people rightfully expect responsible 
leadership at home as well as supportive international 
partners.  We will continue working with the new leadership 
as it develops transparent practices and establishes good 
governance for the well-being of the Congolese people. 
 
-- Voters are eager to realize tangible benefits from their 
investment in democracy.  They must cease being made victims 
of violence. 
 
-- Congo has taken remarkable strides to replace war with 
peaceful democratic change.  The successful elections were a 
tangible demonstration 's desire for peaceful governance. 
The United States is eager to see that momentum continue. 
 
-- The Congolese population deserves to live in peace with 
itself and its neighbors.  We urge the government to 
facilitate the completion of the military integration process 
and the return of all foreign armed groups to their countries 
of origin.  We encourage political and military authorities 
to pursue a peaceful resolution of the security problems of 
eastern Congo. 
 
-- Intensifying diplomatic efforts vis-a-vis all neighboring 
countries is key to consolidating peace in the region.  We 
encourage increased contacts with Ugandan and Rwandan 
officials to resolve issues of mutual concern.  We applaud 
the recent agreement with Angola to delineate the border with 
support from the former colonial powers. 
 
-- The United States will continue to support and work 
closely with MONUC to bring about political reconciliation 
and to prevent further conflict in the DRC and the region. 
 
¶24. (SBU) Demonstrating your appreciation of the difficult 
problems the country faces and encouraging the government to 
work together with its partners to solve the DRC's many 
challenges will emphasize the USG's engagement with the 
Congolese people.  These messages will also reassure them 
that we look forward to a long partnership to help address 
longstanding structural issues while promoting tolerance and 
shared commitment. 
BROCK