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DE RUEHSA #2181/01 3000620
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P 270620Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY PRETORIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0006
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA PRIORITY 2178
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS PRETORIA 002181 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF/S AND AF/C WOLPE, KEITH AND LASRY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM KWMN CG SF
SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA: DRC WATCHER'S ROUND-UP, BOLSTERING 
FLAGGING INTEREST 
 
REF: 08 PRETORIA 2097 
 
¶1. (SBU) South Africa's engagement with the Democratic 
Republic of Congo (DRC) peace process has waned since early 
2008, when the ANC leadership showdown at Polokwane eclipsed 
the Goma Conference, but Pretoria's influence remains 
significant as a major troop contributor to MONUC and as the 
key interface for trilateral cooperation.  Visiting Human 
Rights Watch Researcher Anneke Van Woudenberg recently called 
on South Africa to press for greater protection for the 
civilian population of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo 
(DRC). The MONUC Pretoria office serves as a constant 
diplomatic reminder of South Africa's critical leadership in 
DRC's transition, and Congolese officials, most recently DDR 
Adviser Nzekani Zena, visit regularly to update a shrinking 
contingent of DRC watchers, maintaining a somewhat frayed 
lifeline to SADC's leading country. End summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
HRW Urges Action to Protect Civilians in Eastern DRC 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Addressing an audience of academics, embassy 
representatives, South African government officials, and 
NGO's at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria 
September 30, Senior Human Rights DRC Watcher Anneke Van 
Woudenberg affirmed the important leadership role South 
Africa still plays with regard to DRC, both militarily, 
through its contribution to MONUC, and politically.  Van 
Woudenberg charged that current levels of violence in eastern 
DRC are comparable to those during the regional wars that 
ravaged DRC a decade ago. She expressed doubt that President 
Kabila can see beyond military approaches to resolve the 
crisis in DRC, despite the fact that Congolese military has 
been shown without any doubt to be incapable, even when 
supported by MONUC. She recalled that when Kabila's 2008 
request for EU or SADC military support went unanswered, he 
immediately turned to former belligerents Rwanda and Uganda 
for a military solution.  Predictably, she continued, no 
sooner had Rwanda and Uganda withdrawn when the FDLR and the 
LRA again turned on the civilian population, attacking 
villages accused of betrayal. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Van Woudenberg estimated that a million people had 
been displaced in eastern DRC in 2009. She called on the UN 
Office of Peacekeeping Operations to develop a better 
framework for the protection of civilians. She called for 
greater pressure to ensure the compliance of all parties to 
international humanitarian law.  Van Woudenberg welcomed 
Secretary Clinton's tough message to the GDRC on compliance 
with international human rights standards.  She expressed 
disappointment that international statements condemning the 
human rights situation in DRC are increasingly infrequent, 
charging that remaining silent cannot be an option in the 
face of continuing abuse.  She noted that MONUC has a strong 
human rights section that continues to collect information on 
abuses.  She complained that known human rights abusers 
remain in leadership positions in the Congolese military. Van 
Woudenberg observed that South Africa's political engagement 
in the DRC had fallen off in the last year and a half as 
South Africa has been pre-occupied with domestic matters. 
Following the seminar, however, Van Woudenberg told 
DepPolCouns she was about to address the South African 
military staff college, the first time HRW had been invited 
Qmilitary staff college, the first time HRW had been invited 
to speak to future peacekeepers. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
MONUC Pretoria Maintains Steady Contact 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) UN Mission Organization to the DRC (MONUC) Head of 
Office Pretoria  Mujahid Alam called on Political Counselor 
on October 13.  DepPolCouns sat in as Alam discussed the 
1,200-strong South African National Defense Force contingent 
in MONUC.  Alam said the South African MONUC contingent had 
previously had problems with discipline and logistics but had 
largely overcome them.  He commented that tribal issues among 
South Africa's MONUC contingent arise from time to time and 
tend to undermine discipline, as do racial issues between 
back and white South African officers.  Alam admitted that 
while discipline had improved among South African troops, 
South Africa's interest in MONUC had fallen off sharply since 
the showdown between former president Thabo Mbeki and Jacob 
Zuma at the African National Congress (ANC) party congress on 
Polokwane in January 2008.  Alam expressed hope that the Zuma 
administration would take renewed interest in DRC.  He noted 
 
that Presidential Foreign Policy Advisor Lindiwe Zulu was 
involved in the Joint Verification Mechanism designed to 
secure the DRC-Rwanda border. 
 
--------------------------- 
Update on DRC's DDR Process 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU)  On October 23, Prosper Nzekani Zena, Advisor in 
Charge of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) 
for the GDRC and Henri Boshoff, Head of the Peace Missions 
Program at the Pretoria Institute for Security Studies (ISS), 
presented a progress report on DDR in the DRC.  According to 
Nzekani Zena, the GDRC's Phase II DDR process is on track to 
be completed by the end of 2009.  He said a July assessment 
indicated that 45,000 ex-combatants are to be reintegrated 
into the Congolese military (FARDC), and 5,000 are to be 
demobilized by the end of the year.  He told us that most 
CNDP and Mai Mai forces had already been integrated into the 
FARDC through an accelerated (one-month) integration process. 
 Nzekani Zena told the audience of academics, journalists, 
and embassy representatives that a program called STAREC, 
which combines elements of the Amani process and the MONUC 
stabilization plan, is aimed at restoring the rule of law in 
eastern DRC and would carry on the work of the DDR process 
after 2009.  He added that following the completion of DDR, 
the GDRC's priority is to retire overage FARDC troops, which 
is expected to bring FARDC troop strength down from the 
EUSEC-estimated current troop strength of 130,000 to 100,000. 
 Nzekani Zena indicated that recruitment would follow the 
demobilization of retiring FARDC troops, dodging questions 
about how large an army the DRC can afford.  Boshoff 
interjected a comment, saying the DRC had not done its own 
defense white paper to determine what size military it needs, 
adding that the Congolese have discarded a number of planning 
documents done of their behalf by Europeans.  Following the 
presentation, Boshoff told DepPolCouns he was very concerned 
about the situation in eastern DRC, despite the upbeat 
scenario Nzekani Zena portrayed. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) South Africa's leadership in the DRC peace process 
is needed, as much now as it was in the era of the Sun City 
Accord.  Renewed involvement for Pretoria in stabilizing 
eastern DRC might, perhaps with some encouragement, flow from 
regional engagement.  DRC's tenure as president of the 
Southern African Development Community (SADC) may not offer 
strong prospects for the advancement of the regional 
organization, but it could offer some chance for the DRC to 
play a role in its own history other than that of perpetrator 
or victim.  The plight of civilians still suffering in 
eastern DRC and the scourge of DRC's gender-based violence 
epidemic no longer resonate deeply in a South Africa 
preoccupied with its own protracted and painful transition, 
but South Africa still expects its peacekeeping operations to 
end in success.  South Africa has an opportunity this year to 
play big brother to DRC within the SADC troika. 
 
GIPS