JANUARY 10 PROTESTS IN KINSHASA

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000063

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR DS/IP/AF
DEPT FOR DS/ITA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC ASEC PGOV PINS PHUM CG
SUBJECT: JANUARY 10 PROTESTS IN KINSHASA



1. (U) SUMMARY: Violent protests in outlying parts of
Kinshasa over the possibility of delayed elections claimed
the lives of several civilians on January 10. Post issued
two warden messages; no Amcits were injured during the
events. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Violent demonstrations took place in outlying parts of
Kinshasa on January 10, days after the DRC's electoral
commission president implied that elections would take place
in October instead of June 2005. Major police/protestor
clashes occurred in the areas of Masina (en route to the main
airport),Kingasani, and Binza IPN, all 7-10 kilometers from
the Gombe area where all USG facilities are located and where
all Embassy employees reside. Police did not allow
demonstrators to mass and move into the Gombe area. Instead,
they deployed to known "hot spots" and broke up the
malcontents before they could get transport into the Gombe
area. An estimated four to thirteen civilians and two
policemen died, dozens were wounded, and authorities arrested
over seventy on charges of vandalism. One Amcit was the
victim of a carjacking by protestors in the Binza-IPN area,
but was unharmed and retrieved his vehicle on January 11.
The U.S. Mission maintained normal operations throughout the
day with no incidents noted, although some locally-engaged
staff were unable to come to work because of the
unavailability of public transportation early in the day. No
other cities experienced demonstrations or unrest, and
Kinshasa itself was quiet on January 11 and 12.


3. (SBU) Most observers directly or indirectly blamed
political opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi for the
unrest, though GDRC officials such as the Minister of
Information did not say so publicly. If it was an attempt to
demonstrate the amount of support for Tshisekedi, it fell
flat because university students by and large did not
participate. (Comment: In the 1990s, support for Tshisekedi
was such that his party, the UDPS, could literally bring
Kinshasa to a halt through strikes and boycotts. At a
January 12 meeting with the Ambassador, Tshisekedi denied any
involvement in the recent unrest. End Comment.)


4. (SBU) COMMENT: Post will continue to monitor the
situation. Already the Kinshasa rumor mill is speculating
about the possibility of more unrest on Friday, January 14,
close to the the January 17 anniversary of Patrice Lumumba's
assassination and the January 18 anniversary of Laurent
Kabila's assassination. END COMMENT.
MEECE