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DE RUEHKI #0733/01 2491248
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FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8386
INFO RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 4822
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UNCLAS KINSHASA 000733 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OREP PHUM PREL PGOV EAID ECON MARR CG
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF DRL ASSISTANT SECRETARY DAVID 
KRAMER TO THE DRC, SEPTEMBER 10-13 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is 
grappling with fundamental governance, security and development 
challenges following historic 2006 national elections.  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 top seven priority assistance countries in Africa. 
However, continued widespread insecurity only amplifies a political 
and judicial vacuum throughout the country, contributing to a 
pervasive climate of impunity in which armed men routinely abuse 
civilians, particularly women and children.  There are clear signs 
the population is growing impatient with the pace of the 
government's efforts and skeptical that democracy can solve the 
country's problems.  Your visit will reaffirm 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. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The Mission's overriding goals focus on reinforcing 
Congolese political will and capacity for robust and effective 
leadership and oversight at all levels of government, while 
promoting broad economic development.  Together with Washington and 
other diplomatic missions, we will identify and engage key 
decision-makers and implement results-oriented initiatives to 
support transparent governance, legislative accountability, judicial 
independence, political pluralism and provincial and local autonomy. 
 Our assistance programs focus on enhancing security, fighting 
poverty, and supporting democratic reforms -- fully supporting and 
reflecting the transformational diplomacy goals laid out by 
Secretary Rice.  Foreign assistance resources for the DRC are 
increasing.  The FY 2006 bilateral foreign assistance budget for DRC 
programs totaled $68 million, including funds received from central 
accounts but excluding humanitarian assistance.  Amounts for FY 2007 
rose to $71 million (with supplemental funding), and rose again in 
FY 2008 to over $150 million (also including supplemental funding), 
including increases for peace and security (including military 
cooperation), governing justly and democratically, health, HIV/AIDS, 
education, and economic growth programs.  Humanitarian assistance 
has provided an additional $80 million per year on average during 
this period.  Amounts for FY 2007 rose to $71 million (with 
supplemental funding), and rose again in FY 2008 to over $150 
million (also including supplemental funding), including increases 
for peace and security (including military cooperation), governing 
justly and democratically, health, HIV/AIDS, education, and economic 
growth programs.  Humanitarian assistance has provided an additional 
$80 million per year on average during this period.  This, however, 
does not reveal the full story:  total U.S. assistance, including 
our contribution of approximately $300 million to MONUC plus 
significant donations to other international organizations, are 
likely to bring our total assistance levels to the DRC this year to 
more than $600 million.  End summary. 
 
Democracy and Governance 
------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The Congolese people had high expectations that the 
democratic process would improve their lives.  New institutions, 
however, have been slow to generate momentum.  The 500-member 
National Assembly counts only a small number of members with 
legislative or government experience.  The 
Assembly and the 106-member Senate have only begun to consider a 
heavy agenda of major legislation.  Parties and candidates aligned 
with Kabila's electoral coalition, the Alliance for the Presidential 
Majority (AMP), have working majorities in the National Assembly and 
Senate, as well as eight of 11 provincial assemblies and ten of 11 
governorships -- leaving the opposition with little apparent 
political clout.  Provincial officials are unfamiliar with 
decentralized authority and lack resources, money and experience. 
Elections for local and municipal officials are tentatively 
scheduled for mid-2009 at the earliest. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) USG governance and institutional reform programs, budgeted 
at $18.6 million for FY 2008, focus on combating corruption and 
human rights abuses, developing independent judicial and legislative 
institutions, facilitating decentralization of state authority, and 
supporting local elections.  Objectives include long-term 
transformation, as well as direct citizen access to services.  USAID 
has provided assistance to National Assembly deputies 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.  In 
addition, USAID has conducted capacity-building seminars for 
National Assembly deputies and staffers, 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. 
 
