FARDC MILITARY TRIBUNAL REQUESTS MONUC SUPPORT IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001873

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/10/2015
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPKO CG
SUBJECT: FARDC MILITARY TRIBUNAL REQUESTS MONUC SUPPORT IN
MASS GRAVES INQUIRY

Classified By: PolOff TJNaber, reasons 1.4 b/d.


1. (SBU) Following an October 25 joint visit to recently
discovered mass graves in Rutshuru territory by a MONUC Human
Rights Division team and a FARDC military tribunal, the
latter requested MONUC assistance in conducting an inquiry.
Specifically, the FARDC military tribunal requested the
following of the MONUC Human Rights Division: 1) technical
support in measuring the perimeter of the grave sites, 2)
technical and logistical support in a second visit to the
mass graves for the purpose of taking the statements of
witnesses, 3) technical support via a medical-legal team and
scientists specializing in forensics, and 4) MONUC protection
for the witnesses, magistrates, and investigators involved in
the inquiry. Initial investigations by the military
magistrate located four witnesses, including one survivor.
The FARDC military tribunal at Rutshuru sent a report to the
FARDC Magistrate-General asking him to provide the necessary
directives to continue the inquiry.


2. (SBU) FARDC soldiers with the 5th Integrated Brigade by
chance discovered three mass graves within the perimeter of
their military base near Rutshuru in late September. Four
other mass graves have since been identified in nearby
locations near Rutshuru. MONUC human rights officers in Goma
reportedly urged the GDRC to bring the killings to light,
preferably through a civilian judicial inquiry. According to
the Chief of Staff to the GDRC Human Rights Minster, Olela
Okunji, the inquiry will be military and civilian in nature.


3. (SBU) According to local accounts, the graves hold the
remains of Congolese Hutu victims of Rwandan/AFDL massacres
in Rutshuru dating to October 30 and November 18, 1996.
Local survivors recount a meeting called by the AFDL in
Rutshuru stadium on October 30, 1996 for the region's
inhabitants; nearly all were massacred. Local survivors also
claim they can provide the location of several other mass
graves.


4. (SBU) The well-publicized discovery of the graves appears
to have opened old wounds in Rutshuru. According to a UNICEF
staff member in Goma, Anisea Mweze, relations between local
Hutus and Tutsis have cooled, despite reports that North Kivu
governor Eugene Serufuli is working to calm them. The Nande,
an ethnic group usually unsympathetic to both Hutus and
Tutsis, has recently expressed fellowship with the former as
victims of perceived Tutsi violence. The Regional
Coordinator of the Rutshuru NGO Centre d'Etudes et de
Recherches en Education de Base pour le Developpement Integre
(CEREBRA) has established a committee to identify witnesses
of the massacre and register possible victims. The Regional
Coordinator of CEREBRA, Kambale Kiyana, said that a local
Catholic church organized a mass for the victims October 29.
He also said that the local population is horrified at seeing
human bones and skulls scattered around the mass graves sites
and are accusing Rutshuru Mayor Oscar Ndambiye of failing to
take steps to secure the graves due to his complicity in the
original massacres. (Note: The initial goals of the MONUC
Human Rights Division and FARDC military tribunal visit on
October 25 were to establish the existence of the mass
graves, locate witnesses and survivors, and to protect the
grave sites. It is unclear whether the last of these has
been achieved. End note.)


5. (C) Comment: The "recently discovered" mass graves in
Rutshuru appear to have been an open secret among the local
population. With the commencement of a public inquiry,
witnesses and survivors responded with rage and grief at what
they characterize as a "genocide" of Hutus (Congolese and
Rwandan) by Tutsis (Congolese and Rwandan) during the
1996-1998 war that brought Laurent Desire Kabila to power.
There is a widespread perception in the provinces of North
and South Kivu that the world is unwilling to hear about
atrocities committed by Rwandan and AFDL forces in the DRC,
especially given that the current Congolese president's
father came to power as the head of the AFDL. Foot-dragging
by the FARDC military tribunal or perceived lack of
assistance by MONUC will further contribute to distrust of
both institutions in the area. End comment.
MEECE