BEMBA MEDIA STILL OFF THE AIR

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001689 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPAO CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: BEMBA MEDIA STILL OFF THE AIR REF: KINSHASA 1619 and previous Sensitive but Unclassified. Not for Internet Distribution. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Political and technical problems have kept media owned by presidential contender Jean-Pierre Bemba off the air for most of the last few days, both before and after the October 29 voting. MONUC is reportedly mediating this issue in an attempt to restore the signals. The High Media Authority (HAM) has decried these steps taken against Bemba media. Meanwhile, the HAM has suspended state television for 48 hours for failing to air a pre-election interview with VP Bemba. On or off the air, Bemba media raises tensions in this immediate post-election period. End Summary Bemba Media Mostly Off the Air -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The signal of Jean-Pierre Bemba's Canal Kin television (CKTV),seen in Kinshasa, was cut October 27, apparently by authorities close to the political camp of President Joseph Kabila. The signal went down during an interview with an Etienne Kabila, who reportedly lives in South Africa and purports to be the true legitimate son of the late President Laurent-Desire Kabila. Etienne Kabila claimed that Joseph Kabila is not the biological son of the late president. ¶3. (U) The day after the election, October 30, the signal of VP Bemba's other television station, CCTV, was also cut while it was airing a program cataloguing alleged voting irregularities which would have favored Kabila. CCTV's signal to the rest of the country, captured by satellite relay, is stopped as well. Bemba radio, Radio Liberte (RALIK),has also been off the air in Kinshasa for several days. ¶4. (SBU) It appears almost certain that the cuts were made at the Binza Hill tower station hill overlooking Kinshasa. A high authority at CCTV told us that his station was able to get back on the air October 30, but only briefly, by-passing the CCTV tower at Binza. He also claimed that the contracting company in charge of Binza station, Tele Consult, persuaded Kabila's Republican Guard to prevent access to the station by CCTV technicians. AFP news agency reports that it was FARDC troops, not Republican Guards, who admitted stopping the CCTV technicians, who, they said, lacked authorization. ¶5. (SBU) Our CCTV source told us that representatives of Jean-Pierre Bemba, MONUC and EUFOR met November 1 to see about restoring the signals of Bemba's media. However, a CCTV technician, who was to inspect the problem at the tower station today, was again denied access, we have just learned from our CCTV source. The HAM Steps In -------------- ¶6. (U) The president of the High Media Authority, Modeste Mutinga, told the press on October 31 that the HAM had not been consulted about these latest cut-offs of Bemba media and he decried their irregularity. On the same day, the HAM ordered the 48-hour suspension of state television station RTNC, beginning November 1. Mutinga acted on a complaint by Bemba's Union for the Nation that RTNC refused to air an interview with Jean-Pierre Bemba on October 27, the last day of the official presidential election campaign. RTNC had given generous air time to Joseph Kabila. RTNC is, so far, respecting the suspension. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: Placed in a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation, pro-Kabila authorities, who control access to the Binza Hill tower station, seemingly silenced Bemba media rather than have it spew premature and destabilizing claims of electoral fraud and/or a Bemba victory. We are approaching a point now, however, where the silenced media adds fuel to claims bruited about Kinshasa that Jean-Pierre Bemba is being robbed of electoral victory by a well-orchestrated conspiracy. The HAM's silencing of RTNC - and the fact that no official election results have yet been announced by the Electoral Commission - may not be able to silence that growing background noise. MEECE