 
Human Rights and Gender-Based Violence 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Security forces and armed groups remain responsible for 
most human rights violations in the DRC, including unlawful 
killings, disappearances, torture, rape and arbitrary arrest and 
detention.  Human rights advocates have extensively documented the 
involvement of these elements in such abuses. 
Constitutionally-protected freedoms of association, speech, and 
protest are increasingly disregarded by security and administrative 
authorities using vague Mobutu and colonial-era laws to arrest and 
detain perceived critics.  The Embassy is working with NGOs and 
other diplomatic missions to encourage Parliament to bring these 
laws into line with the 2006 constitution. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Sexual violence against women and girls in eastern DRC is 
pervasive.  While most of the recorded attacks have been by armed 
groups and the FARDC, reports of rape by civilians is increasingly 
prevalent.  A general climate of impunity does nothing to discourage 
these acts.  In a recent report, the UN Human Rights Integrated 
Office in the DRC (UNHRO) stated that, despite strengthened laws on 
sexual violence, "law enforcement personnel and magistrates continue 
to treat rape and sexual violence in general with a marked lack of 
seriousness. Consequently, men accused of rape are often granted 
bail or given relatively light sentences, and out-of-court 
settlements of sexual violence cases are widespread."  In fact, 
relatively few cases are reported to the police, and fewer still 
result in prosecution. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) USAID and the Departments of State and Defense support 
activities to respond to and prevent sexual violence through a 
variety of interventions in the eastern provinces.  Since 2002, 
USAID has allocated more than $10 million for activities to combat 
gender-based violence in the Eastern DRC.  In FY 2008, USAID is 
programming $1.5 million to continue its holistic program of care 
and support for rape survivors and other victims of sexual abuse. 
The Defense Institute for International Legal Studies (DIILS) taught 
two three-week training sessions on the investigation of sex crimes 
in 2008 to nearly all 350 of the FARDC military magistrates and 
police investigators with investigatory and adjudicatory roles.  The 
program, funded through PKO monies, sponsored sessions in eight 
different sites across the country, and received laudatory comments 
from the international community.  A follow-up proposal for 
additional DIILS training is currently under review. 
 
 
Peace and Security 
------------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The Congolese military (FARDC) faces internal and external 
challenges.  The USG and other partners are committed to seeing 
through progress in this area, though the pace of reform has been 
slow.  DRC plans for reform of the military, police, and justice 
sectors lack a sense of priorities and appear to be little more than 
laundry lists to which donors are expected to pledge.  In August 
2008 the DRC launched another round of technical roundtables in each 
of the following sectors: formation of a Rapid Reaction Force; 
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR); and the 
situation in the east. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) USG assistance to the DRC security services aims to make 
an impact in the country.  $20 million in FY 2008 PKO funds is 
projected for the training of an infantry battalion.  FY 2008 ESF 
Supplemental resources and FY 2008 National Defense Authorization 
Act (NDAA) Section 1207 resources provide support for stabilization, 
security sector reform, and military justice strengthening efforts. 
We have used PKO funds to rehabilitate the officer training 
institute and provide training for staff officers and military 
magistrates and investigators.  The International Military and 
Education Training Program (IMET) funds U.S.-based courses that 
include English-language training.  INCLE (International Law 
Enforcement and Control) funds from the Department of State's Bureau 
of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) are 
being allocated to stand up the Congolese border police in Ituri 
District.  The Nonproliferation, Antiterrorism, Demining and Related 
Projects appropriation - "NADR" -pays for the destruction of 
obsolete ordnance.  In addition, the $300 million in U.S. funding 
for MONUC now also supports its new FARDC training program, designed 
to assist the military plus up its capabilities in the context of 
its operations in the east. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) MONUC is of course also heavily involved in this area. 
One key aspect of MONUC's activities involves what is known as the 
"stabilization plan," which aims to lay the groundwork for the 
mission's eventual and orderly withdrawal, particularly from the 
east.  The plan is supported by an assistance package for 
implementation, and consists of four principal components: a 
security component, by which armed groups are disbanded through a 
combination of political and military means; a political component, 
which involves GDRC political actors advancing the peace processes; 
a state authority component, by which institutions such as the 
police, judiciary, and other elements of public administration are 
 
strengthened; and a return and reintegration component, which aims 
to aid and resettle ex-combatants, refugees, and internally 
displaced persons in local communities. 
 
