VZCZCXYZ0741
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKI #0218/01 0651244
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 051244Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7622
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000218 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2018 
TAGS: PGOV ASEC SOCI PHUM MOPS CG AO CF
SUBJECT: POLICE OPERATION AGAINST BDK MILITANTS IN 
BAS-CONGO LEAVES AT LEAST 22 DEAD 
 
REF: A. KINSHASA 25 
 
     ¶B. 07 KINSHASA 350 
     ¶C. 07 KINSHASA 134 
 
Classified By: PolCouns D. Brown, reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  February 28-29 clashes in Bas-Congo 
province between police and partisans of the Bunda dia Kongo 
(BDK) politico-religious movement have left at least 22 dead 
following weeks of government inaction in response to a wave 
of intimidation and violence by BDK militants, primarily in 
Luozi and Seke Banza territories northwest and north of the 
provincial capital of Matadi.  No Americans have been 
reported affected by the clashes or related violence. 
Interior Minister Kalume told Security Council ambassadors he 
ordered police reinforcements to affected areas in order to 
re-establish state authority following appeals by church 
leaders, many of whose pastors have been terrorized, 
kidnapped or forced to flee by the militants.  The operation 
is ongoing, accompanied by reports of indiscriminate use of 
force by both sides.  Kalume blamed BDK leader Nsemi for the 
situation; Nsemi claimed the operation was aimed at 
discrediting him.  Separately, both agreed on the need to for 
a roundtable conference to resolve longstanding conflict and 
tensions.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Police and militants of the politico-religious 
movement Bunda dia Kongo (BDK) clashed February 28 and 29 in 
Luozi territory, 235 km northeast of the Bas-Congo capital 
Matadi, following a decision by Interior Minister Gen. Denis 
Kalume to send in the newly-trained 7th Battalion of the 
Rapid Intervention Police (PIR) to establish order after a 
series of violent incidents directed at pastors, teachers, 
government officials and non-Kongo residents by young BDK 
toughs.  Kalume convoked Security Council ambassadors late in 
the afternoon of March 3 to present documents and video 
supporting his decision, including the graphic testimony of a 
Catholic priest, Fr. Andre Mingiedi, who endured an 
excruciating 12-hour torture by members of BDK's Makesa 
militia January 21. 
 
¶3. (SBU) We have received no reports of Americans affected by 
the clash or related violence.  DAO cancelled a planned visit 
to the province by a group of 17 Air War College students. 
MONUC Force Commander General Gaye told the ambassadors that 
MONUC had reinforced its police and military detachments in 
the provincial capital of Matadi and in Seke Banza territory 
north of Matadi, where a January 5 confrontation between 
police and militants left six dead and six wounded (ref A). 
 
¶4. (SBU) Kalume insistently told the ambassadors that the 
death toll stood at seven, dismissing attempts by several 
Europeans to flag higher numbers cited by local sources or 
press reports.  MONUC's Radio Okapi has floated figures of up 
to a dozen injured.  Kalume said some militants had fled 
north into Congo-Brazzaville and Angola's Cabinda enclave, 
drawing expressions of concern from the Angolan ambassador. 
According to Okapi, Bas-Congo Governor Simon Mbatshi told the 
press the same day that 22 people had been killed, although 
it was not clear whether he was referring to the operation in 
Luozi alone or to other areas as well. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Kalume reported that he and Mbatshi visited Luozi 
town March 2.  He presented a video from their visit showing 
a burnt-out church and jeep, two dead bodies -- apparently of 
a woman and a child -- and testimony of victims.  These 
included several residents born outside the province who told 
stories of ill-treatment and intimidation by BDK militants, 
whose creed foresees the millennial re-establishment of an 
ethnically-pure Kongo kingdom in parts of modern 
Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville and Angola (ref B). 
Mbatshi also appeared on the tape, recounting in Kikongo 
(helpfully translated by Kalume) to a crowd that the 
confrontation began on the evening of February 28 when 
militants began stoning recently-arrived police, who 
responded with tear gas. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Details of the operation remain sketchy, but it is 
ongoing.  Most reports, including Kalume's briefing, allege 
indiscriminate use of force, multiple house-burnings and 
murder by police and/or militants.  MONUC analysts who 
briefed us on the situation earlier in the day March 3 cited 
culpability on both sides.  They noted accusations that 
Congolese police shot up a BDK church during a prayer service 
February 28 in Luozi, police-BDK confrontations there the 
following day and March 2 allegations from an NGO source of 
 
