VZCZCXRO2729
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #1265/01 3130957
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 090957Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7110
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001265 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KWMN PINS PREF MOPS CG
SUBJECT: SPECIAL CONFLICT ADVISOR SHORTLEY'S BRIEFINGS ON HUMAN 
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NORTH KIVU 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary.  Assistant Secretary Frazer's Special Conflict 
Advisor, Tim Shortley, togeter with officers from AF/RSA (Julie 
Chalfin) andDoD/OSD (Lt. Col. Mark Ellington USA), met with UN 
human rights specialists November 1 in North Kiv to understand the 
impact and pervasiveness of human rights abuses in the Democratic 
Republic of Cngo.  Sites visited by the delegation included onein 
Rubare where mass graves were discovered in early September and a 
hospital in the North Kivu territory of Rutshuru that treats 
thousands of victims of rape and sexual torture per year. The UN 
specialists provided briefings at each of the sites.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Background. Human rights abuses have progressively 
increased in North Kivu since tensions in eastern DRC started in 
¶1996.  According to UN protection and human rights specialists, 
arbitrary arrests and detention, disappearances, arbitrary 
executions, sexual violence and extortion are widespread in North 
Kivu.  DRC's National Army (FARDC) personnel are accused of being 
the leading perpetrators of these abuses.  However, the lack of 
reliable information, including the inability for victims to 
identify perpetrators and limited access to hospital records, makes 
it difficult to monitor these claims. FARDC lives amongst the 
population and because insufficient pay are suspected of feeding off 
the population. 
 
Victims of Sexual and Gender Based Violence 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) The delegation visited a North Kivu hospital that in 2007 
alone treated approximately 2,300 victims of sexual and gender based 
violence (SGBV).  The UNICEF Child Protection and Gender Violence 
Specialist indicated that while the majority of SBGV crimes are 
committed by men from armed groups (Congolese Armed forces and 
militia men), reports of civilian perpetrators are increasing. 
According to the testimonies of survivors, 52% of the perpetrators 
are FDLR/Interhamwe, 14% the National Army (FARDC), 14% Mai Mai, 10% 
civilians (mainly family members or neighbors), 5% unknown armed 
men, 4% CNDP (rebels loyal to Congolese General Laurent Nkunda), and 
1% from the National Police. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Daily reports of rapes and attacks on IDP's are linked to 
the increased presence of the FARDC in areas where IDP's are 
congregated. Trends indicate a relation between the movement of the 
military and an increase in reported cases of rape where the 
military has moved. UNHCR has recently completed training of police 
to monitor IDP camps. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In late November UNICEF launches a two year global 
campaign to mobilize political will and resources to end rape and 
sexual torture against women and girls in DRC, call for specific 
measures to end impunity and punish perpetrators, and economically 
empower women and girls so they can become leaders in rebuilding of 
a country devastated by conflict. The campaign is entitled "Stop 
Raping Our Greatest Resources: Power to the Women and Girls of the 
Democratic Republic of Congo."  The campaign will be officially 
launched during the annual 16 Days of Activism against Violence 
against Women between November 25 and December 10 2007. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) The initiative will also establish in Bukavu, South Kivu a 
safe house for survivors of sexual violence who cannot return to 
their families and communities and who may require long term medical 
follow-up care. The safe house will provide access to education and 
income generation activities with a distinct focus on leadership 
training. 
 
Mass Graves 
----------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The delegation was brought to a site in Rubare where mass 
graves were discovered in September. A MONUC human rights division 
team had accompanied the DRC Military Auditor to conduct a 
preliminary investigation of the sites. Nine corpses in total were 
found; 1 corpse in one of the sites, 6 corpses in a second site, and 
2 corpses in a third site. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The camp where the corpses were found was reported to be 
the former headquarters of the 2nd Battalion of the Bravo Brigade 
who, according to MONUC, later left the camp to support Laurent 
Nkunda's CNDP. Following the initial visit, the sites were not 
secured, and according to MONUC, FARDC did not follow up with a 
proper investigation. No final report was shared with MONUC. 
 
USG Initiative against Gross Human Rights Abuses 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶10.  (U) The State Department will begin in January a series of 
military justice training for conducting sex crime investigations. 
The primary audience will be DRC military judicial police 
 
KINSHASA 00001265  002 OF 002 
 
 
investigators, but may also include related military prosecutors and 
civilian investigators, prosecutors and defense counsel. Each 
training seminar will last one-week and will be conducted in 
Kinshasa and each of the ten provincial capitals over the course of 
a year. 
 
BROCK