PROGRESS MADE ON ITURI MILITIA DEMOBILIZATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000524 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/11/2017 TAGS: PGOV KPKO PHUM CG SUBJECT: PROGRESS MADE ON ITURI MILITIA DEMOBILIZATION REF: A. KINSHASA 411 ¶B. KINSHASA 281 Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Some 500 militia members from Peter Karim's Front for National Integration (FNI) in Ituri District have surrendered to military authorities in the past month, bringing the total number disarmed since the beginning of the year to more than 800. Demobilizing fighters, however, continue to turn in few weapons. Military officials have now transferred more than 700 ex-combatants from transit sites in Ituri to training and integration facilities in Kisangani. End summary. ¶2. (C) Following his official designation as a colonel in the Congolese military (FARDC) in April (ref A),FNI leader Peter Karim fulfilled his promise to begin demobilizing his militia. On April 20, a reported 326 FNI militia surrendered to FARDC officials at the disarmament site in Doi about 55 miles northeast of Bunia. An additional 193 FNI combatants turned themselves in at Doi May 7. This brings the number of demobilized FNI combatants to more than 800 since an initial group of 170 surrendered in late February (ref B). Karim has reportedly promised to demobilize another 100 fighters in the coming weeks. ¶3. (C) Despite these large numbers, surrendering FNI militia are not handing over a significant amount of weapons. MONUC reports that the first group that surrendered April 20 turned over just 59 AK-47 rifles, two rocket-propelled grenades, and ten anti-tank mines. The second group on May 7 surrendered only 28 AK-47s. The small number of weapons handed over has been a trend among demobilizing combatants from all of Ituri's militias. MONUC and FARDC officials worry there are thousands of small arms still being retained throughout Ituri, and have urged Karim and other militia leaders to recover these weapons as soon as possible. ¶4. (C) Several dozen children have been removed from the ranks of the recently surrendered FNI ex-combatants. MONUC-Bunia reports that 29 children were separated from the April 20 group, while another 15 were identified on May 7. All 44 have been placed in the care of UNICEF and other child protection agencies. ¶5. (C) FARDC officials have at the same time begun transporting previously demobilized ex-combatants from Ituri to training and military integration facilities in the provincial capital of Kisangani. A total of 741 former ex-combatants from various Ituri militia groups were sent to Kisangani's Lukusa training center from April 25 to May 2. Most of those transferred had surrendered from the Congolese Revolutionary Movement (MRC) and Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI) militias during November and December 2005, and had been waiting in transit camps since then. Included in these transfers are several dozen former bodyguards of Karim and MRC leader Mathieu Ngudjolo. With their departure, the only former militia members awaiting further training and transfer in Ituri are those who recently demobilized from the FNI. ¶6. (C) Two leading Ituri militia members were also sent to Kisangani for a special two-month training course. Justin Lobho, the MRC liaison officer to the FARDC, and the FRPI's Col. "Dark" (aka Androzo Zaba) were sent by FARDC Ituri Operations Commander General Vainqueur Mayala April to take part in the training. Mayala said the two were sent to Kisangani to demonstrate the FARDC's willingness to train and integrate all those who had surrendered. ¶7. (C) Comment: This is significant and welcome progress in the disarming and dismantling of Ituri's militias. After months of on-again, off-again negotiations, Karim has finally followed through on his promises. Concerns remain, however, that those surrendering are not true militia fighters but rather opportunists seeking to receive benefits due ex-combatants. The paucity of weapons being surrendered is also troubling, as Ituri remains an overly militarized area with a history of violence and unrest. End comment. MEECE