police setting houses on fire in the village of Kikenge, 57 
km from Luozi.  MONUC and Okapi have also received reports of 
further clashes in Kikenge and the nearby villages of 
Bandakani and Lufuku, houses burnt in Lufuku -- including 
that of the local head of the Salvation Army -- and bodies 
carried away or thrown in the river.  An Okapi report March 
4, citing civil society, pointed to shooting in Seke Banza 
town and burning of government agents' houses there. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Kalume said he ordered the deployment in the 
aftermath of an appeal to Mbatshi last week by bishops of the 
Eglise du Christ au Congo (ECC), an influential evangelical 
church with close ties to President Kabila.  The bishops' 
letter demanded restoration of state authority in areas of 
the province plagued by acts of intimidation, assault and 
murder by BDK Makesa dating June 2007 and targeting state, 
church and school authorities.  Kalume repeated claims that 
Makesa had taken over border posts and police stations.  He 
also played a video of a press conference the same week by 
the province's head ECC bishop, in which the bishop recited a 
litany of outrages directed by militants against members of 
other religious groups -- Protestant, Catholic and 
Kimbanguist -- their suppression of the national flag and 
anthem at schools in favor of BDK's, and banning of religious 
services at the churches' own schools. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Kalume said he made the decision to intervene after 
viewing the video, including Mingiedi's testimony of torture, 
and calling in Mbatshi and several Bas-Congo deputies for 
consultations.  He said he had acted on the basis that BDK 
actions were:  a) violent -- Makesa had burned two men to 
death in Kikenge the previous weekend after condemning them 
in a BDK court known as a Zikwa, and buried others alive; b) 
intolerant -- aimed at the province's three Christian 
denominations; c) xenophobic -- targeted non-Kongo residents 
of the province; and d) insurrectional -- militants were 
systematically dismantling the apparatus of the state. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Kalume said he had met with BDK spiritual leader and 
National Assembly Deputy Ne Muanda Nsemi last week to urge 
him to help stop the violence, told him of the acts committed 
in his name and presented him photos of victims burned alive 
by the militants.  A joint declaration February 26 by Nsemi 
and the province's Catholic bishops condemned violence and 
threats against religious figures as not in accord with the 
BDK's teachings about respect for human life.  It also stated 
that freedom of religion is at the heart of the culture of 
the Kongo people. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Nsemi has called again for a roundtable conference, 
a longtime demand of many of the province's residents. 
Kalume told the ambassadors he was in favor of a conference, 
but expressed frustration at Nsemi.  He said he had asked 
Nsemi to accompany him and Mbatshi on their visit to the 
province, but Nsemi begged off.  "What is clear," said 
Kalume, "is that he is directing this," and noted that the 
National Assembly has not acted on previous requests to lift 
Nsemi's parliamentary immunity.  Nsemi denied all accusations 
in a March 1 interview with Okapi, claiming he was the victim 
of a plot aimed at discrediting him and causing trouble in 
the province. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Kalume said the government's objective is to 
restore state authority and enable the pastors who have fled 
to return home and resume their work.  Gaye observed that the 
situation was urgent, and had been building for a long time. 
National Police Inspector General John Numbi reported that 
the situation was under control, with police working to 
restore security and support the rule of law. 
 
¶12. (C) Comment:  MONUC's lead BDK analyst portrays the 
current situation as an outgrowth of a tendency by many 
people in the province to resolve problems by turning to BDK, 
rather than state institutions, which they view as weak and 
corrupt.  He noted, however, that BDK's effectiveness has 
rested on its use of violence.  In fact, this situation has 
been building since the Seke Banza incident early in the 
year, which took place as the spotlight was turning to the 
Kivus peace and security conference.  Attention to Bas-Congo 
by the government and the international press has suffered as 
a result.  Even Human Rights Watch, which conducted an 
investigation into last year's deadly clashes between 
security forces and BDK militants (ref C), was unaware of 
anything out of the ordinary when we raised the issue with 
its respected senior researcher February 28.  End comment. 
 
GARVELINK