CIAT COMMUNIQUE SUPPORTS MEDIA AUTHORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000240 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O.12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM CG KDEM KPAO CIAT SUBJECT: CIAT COMMUNIQUE SUPPORTS MEDIA AUTHORITY REF: Kinshasa 0222 Sensitive But Unclassified. Not for Internet distribution. ¶1. (U) Summary: State-owned television and radio (RTNC) devoted more than four hours to the PPRD party on February 6, when the PPRD nominated Joseph Kabila to be its presidential candidate. The following day, the High Media Authority (HAM) suspended for 48 hours political reporting on RTNC for violating fair access guidelines. The CIAT supported the HAM decision in a communique on February 9. The fact that the RTNC unblinkingly broadcast provocative language used by Vice President Yerodia at the PPRD convention heightened concern about its violation. End Summary The CIAT Communique -------------- ¶2. (U) The International Committee to Accompany the Transition (CIAT) invited the President of the High Media Authority (HAM),Modeste Mutinga, and members of the HAM Bureau on February 9 to discuss the HAM's decision of February 7 to suspend all political reporting by the national television and radio station, RTNC, for 48 hours. The RTNC -- which had provided unedited, wall-to-wall coverage of President Joseph Kabila's nomination convention on February 6 -- was accused by the HAM of violating the principle of fair access to the airwaves by political parties. ¶3. (U) In a communique dated February 9, the CIAT supported the HAM's decision and, following the discussion with the HAM, said it would favor a reinforcement of the HAM's capabilities to regulate and sanction the media. In addition to calling upon the HAM and state-owned media to respect established guidelines governing access to the media for election purposes, the CIAT also shared the HAM's stated concern about the use of the media to propagate provocative language. Finally, the CIAT called upon the Ministry of Press and Information to support the HAM. The RTNC's Violation -------------- ¶4. (U) The HAM was obliged to take action against the state-owned television and radio station when the RTNC broadcast live, and for more than four hours, the nominating convention on Feburary 6 of the PPRD, which picked incumbent president Joseph Kabila to be its candidate in the coming presidential election (reftel). This broadcast far exceeded the limits of 90 seconds during news broadcasts and five minutes for in-depth reporting, which can be devoted to political parties at any one time. ¶5. (U) Perhaps worse than the time lavished on the PPRD was the fact that the RTNC did not edit out provocative language used by Vice President Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi during his speech at the convention. Using local Lingala slang, Yerodia called Kabila's strongest opponent, Etienne Tshisekedi, a sorcerer and an ayatollah, and punned disparagingly on political opponent Pierre Pay Pay's name, which means pawpaw. The RTNC's Defense -------------- ¶6. (U) In its defense, the RTNC's managing director Kipolongo Mukambilwa said that the RTNC was paid a total of USD 4500 by the PPRD. While it is a state- owned and operated media outlet, he acknowledged, the RTNC also has an obligation to try to be commercially profitable. When asked about the controversy, the Minister of Press and Information, Henri Mova Sakanyi, favorably likened the RTNC coverage of the PPRD convention to its non-stop coverage of the recent Africa soccer championship. ¶7. (U) To charges that the HAM sanction of a 48-hour suspension of political reporting by the RTNC (which was reportedly followed in spirit, if not to the letter) was insufficient, HAM vice president Primo Mukambilowa said the public should not be deprived longer of the public service that state-owned RTNC ordinarily provides. With its uniquely broad national coverage, the RTNC serves as the primary source of Congo news for many Congolese. Involving the Supreme Court -------------- ¶8. (U) The spokesman of Tshisekedi's USPS party, Jean- Baptiste Bomanza, immediately and publicly replied to Yerodia's insulting remarks by saying Yerodia should be committed to an insane asylum. As a result of this exchange, the HAM, in its February 7 decision against the RTNC, referred both Yerodia and Bomanza to the Supreme Court for a decision about whether they should both be banned from access to the airwaves, and said it would ban them anyway, if they crossed the line again. ¶9. (SBU) Comment: The HAM is a legally-mandated referee of balanced and peaceful political access to the airwaves before elections. Its job is a delicate, if not impossible, one, and the vote of support by the CIAT is welcome and timely. Hate-mongering broadcasts have a tragic history in the Great Lakes region. It is particularly disturbing that Vice President Yerodia finds himself in the middle of this RTNC controversy, since in 1998 he used the media to call Rwandans and Tutsis "cockroaches," a very ill-advised word in this context. It is unlikely, however, that the Supreme Court will find his somewhat less provocative choice of language this time sufficient grounds for banning his access to radio and television. Despite expressions of support, the HAM will have its hands full to avoid a campaign free-for-all, given the very poor example set by the DRC's own national television and radio station. MEECE