VZCZCXYZ0012
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKI #0128/01 0340808
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY-ADX1A6676-TOQ4973-MSI413)
R 021312Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0130
INFO RWANDA COLLECTIVE
SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000128 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (SUBJECT LINE) 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OEXC KPAO OPRC SCUL SOCI PREL PHUM PINS CG
SUBJECT: International donors seek to push GDRC on press freedom 
issues 
 
REF: 09 KINSHASA 1044; 10 KINSHASA 86; 09 KINSHASA 1102 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Despite international calls (reftels) for the 
Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (GDRC) to 
improve the press climate, little action has been taken, according 
to members participating in the last meeting of the Groupe 
Inter-Baileurs M????dias (International Group of Media Donors or 
GIBM).  Donor representatives present at the meeting also pointed 
out the lack of progress in the reopening of Radio France 
International (RFI), as well as the subjection of international 
journalists to the military penal code, and asserted additional 
steps might need to be taken to press the GDRC to address these 
issues.  During a separate presentation about Radio Okapi, United 
Nations Mission to the Congo (MONUC) officials said steps were 
being taken to address concerns raised by staff about mismanagement 
of the organization.  End summary. 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U) The GIBM met in Kinshasa on January 26 to discuss shared 
concerns about press freedom and other media issues in the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).  The GIBM meets on an 
irregular basis (approximately every two months) to discuss issues 
of shared concern for international donors seeking to build media 
capacity and support a free and responsible press.  The group is 
chaired by representatives of the French Embassy, and hosted by the 
Belgian Cultural Center.  At the January 26 meeting, 
representatives from the European Union, French, Belgian, and 
Swedish Embassies attended, as well as emboffs and PAS Kinshasa 
senior press assistant.  On the agenda were three major issues: a 
follow-up to the November 27, 2009 Chiefs of Missions (COMs) 
demarche to Minister of Information and Communications Lambert 
Mende concerning press freedom (ref a); challenges faced by 
UN-sponsored Radio Okapi; and the recently signed law establishing 
a new media regulatory body (ref b). 
 
 
 
Demarche follow-up 
 
------------------ 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Meeting participants were in agreement there had been no 
progress on the issues raised during the November 27 demarche to 
Mende, in which Kinshasa-based  COMs called on the GDRC to address 
(1) death threats and other forms of intimidation against Congolese 
journalists, (2) the accreditation of international journalists 
submitting them to the military penal code, (3) and the 
re-establishment of RFI's signal.  French official Myriam Habil 
stated that a reporter for Reuters and Agence France Presse 
recently received an accreditation letter renewal from Mende that 
included the same clause holding the journalist subject to military 
penal code, which seemed to indicate that the policy had not 
changed.  Participants discussed several options to follow up on 
the COMs' demarche, including: a public communiqu???? by COMs, 
demarching another minister, and raising the issue with President 
Joseph Kabila.  They agreed to ask their COMs whether they would be 
willing to participate in a communiqu????. 
 
 
 
RFI still silent 
 
---------------- 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Despite Mende's private claims that GDRC and RFI have 
agreed in principle to have the French radio station's signal 
reestablished (ref c), Habil said that the two sides have not yet 
come to an agreement, and no date has been set for a visit by RFI 
representatives.  While GDRC and RFI are in apparent agreement on 
the establishment of an RFI regional bureau in Kinshasa, the French 
broadcaster is not willing to subject its journalists to the 
military penal code as an accreditation condition.  Habil said that 
RFI considers this non-negotiable. 
 
 
Friction at Okapi 
 
----------------- 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Kevin Kennedy, Public Information Officer of MONUC, and 
Bernard Conchon, project director of Hirondelle Foundation, which 
provides funding and other support for Radio Okapi, were expected 
to address the future of the UN-supported radio station.  Yet the 
publication in the independent newspaper Le Potentiel of a letter 
by members of Okapi's local staff complaining of mismanagement and 
harassment by the UN management became the main topic.  Kennedy 
acknowledged that Radio Okapi is undergoing many changes in 
programming, organizational structure and personnel, for which the 
local staff was not sufficiently prepared.  "We have a vision for 
the future of Okapi, but it is not always shared."  Kennedy said. 
"All this led to a situation where frustrations were expressed." 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  To address the local staff's concerns, MONUC and 
Hirondelle have established three separate procedures:  (1) a 
commission to examine the internal issues between management and 
local staff; (2) an external audit to evaluate the effectiveness of 
management and changes to radio programming and operations; and (3) 
an internal audit to examine claims of harassment and negative work 
climate. 
 
 
 
New Media Law 
 
------------- 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Since President Kabila signed a bill establishing a new 
media regulatory body, the law remains unpublished in the official 
gazette.  Primo Mukambilwa, president of the Haute Autorite des 
Medias (Federal Media Authority or HAM), told local staff that the 
Supreme Court has ruled that HAM will retain its powers until the 
new group is in place.  Meanwhile, the law itself remains 
unavailable to the press or public.  At the GIBM meeting, emboff 
suggested inquiring at the official gazette whether GIBM, or some 
other organization, could pay for the publication.  A 
representative from the Belgian Cultural Center said he would 
investigate this possibility. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Comment:  As the GIBM meeting made clear, there is 
considerable concern among the international media support 
community that the GDRC is dragging its feet on respecting 
constitutional guarantees of press freedom.  In particular, they 
question whether Information Minister Mende has acted in good faith 
regarding his promises to address a number of concerns.  GIBM 
members also voiced concerns, however, that that a communiqu???? or 
other forms of public pressure against Mende might backfire, either 
directly upon press freedom issues, or with regard to other 
bi-lateral and multi-lateral concerns, such as the elections 
planned for autumn 2011.  Yet GIBM members all agree that action is 
needed lest press freedom (and individual journalists) continue to 
suffer, with negative consequences for Congolese democracy.   End 
comment. 
GARVELINK