VZCZCXRO4992
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0734/01 2170811
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050811Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9963
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 000734 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KJUS KWMN CG
SUBJECT: GDRC SPOKESMAN CRITICIZES HUMAN RIGHTS NGO's 
 
REF:  A. KINSHASA 731 
    ¶B. KINSHASA 723 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  Congolese Minister of Communications and Media 
Affairs Lambert Mende responded to international human rights 
organizations' criticism of the GDRC at a July 28 press conference 
in Kinshasa.  Specifically, an International Federation of Human 
Rights Organizations July report warned of an authoritarian drift of 
the present regime.  A recent Human Rights Watch report criticized 
the condoning of rape within the Congolese military.  A Global 
Witness report linked the human rights situation with illicit mining 
and trade of minerals in eastern DRC.  Mende denounced the NGOs and 
alluded to the arrest of a local human rights defender who had 
published a report implicating the GDRC's involvement in the illicit 
mining of uranium in Katanga province.  Mende's comments indicate 
the GDRC may be circling the wagons in response to continuing 
criticism of its human rights record.  Further GDRC action against 
NGOs, both local and international, is possible.  The condemnation 
of the NGOs occurs against a backdrop of other government actions 
(ref A) that could indicate progress in impunity and corruption 
reform.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The Congolese Minister for Communication and Media, Lambert 
Mende Omalanga, responded to criticism of the GDRC by three 
international NGOs at a July 28 press conference in Kinshasa.  Each 
of the three, Human Rights Watch, Global Witness, and the 
International Federation of Human Rights Organizations (French 
acronym "FIDH") had recently released reports critical of the 
government.  Mende said that the three NGOs wanted to try to show 
that the DRC is a failed state and to vilify its institutions.  He 
also said that the NGOs motives were not altruistic and humanitarian 
but rather financial and political.  Furthermore, he dismissed the 
critiques of the GDRC as "pure fabrication." 
 
¶3.  (U) The FIDH released a July report entitled, "Democratic 
Republic of Congo: The Authoritarian Drift of the Regime."  The 
report alleges GDRC political repression of opposition politicians, 
students, civil society, and human rights defenders.  It also 
criticized the increasingly expansive powers of the state security 
forces and the weakening of the judicial branch. 
 
¶4.  (U) Human Rights Watch (HRW) also issued a July report, entitled 
"Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who Condone."  It accused the 
Congolese military (FARDC) of being a consistent perpetrator of 
sexual violence in the DRC and contributing to the climate of 
insecurity and impunity in eastern Congo.  Specifically, it looked 
at the abuses committed by FARDC's 14th Brigade and noted that high 
ranking officers are seldom charged.  Subsequent to the release of 
the report, Radio Okapi reported that the FARDC Goma Military Court, 
meeting ad-hoc in Rutshuru, condemned a major and lieutenant-colonel 
for war crimes including rape (ref A). 
 
¶5.  (U) Global Witness (GW) released a July report entitled "Faced 
With a Gun, What Can You Do? War and the Militarization of Mining in 
Eastern Congo."  In the report, GW linked the poor state of human 
rights in the DRC with the illicit exploitation of natural resources 
by armed groups and the FARDC.  According to GW, these groups have 
established lucrative trading networks and earn huge profits through 
unregulated mining activities and the breakdown of law and order. 
According to the report, efforts by both state and non-state actors 
to seize economic, political and military power have led to the 
carrying out of horrific human rights abuses. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Mende alluded to the recent arrest of Congolese NGO ASADHO 
("Association Africaine de Defense des 
Droits de l'Homme" in French) member Golden Misabiko.  Congolese 
security services arrested Misabiko on July 24 for publishing a 
report implicating the GDRC in the clandestine trade of uranium from 
the Shinkolobwe mine in Katanga province.  ASADHO Vice-President 
Georges Kapiamba told us July 30 that Misabiko had been transferred 
to a detention cell of the Prosecutor of the Lubumbashi Criminal 
Court ("Tribunal de Grande Instance" in French).  Misabiko has been 
formally charged with defamation and threats against national 
security.  Kapiamba also said that Misabiko is being forced to sleep 
outside and has been suffering from heart palpitations. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Comment:  While the arrest of government critics is not a 
new phenomenon in the DRC, Communication Minister Mende's comments 
reveal the willingness of the GDRC to single out international NGOs. 
 The public protest, along with the banning of RFI broadcasts (ref 
B), do not augur well for the human rights situation in the country. 
 It appears that the GDRC is increasingly intolerant of criticism. 
Further GDRC action against NGOs, both local and international, is 
possible.  The sentiments expressed by Mende run counter to the 
notions of progress evidenced in ref A and may also be an ill-timed 
emotional reaction to the series of critical NGO reports.   End 
 
KINSHASA 00000734  002 OF 002 
 
 
comment. 
 
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