AMNESTY LAW IN TROUBLE - AGAIN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 002065 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2015 TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG SUBJECT: AMNESTY LAW IN TROUBLE - AGAIN REF: KINSHASA 2001 Classified By: PolCouns MSanderson, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) A December 14 Supreme Court decision (made public December 17) opens again the contentious issue of amnesty for the group of individuals accused (and convicted to death in absentia) of involvement in the assassination of former president Laurent Kabila. The Court ruled that such a crime is a "violation of common law," rather than a political crime, thereby excluding the accused from the amnesty specifically accorded by the draft law to those accused of having committed war or political crimes during the war years and until the inception of the transition (ref). ¶2. (C) In the behind-the-scenes contest between President Kabila's PPRD and Vice President Ruberwa's RCD, the ruling represents a victory for the PPRD, which has nimbly changed its ground from insisting that the assassination of a president is a de jure and de facto political crime. The ruling effectively puts the ball back in the RCD's court, as Ruberwa must now decide whether to insist that the text of the law be revisited in Parliament (which would risk reopening the debate surrounding the definition of "political crime" which had paralyzed progress on the law for more than a year),to stand by the Supreme Court's ruling on the law, effectively leaving the fate of the alleged assassins (who are close to the RCD) to a post-electoral debate, or to seek a new, and mutually acceptable to the PPRD, compromise. ¶3. (C) President Kabila's senior advisor, Augustin Katumba, told PolCouns December 18 that the President is prepared to sign the law in support of the principle of "general" amnesty and in the interest of national reconciliation. (Comment: Kabila is actually now prepared to sign the law, in contrast to his position two weeks ago, precisely because the supposed killers of his father will not be included in the amnesty. End Comment.) When asked why the party no longer insists that the killing of a president is an internationally recognized political offense, Katumba (somewhat heatedly) replied that if the Congolese Supreme Court chose to take a different interpretation that was the Court's right and neither he nor Congolese politicians are qualified to debate their decision. ¶4. (C) Vice President Azarias Ruberwa equally heatedly insisted to PolCouns December 18 that Kabila had unfairly influenced the Court's decision in flagrant violation of judicial independence (although he admitted when pressed that he had no evidence of this),and that the ruling was arguably the most ridiculous imaginable, from a legal perspective. (Note: Ruberwa is himself a lawyer.) Tacitly acknowledging the potential problem in the National Assembly (and the danger that the RCD's tenuous support from the MLC on this issue could collapse if pushed a second time),Ruberwa admitted that he is "not eager" to insist that the draft bill be returned to Parliament. He said he would be open to a compromise such as retrying the accused in a valid Congolese military court, with international community observers, but said he doubted that the PPRD would agree to such an idea. ¶5. (C) Comment: Amnesty -- specifically for Laurent Kabila's killers -- remains a potential flashpoint as the transition winds down and electoral campaigns heat up. Under the terms of the Sun City Accord an amnesty law must be passed before the end of the transition, but the Accord does not specifically insist that the question of Kabila's assassins be addressed. This apparent loophole is at the heart of the PPRD's latest posture, i.e., President Kabila will ensure that the terms of the Accord are met by signing the law which, after all the RCD not only approved but fought for, and which remains intact. And at the same time, Kabila will ensure that his father's alleged killers do not benefit from the terms of said law. ¶6. (C) Comment, cont. An hour-and-a-half diatribe from three Tutsi businessmen to PolCouns in Goma December 17, however, underscores the highly emotional dimensions of the problem on the ground, as distinct from Kinshasa's political debating society. They demanded (rhetorically) why one man's death should count more than that of hundreds of others, and why one group (the RCD) should effectively be held more accountable for its crimes than others (such as the PPRD), and concluded by speculating that without a truly broad amnesty some "unstable elements" might make it difficult even to hold the elections scheduled for next year. While we find this statement hyperbolic, it is obviously desirable to find a compromise which will both allow Kabila a way forward which won't allienate him from his family and the extremist elements of his party, while also enabling Ruberwa to keep his own extremist elements satisfied. A conditional amnesty with supevised retrial in a military court (since Ruberwa categorically excludes having such a trial in the "tainted" Supreme Court) could be one possibility. We think it more likely, however, that the court ruling will stand. The underlying issue regarding those accused of Kabila's assassination will be left unresolved, another of the contentious sources of tension that characterizes the transition process and government. MEECE