VZCZCXRO9624
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0901/01 2941407
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201407Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8628
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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000901 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS KPKO CG
SUBJECT:   GOMA NOTES OCTOBER 17: NORTH KIVU PROVINCIAL 
  ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT ON DEFECTIONS TO CNDP; 
  ALLEGATIONS OF TUTSI HARRASSMENT 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Goma poloff spoke with the North Kivu Provincial 
Assembly President, Leon Bariyanga, and two colleagues to discuss 
recent governmental defections to the CNDP, alleged harassment of 
Tutsis, and general security in North Kivu.  They complained that 
the CNDP problem was inhibiting all efforts to deal with the more 
serious issue of the FDLR.  He acknowledged recent defections of two 
members of the provincial assembly to the CNDP, but minimized the 
effect this would have on the assembly.  They also downplayed the 
level of ethnic targeting against Tutsis, but acknowledged that the 
situation should be monitored closely.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Goma poloff met October 16 with Leon Bariyanga, President 
of the Provincial Assembly of North Kivu; Jean Baumbilia, Assembly 
Vice-President; and two assembly members, Kayisavera Mbake and 
Gilbert Kalinda.  (Note: Embassy Kinshasa nominated Bariyanga for 
the 2009 African Regional Transparency and Good Governance IVP and 
Kalinda participated in the 2008 July-August Provincial Legislator 
IVP.  End Note) 
 
Defections to CNDP 
------------------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Bariyanga said that he had heard that two deputies (one 
RCD and one MLC) had defected to the CNDP.  However, he noted that, 
because the assembly was currently in recess, this could not be 
confirmed until the next plenary scheduled for January 15, 2009.  At 
that time, if any deputies have left their post, the assembly would 
strip them of their mandate and they would be replaced via 
established assembly procedures.  Any evidence of actual material 
support to the CNDP would, of course, be more serious and would 
likely result in charges of high treason.  Bariyanga and his staff 
named only one of the alleged defectors from the assembly, Francois 
Gachaba, but conceded that at least one special advisor to the 
governor and two provincial cabinet directors also reportedly 
defected. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Note:  Late October 16, CNDP website http://Kivupeace.org 
listed 16 provincial officials and local citizens who had allegedly 
defected to the organization.  Gachaba was listed, as was a second 
provincial deputy, Nzeyi Mashagiro.  Two provincial ministry cabinet 
directors, as well as professors, students, and businessmen were 
also on the list.  An interesting footnote is that both defecting 
assemblymen are Hutus, yet another indication that the Tutsi-led 
CNDP is more diverse that many foreign observers seem to realize, 
and that the dynamics of Tutsi-Hutu relations in the DRC are quite 
different than in Rwanda.  End Note. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) As to a motive for the defections, Bariyanga explained 
that some individuals were probably convinced that Nkunda would take 
Goma one day and they therefore wanted to position themselves 
favorably in advance.  Nkunda was already offering positions on his 
staff.  Bariyanga stressed that the departure of two deputies would 
not have a serious effect on the 42-seat assembly.  It was not 
unusual for a deputy to leave his position for a different job 
elsewhere in the government.  According to the provincial 
parliamentarians, the local population had spoken out against those 
who had defected.  Kalinda noted that there had been a false rumor 
that he had also defected to the CNDP; his constituents had warned 
him not to do so. 
 
Security situation in North Kivu 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Bariyanga and his colleagues clearly blamed Rwanda and 
"Rwanda's proxy" Laurent Nkunda for the majority of the problems in 
North Kivu.  The most serious result of the ongoing conflict was the 
GDRC's inability to focus on the FDLR, either militarily or through 
psychological operations -- "sensitization."  The provincial 
assembly, according to Bariyanga, had been in the process of 
convincing significant elements of the FDLR to disarm when Rwanda 
made public its list of 6,000 wanted genocide suspects, thus scaring 
off many potential defectors.  Now Rwanda was actively supporting 
the CNDP, as evidenced by the care of wounded CNDP soldiers in 
Rwanda.  For deputies from FDLR-affected areas, the lack of progress 
on disarmament and demobilization would make it difficult to get 
re-elected. 
 
Targeting of Tutsis 
------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) When asked to comment on allegations of Tutsis being 
targeted in Goma, Bariyanga and his colleagues initially appeared to 
deny the claims altogether.  They said that tensions in Goma were 
not ethnic-based, but economic in nature.  No products from Masisi 
 
KINSHASA 00000901  002 OF 002 
 
 
were able to reach Goma through CNDP-controlled Mushake.  The 
Rutshuru road remained open, but because many of the local 
population in the area were now in IDP camps, they were unable to 
cultivate the fields.  Inadequate and sporadic supply of 
agricultural products was fueling inflation and hunger. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) When pressed, the assembly members eventually acknowledged 
that, in the minds of the local population, problems in Goma could 
be blamed on Rwanda, the CNDP, and thus the Tutsi community. 
However, they seemed sincerely concerned that the international 
community was over-simplifying the issue - perhaps drawing too much 
from the experience of Rwanda.  In the Kivus, according to 
Bariyanga, one could find all ethnicities side by side at soccer 
matches, in churches, and in bars.  Tutsis held important national 
government and business posts, including six Tutsi generals.  There 
was a Tutsi senator in Kinshasa who, because there were no Tutsis in 
the North Kivu provincial assembly, was obviously supported by 
non-Tutsis.  In Goma, there were not separate Hutu, Nande, or Tutsi 
neighborhoods, as people were truly intermixed. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Bariyanga maintained that, when rumors of Tutsi targeting 
in Goma emerged, the provincial assembly launched its own 
investigation, led by a Tutsi, to verify the claims.  They 
reportedly found only two Tutsi prisoners in all of Goma.  In fact, 
according to the assembly members, closer inspection of the 
humanitarian situation revealed that something closer to a "slow 
genocide of Hutus" was underway.  It was true that Rutshuru and 
Masisi territories were roughly 75% and 65% Hutu, respectively. 
However, the vast majority in IDP camps were Hutus. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Assembly Vice President Baumbilia asked what the United 
States expected from the local authorities on this issue.  Poloff 
repeated that a proactive stance to counter messages of ethnic 
hatred would be an encouraging start.  Poloff added that 
demonstrating more public support for MONUC would also be welcome, 
as MONUC was frequently misunderstood and misrepresented despite its 
clear mandate to protect innocent civilians.  The assembly members 
agreed, but lamented that a real reduction in ethnic tensions would 
only result from an improvement in the security, humanitarian, and 
economic situations. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Bariyanga asked for USG support to realize an idea to 
promote peaceful cohabitation.  The provincial assembly wanted to 
send a delegation into the Congolese (and overwhelmingly Tutsi) 
refugee camps in Rwanda.  Previous requests to do so had been denied 
by Rwanda.  The assembly essentially only wanted to pass the message 
that the refugees would be welcomed back to North Kivu, when they 
felt comfortable returning. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Comment: The defections of elected and appointed local 
officials to the CNDP, if confirmed as more than a CNDP propaganda 
exercise, is an embarrassment for the GDRC and exemplify its 
struggle to firmly establish state authority in the region. 
Expectations that Nkunda is poised to capture Goma would appear to 
be exaggerated, especially given MONUC's stronghold in that city. 
Nonetheless, many powerful people are clearly pondering an uncertain 
future for the Kivus.  Post agrees that accusations of anti-Tutsi 
sentiment and actions in the region deserve close monitoring in the 
context of rising inter-ethnic tensions.  End Comment. 
 
BROCK