BAS-CONGO CALM, CALL FOR GENERAL STRIKE IN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000136

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV CASC MOPS KPKO ASEC PHUM CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: BAS-CONGO CALM, CALL FOR GENERAL STRIKE IN
KINSHASA UNSUCCESSFUL

REF: KINSHASA 134


1. Summary. There were no reports of further violence in the
DRC province of Bas-Congo following clashes January
31-February 1 between militant ethnic separatists and
Congolese security forces. The death toll is close to 100,
predominately civilians. Casualties were significantly
higher in the ports of Muanda and Boma, where the military
was called in to restore order. SRSG Swing expressed concern
about the violence, noting that it threatened future MONUC
cooperation with the Congolese military. A call by
Jean-Pierre Bemba for a "day of mourning" (likely interpreted
to mean a general strike) in Kinshasa on February 5 fell on
deaf ears. End summary.


2. (U) No further incidents have been reported in the
western province of Bas-Congo following 24 hours of violence
January 31-February 1 between Congolese security forces and
adherents of the ethnic Kongo separatist group Bundu dia
Kongo (BDK) (reftel). The incidents stemmed from the group's
dissatisfaction with the results of the January 27
gubernatorial vote, in which its leader was defeated for the
position of vice governor. The violence did not
significantly affect operation of the province's economic
centers, its ports in Matadi, Boma and Muanda.


3. (SBU) Business has returned to normal, but with a
stronger security presence in the province's major towns.
MONUC has dispatched security reinforcements, with 18 armed
Bangladeshi policemen and 78 Ghanaian soldiers arriving
February 3 in Matadi and 103 Uruguayan troops setting out the
following day for Muanda. MONUC also announced a joint
mission to assess the security and humanitarian situation,
which is expected to depart February 5 or 6 for approximately
a week, according to MONUC's political office.


4. (SBU) Interior Minister Denis Kalume announced February 3
a total of 97 fatalities. The dead are predominately
civilian: 16 at Matadi, 26 at Boma, 37 at Muanda and 8 at
Songololo. Six are police, four military. The number is
expected to rise, since many of the wounded are gunshot
victims. A MONUC political officer told us February 3 that
the UN's estimate is closer to 130, based on information
derived from military as well as police sources.


5. (SBU) Details of the February 2 fighting point to
particularly ferocious clashes in Boma and Muanda. A
representative of a children's rights group in Muanda told
AFP that BDK militants there had rampaged through the streets
and set fire to a police station and several government
buildings. He reported Congolese troops called in from a
nearby base used automatic weapons and rockets in attempting
to restore order. Another resident of Muanda contacted by
the Embassy said that militants attacked police guarding
public buildings and seized their weapons. The army also was
called in at Boma, where militants decapitated a policeman
and set vehicles ablaze.


6. (SBU) By contrast, most of the casualties in the
provincial capital of Matadi resulted from the January 31
confrontation between police and BKD adherents during an
attempt by the current governor of the province to confiscate
weapons at a Matadi residence. According to a MONUC's Matadi
press office, the police turned up some 100 machetes. As
many as a dozen civilians were killed. The February 1
violence in the capital was confined to the eastern side of
the city.


7. (U) MONUC released a February 3 statement calling for
calm, and SYSG Swing expressed concern in a Reuters interview
about human rights abuses by Congolese security forces,
specifically including both the army and police. He said it
would be difficult for the UN to work with the Congolese army
in the future if they continued to commit such violations.
"During the three-year transition, we never had anything like
this. What we had in Bas-Congo is very different from
anything we had during the transition," Swing told Reuters.


8. (U) Defeated presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba,
whose party has strong BDK support, called February 2 for a
half-day of mourning in Kinshasa on February 5. His call was
widely interpreted to mean general strike ("ville morte").
Interior Minister Kalume came out strongly against a general
strike, reminding Kinshasa residents repeatedly in
nationally-broadcast messages February 2-3 that such strikes

KINSHASA 00000136 002 OF 002


in the early 1990s resulted in looting, violence and
instability, as well as the failure of nascent
democratization at the time of the Sovereign National
Conference. Bemba and his supporters clarified that they
were calling for a half-day of national mourning in memory of
the Bas-Congo victims. In any case, activity in Kinshasa on
February 5 has been normal with businesses, government
offices, schools and transport operating as usual.


9. (SBU) Comment. Both Kalume and BDK leader Ne Muanda
Nsemi have appealed for Bas-Congo residents to follow legal
means of recourse regarding the gubernatorial election
result. A decision is expected February 8 on an appeal to
the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) by Bemba's MLC.
The situation is calm for now, but could again deterioate if
the CEI upholds the vote which resulted in its leader's
defeat. End comment.
MEECE