RETURN OF THE TIGERS TO DRC

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001668

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/05/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF CG AO
SUBJECT: RETURN OF THE TIGERS TO DRC

Classified By: PolCouns MSanderson, reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (C) PolCouns met October 4 (at their request) with a
group of Katangan Tigers in Kinshasa to, as they put it, pave
the way for the return of the exiles. (Note: The Tigers are
seeking to return after over 30 years in exile, as Kapend
stressed several times. Given evidence of their attacks on
civilians in Katanga province, however, their return is
problematic at best and provocative at worst. End Note.)
General Kapend Elie Kanyumba, supreme commander of the
Tigers, headed the three-person delegation, which also
included General Andre (no last name given),the Inspector
General of the Tigers, and Colonel William, head of security
for the Tigers. General Kapend said within the next two to
three weeks, approximately 40,000 Tiger ex-combatants and
family members will begin their return to the DRC, mostly
entering through Katanga province and then dispersing to
other points of origin (he cited Bukavu, in South Kivu, for
instance, in the case of General Andre, and Mbandaka,
Equateur province, for Colonel William, and mentioned both
Kasai provinces as well). Kapend said they have not been in
touch with UNHCR, nor with MONUC (except via a protocolary
letter to SRSG Swing). Kapend expects to have a press
conference in Kinshasa on/about October 12 to announce the
coming of the Tigers, and said that by October 20 he will
have filed the necessary paperwork to register his political
party, which will enable him to run for election as president
of the DRC.


2. (C) Kapend gave PolCouns copies of documents indicating
that 8,040 of the returnees are military, and said that he
expects that they will be integrated into the FARDC, after
which some may elect to be demobilized. (Note: Separately,
Kapend indicated that 1,250 of the above number represent the
command staff of the Tigers militia, who would expect to
retain their ranks and enter the FARDC "with dignity." End
Note.) He also gave PolCouns a copy of a letter from Defense
Minister Onusumba indicating that, while the GDRC might
consider this possibility, at the moment there is no
provision for folding the ex-Tigers into the ongoing brassage
(mixing) process. Kapend had no answer to PolCoun's question
as to what the civilian members of the group would do once
they returned, particularly given existing unemployment in
the DRC. Instead, he stressed the importance of returning in
the stated period, in order to ensure that "his people" are
registered to vote in next year's elections. In addition, he
said that he already counts on about 6,000 supporters, mostly
in Katanga, his home province.


3. (C) Comment: Another problem brewing. There would never
be a good time to have the former Tigers return, but this is
a particularly inopportune moment. Several months ago
PolCouns had heard talk in Katanga that the Tigers might
return to Congo, but it was phrased in the context of a
post-electoral process. It seems clear that the GDRC is not
prepared to receive them (regardless of what informal
conversations might have taken place),and their "voluntary"
return is likely to come as yet another unpleasant shock to
the UNHCR, already bracing for unexpected demands to assist
the return of refugees from Tanzania and Rwanda -- also
motivated by the upcoming elections. Having Tigers again in
the Congo forests clearly has the potential to create more
problems in terms of security and social instability, above
all in Katanga.
MEECE