ANTI-TUTSI PREJUDICE RISES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001576

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/23/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL SOCI PHUM CG
SUBJECT: ANTI-TUTSI PREJUDICE RISES


Classified By: Poloff Meghan Moore for Reasons 1.5 B and D


1. (C) Summary: On August 16, moderate Banyamulenge community
leader Enock Ruberangabo Sebineza told us that he was
concerned about increased anti-Rwandan/ Banyamulenge
sentiments in Kinshasa and eastern DRC. Many Congolese are
again becoming increasingly hostile towards Rwanda, Ruberwa
and the RCD/G, bringing back to the fore long-held
perceptions of all Tutsis as Rwandan, and international
community support of Rwandan interests over those of the
Congo. On August 19, PPRD Secretary General Vital Kamerhe
gave a press conference in Kinshasa PPRD condemning the
Gatumba massacre, and offering the PPRD's condolences to the
families of the victims. Most of his prepared remarks were
relatively innocuous, but Kamerhe made a number of pointed
jabs at Ruberwa and the RCD/G, Rwanda, and Burundi. End
summary.

Anti-Tutsi Sentiment Uptick
--------------


2. (C) Over the past several weeks, Post has noticed an
uptick in anti-Tutsi and anti-Rwanda rhetoric in eastern DRC
and Kinshasa. On August 16, two moderate Congolese told two
poloffs that Ruberwa, who they claimed was clearly Rwandan,
had planned the Gatumba massacre. The same day, moderate
Banyamulenge community leader Enock Ruberangabo Sebineza told
polcouns and poloff that he was concerned about increased
anti-Rwandan/ Banyamulenge sentiments in Kinshasa and eastern
DRC and found a 'discourse of hate' during his recent trip to

S. Kivu with the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. He said
that Nkunda and Mutebusi's actions had poisoned average
Congolese against most Tutsis who are now seen as Rwandan.
Ruberangabo opined that any Rwandan intervention in the Congo
could have disastrous consequences for the Banyamulenge and
possibly other Congolese Rwandaphones. (Note: 'Rwandaphones'
are Congolese residents and/or citizens (both Tutsi and Hutu)
who speak Kinyarwanda. Banyamulenge refers to a specific
group of Tutsis from S. Kivu. Most non-Rwandaphone Congolese,
however, regularly lump all Tutsis together as
Banyamulenge---without factoring in whether they are from N.
or S. Kivu, and whether or not they are long-term residents
or recent refugees. End note.)


3. (C) Speaking of Kinshasa, pol assistant said that many
people are tired of the international community's support for
the RCD/G, Ruberwa, and the Banyamulenge, who are only one of
several hundred minority groups in the Congo and are already
disproportionately represented within the transitional
government. He said people are sad that 160 people were
massacred at Gatumba, but many are mad that the international
community only seems to care about the death of 160
Banyamulenge and does not care about the death of 3.5 million
Congolese, mostly non-Tutsi. Poloff said that moderate
participants at a National Democratic Institute conference on
nationality were booed on August 19.

PPRD Secretary General's Rant
--------------


4. (SBU) On August 19, PPRD Secretary General Vital Kamerhe
gave a press conference attended mostly by PPRD loyalists at
the Kinshasa PPRD headquarters condemning the Gatumba
massacre, and offering the PPRD's condolences to the families
of the victims. He criticized locally organized periods of
mourning for the victims, saying that only the transition
government has the right to declare such a commemoration.
(Note: This was a slam at Ruberwa who organized a
commemoration and a period of mourning in Goma. End note.)
Kamerhe also said that the PPRD had told its members to pray
for two days to 'save the transition' and prevent future
massacres.


5. (SBU) Most of his prepared remarks were relatively
innocuous, but Kamerhe made a number of pointed jabs at
Ruberwa and the RCD/G, Rwanda, and Burundi. Kamerhe severely
criticized Ruberwa for saying that Mai Mai were involved in
the Gatumba massacre, and rhetorically asked if a vice
president should blame his own country. He condemned press
statements by certain politicians who repeated Rwandan and
Burundian views that the Congolese are a genocidal people and
said no one has the right to use this tragedy for political
purposes or to justify another aggression against the DRC.
Kamerhe said he knows there is a plan to transplant Rwanda
and Burundi's ethnic conflict to the Congo, and the PPRD is
convinced that a neighboring country has planned a third war
which will be started by Congolese who will be used to kill
other Congolese and facilitate the annexation of a part of
the Congo. He invited churches, civil society, the government
and political parties to refrain from adding fuel to the fire
by accusing the innocent and peaceful people of the Congo and
colluding with the nation's enemies for the sole purpose of
accessing power. He opined that history will judge and the
people will not forgive these acts of high treason. (Comment:
The unnamed politician is clearly Ruberwa and the unnamed
neighbor is clearly Rwanda. In addition, his invitation to
refrain from adding fuel to the fire is a very pointed attack
on Ruberwa and the RCD/G. End comment.) On August 20, pol
assistant told polcouns that most Kinshasa residents agreed
with Kamerhe's statement.

Fueling the Fire
--------------


6. (C) Despite the August 14 arrest of Pastor Ngoy, a
notorious tele-evangelist who has incited hatred against
Banyamulenge in the past, pro-government press in Kinshasa,
notably RTNC radio and the newspaper L'Avenir have recently
broadcast and published a number of inflammatory items.
L'Avenir has run a series of vicious anti-Ruberwa and
anti-Tutsi articles and editorials claiming that the term
Congolese Tutsi is part of an ideology of victimization which
causes ethnic hatred when the term is used, accusing Ruberwa
of being Nkunda's accomplice, and suggesting that Ruberwa
knew the Gatumba massacre would happen and made sure he was
in eastern Congo when it happened. During an August 19
evening broadcast, RTNC2 Radio claimed that there was a Tutsi
conspiracy underway to create a Tutsi-led republic in the
eastern Congo and encouraged listeners to express their anger
against Congolese Tutsis.

Comment
--------------


7. (C) Anti-Rwandan sentiment has long been very strong in
the DRC. Recent events, including talk from Kigali and
Bujumbura of the possibility of new cross-border unilateral
military action, dredges up the latent hostility. Feelings
are also widespread that much of the international community,
and specifically the United States, are willing to overlook
invasions and other provocation coming from Kigali out of
guilt over the 1994 genocide. Opportunistic hard-line
politicians such as Kamerhe or Pastor Ngoy find it relatively
easy to inflame further these emotions. A number of
Banyamulenge and other Congolese Tutsi leaders have always
felt themselves particularly vulnerable during periods of
heightened tension, caught at times between Rwandan and/or
Burundian policies with which they often do not necessarily
support and deep mistrust or hostility from other segments of
the Congolese population. The trick is to keep public
rhetoric toned down as much as possible from all quarters to
avoid another spiral of fear and potential violence.
MEECE