DONOR COUNTRIES SET UP COMMITTEE ON MILITARY,

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001302

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2009
TAGS: PGOV PINS PREL MARR EAID CG
SUBJECT: DONOR COUNTRIES SET UP COMMITTEE ON MILITARY,
POLICE REFORM


Classified By: Poloff Edward Bestic for Reasons 1.5 B and D


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Following up on earlier discussions, MONUC
and member states on July 13 set up a committee on Security
Sector Reform (SSR). The committee includes representatives
from the GDRC plus MONUC, the World Bank, and major
embassies; it will meet monthly to coordinate donor efforts
and assist the GDRC with planning and implementing SSR. The
committee is potentially useful mechanism for coordinating
donor activities (a problem in the past) and spurring the
GDRC to action. END SUMMARY.

Setting up the Committee
--------------

2. (U) MONUC SRSG William Swing convened on July 13 the first
meeting of a Security Sector Reform (SSR) Coordination
Committee, as discussed at SSR meetings in New York in
February and June 2004. This committee will meet monthly to
coordinate donor efforts and assist the GDRC in planning and
implementing security reform. It will focus on three areas:
police reform, military integration, and Disarmament,
Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR). Initial committee
members include the GDRC, U.S., UK, EU, France, Belgium,
Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Germany, South
Africa, Angola, MONUC, and World Bank. A separate,
working-level group composed of the same member countries and
organizations will meet weekly, and MONUC will create a small
SSR cell, which will act as the committee's secretariat.

GDRC Participation
--------------

3. (SBU) Evariste Boshab (President Kabila's cabinet
director) and Daniel Kawata (head of the national DDR
commission),represented the GDRC at this first meeting.
Boshab said police and military integration are the GDRC's
top priorities, and hoped the committee would help combat
rumors and avoid duplication of effort. In future, he
explained, the defense and interior ministers would attend.

Next Steps
--------------

4. (SBU) MONUC's Deputy SRSG, Behrooz Sadry, asked committee
members to designate their working-group representatives by
July 15. He suggested that the initial agenda include
explanations of each member's current activities and
agreements, a discussion of how to coordinate them, and an
update from Kawata on the status of national DDR planning.

COMMENT
--------------

5. (C) The committee is a potentially useful mechanism for
coordinating donor activities. Currently, the GDRC's major
partners on security-sector reform issues are Belgium,
France, Angola, South Africa, MONUC and the EU. The French,
EU, and MONUC are all focused on police training;
information-sharing and coordination is not such a problem
there. The Belgians, South Africans and Angolans, however,
have a track record of "doing their own thing" security-wise
in the Congo, and mutual rivalry (if not suspicion) is strong.


6. (C) Ideally, the committee would also serve as a means of
putting pressure on the GDRC to plan and begin to implement
real military integration. Boshab's attendance at the
opening meeting was a good sign and indicates high-level
participation, though it remains to be seen who will
represent the GDRC at future meetings. END COMMENT.
SCOTT