CATHOLIC CARDINAL ISSUES INCENDIARY STATEMENT RE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 001746 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV KDEM SOCI CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: CATHOLIC CARDINAL ISSUES INCENDIARY STATEMENT RE DRC ELECTIONS KINSHASA 00001746 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Catholic Cardinal of Kinshasa, Frederic Etsou, conducted a November 13 interview from Paris with Radio France International(RFI)where he is being treated for illness , and issued a written statement, attacking the integrity of the DRC elections and accusing the West of seeking to impose a president. In the current tense climate of Kinshasa just prior to an expected announcement of election results, and given the importance of the Catholic Church, the statements pour fuel on a potential fire in Kinshasa. We strongly urge that Embassy Vatican express USG concerns about the statement and interview centered on the partisan nature of the comments, and the potential for contributing to renewed and serious violence in the DRC. End summary. ¶2. (U) Cardinal Frederic Etsou, Catholic Cardinal of Kinshasa and the ranking member of the Catholic Church hierarchy in the DRC, conducted an interview with RFI on Monday, November 13 explicitly casting doubt on the validity of election results posted to-date by the Congolese Independent Electoral Commission (CEI). In addition, Etsou issued a written statement (informal translation below),explicitly calling on foreign government to cease interfering in the Congo, suggesting that the "West and the USA" are seeking to impose a president on the Congolese people, and reinforcing the idea that major electoral fraud is in the process of being committed. ¶3. (SBU) The interview and statement specifically picks up and essentially summarizes a series of charges by radical politicians in the DRC who are seeking to undermine the ongoing electoral process. Given the very significant influence of the Catholic Church in the DRC and existing general tension, particularly in Kinshasa, the statement could have a major incendiary effect to give rise to renewed violence in the capital. (Note: The CEI is expected to announce in coming days the total "provisional" results, long regarded as the most sensitive time of the DRC's long transition period. End note) The Cardinal's observations in the interview and statements fly in the face of all observations by the substantial corps of international and national observers in the DRC, who have all attested in statements to-date that the elections and subsequent vote 
compilation appear fundamentally sound. Indeed, the general consensus by the 16 members of the International Committee to Accompany the Transition (CIAT) and observers has been that the electoral process has represented a great success. The Cardinal's statements certainly also run precisely counter to that of numerous foreign senior African and Western officials, as well as responsible Congolese leaders (including Congolese Church leaders),seeking to reinforce a general atmosphere of calm, and to head off renewed violence. ¶4. (SBU) The CIAT conducted an extraordinary meeting November 14 to discuss the current situation. All 16 members shared a high degree of concern over the Cardinal's statements and the potential impact in Kinshasa particularly and the DRC generally. Some members observed that the statement is likely to exacerbate divisions within the Church itself in the Congo, but in any case could have no beneficial effect. Members speculated as to what the Cardinal's motives may have been, with several reduced to speculation that the Cardinal, aging and ailing in Europe, may have been manipulated by others pushing their own agenda. The Cardinal's written statement is itself rather sloppily drafted, referring for example to "EUFOROR" (an apparent reference to EUFOR, the European Standby Force),the European Union delegation as distinct from the CIAT (the EU Presidency and Commission are members of the CIAT),and the "West and the U.S.A." also as separate entities. ¶5. (SBU) CIAT members debated several methods of seeking to mitigate the negative effect of the Cardinal's statement without seeming to directly attack the Cardinal or the Catholic Church. CEI President Abbe Malu Malu, himself a priest, plans a press conference the evening of November 14, and he can be expected to respond in some fashion to the statement. CIAT members also agreed to urge observer groups, particularly the group of over 10,000 observers representing religious faiths and also headed by a Catholic, to make a public statement as soon as possible asserting the views they have already communicated to us. These affirm that CEI results to-date correspond to their own observations, and to the basic integrity of the electoral process. The Nuncio in KINSHASA 00001746 002.2 OF 003 Kinshasa in earlier conversations, asserted that he needed to see the full text for the Cardinal's statement before being able to comment further. The CIAT plans to meet again the morning of November 15 to review further options. ¶6. (SBU) Action requested: Post strongly urges the Department request Embassy Vatican as soon as possible to express USG concerns over the Cardinal's statements and their dangerous potential effects in a volatile environment to the Vatican Secretariat. The partisan character of the comments, essentially picking up all major themes of critics of President Kabila, is of concern itself, but the real danger is the contribution the comments could make to feed renewed violence in the country, and in particular the capital. Any steps the Vatican could take to mitigate the thrust of the statements and help calm general tension would be most helpful. Given existing tensions, and that the CEI may be at a point of an election announcement at any time, such a demarche is urgent. ¶6. (U) Informal translation: Declaration by His Eminence Cardinal Etsou Nzabi Bamungwabi Archbishop of Kinshasa on the Coming Electoral Verdict in the DRC To You, my dear faithful of Kinshasa, To the CEI, To the CIAT, To MONUC To the Delegation of the European Union To EUROFOR (sic), I sincerely thank you, my dear parishioners, for your high degree of responsibility and love for our Homeland which motivated your joy to go vote, on October 29, for the one who will be called to the High Office of President and will, with the people, have to pull our country out of the economic and social morass and stagnation where it has been thrown and to guide it toward a better tomorrow of peace, justice, prosperity and dignity. I congratulate you for your courage and your determination to end this long transition by way of the ballot box. You have thereby confirmed before the International Community that the Congolese people are free and sovereign to choose their own President and his administrators. I call upon the CEI, the CIAT, MONUC, the Delegation of the European Union in the DRC strictly to respect the result summaries as recorded at each polling station, collected and aproved by the political party witnesses, by your own representatives, by the Carter Foundation as well as by other credible institutions which saw fit to accompany the DRC in the last phase of the birth of the future executive. I firmly say no and again no to any sort of maneuver which would threaten the free, transparent and democratic choice of the Congolese people, and which would risk throwing the country into useless confusion. The International Community should cease all efforts to impose on the Congolese people the one they have not chosen as President. All such attempts would be a grave, irresponsible act and could jeopardize and diminish all which makes up the pride and prestige of the West and the USA. Therefore no, to fraudulent manipulation of the ballot boxes. No, to that which is not the will of the Congolese people. No, to all attempts to impose on the Congolese people a candidate expected merely to satisfy the gluttonous and predatory appetites of his foreign commanders for the surface and underground resources of the Congo. To officials of the CEI, particularly Abbe Apollinaire Malu Malu, we call upon you to declare and announce true and credible results which reflect the true vote of the Congolese, necessary for a true peace and the beginning of a new era of reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of Congo, of respect for its sovereignty and national unity. We want peace through the ballot box. We want peace. May the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Suffering, inspire feelings of pity toward the people who have so long suffered because KINSHASA 00001746 003.2 OF 003 of everyone's selfishness, including that of the Congolese who, for money or power, lend themselves to jeopardizing the future of their country, pushing aside the fundamental rights of the Congolese people. To you, my dear faithful of Kinshasa, to you Congolese, courage and patience. May God bless the DRC, may he grant us peace, understanding and love to reconstruct our country and deliver it from misery and poverty. My blessing also goes with you! Frederic Cardinal ETSOU NZABI-BAMUNGWABI (end text) MEECE