 
Economic Issues 
--------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The GDRC is working to implement the Poverty 
Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) approved in mid-2006 by the IMF and 
World Bank boards.  The government's five-year program, approved by 
the National Assembly in February 2007, is based on the PRSP and 
focuses heavily on President 
Kabila's five priority areas:  infrastructure; employment; 
education; water/electricity; and health.  Economic growth will 
depend on progress in these areas.  In early 2008 the GDRC concluded 
a major agreement with the Chinese government.  Though not all 
details have been made public, the GDRC announced that it will 
exchange over 8 million tons of copper and over 200,000 tons of 
cobalt for an estimated $6 billion in Chinese-funded infrastructure 
projects, including roads, railway, universities, hospitals, housing 
and clinics.  China will also spend an estimated $3 billion in the 
mining sector on as-yet-unnamed mining concessions.  China is 
exploring other possible "infrastructure for natural resources" 
deals with the DRC. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The USG is an active participant in the international 
donors' Country Assistance Framework (CAF) process for 2007-10, 
designed to align assistance strategies and support GDRC efforts to 
implement the PRSP.  Bilateral USG foreign assistance funding for 
economic growth is modest, with only $8 million designated for 
activities to increase agricultural productivity, although this is 
supplemented by a $30 million, three-year Food for Peace program to 
help spur rural development.  USAID has active global development 
alliances with mining, agro-business and health partners.  In 
addition, USAID has an existing public-private partnership (Global 
Development Alliance) with the American mining company Freeport 
McMoRan, and USAID and the British Department for International 
Development (DFID) are collaborating on efforts to develop new 
public-private partnerships with several important companies in the 
copper sector and help the GDRC implement the Extractive Industries 
Transparency Initiative (EITI). 
 
 
The Scene Today 
--------------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Your arrival comes at a moment of continued tension, as 
well as continued hope.  The Congolese people look to their 
government, and the international community, for help to bring an 
end to the endemic abuses and conflicts in their country that have 
cost billions of dollars, uprooted hundreds of thousands of people 
and resulted in millions of deaths.  Despite some progress, an 
atmosphere of widespread insecurity persists, contributing to a 
political and judicial vacuum in which women and children are 
routinely abused, and in which the perpetrators go unpunished. 
There are clear signs the population is growing impatient with the 
pace of the government's efforts and skeptical that democracy can 
solve its problems.  In this environment, we ask you to help us to 
reinforce the following messages: 
 
-- The Congolese people rightly expect responsible leadership at 
home, as well as supportive international partners.  We will 
continue to support the new leadership to develop transparent 
practices, establish good governance for the well-being of the 
Congolese people, and improve the stewardship of its abundant 
natural resources. 
 
-- Congo has taken remarkable strides to replace war with peaceful 
democratic change.  The United States is eager to see that momentum 
continue.  A large part of such momentum consists in addressing the 
continued impunity with which certain elements of the Congolese 
state, particularly the security forces, abuse the citizenry. 
 
-- The USG is particularly concerned by the extent of abuses, to 
include gender-based violence, in eastern Congo.  Connected to this 
is the necessity to see the Nairobi and Goma processes through.  The 
USG strongly supports both processes and are contributing funds and 
expertise to ensure their success will bring lasting peace and 
stability to the region. 
 
-- We continue to push for the passage of key legislation that will 
form a key part of the DRC's democratization agenda, to include laws 
related to the judiciary and the decriminalization of press 
offenses. 
 
GARVELINK