UN AGREES TO MAKE RESULTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS MAPPING

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000919 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM KPKO CG SUBJECT: UN AGREES TO MAKE RESULTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS MAPPING EXERCISE PUBLIC REF: KINSHASA 577 ¶1. (SBU) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) Louise Arbour has approved public release of a proposed DRC human rights mapping exercise report, MONUC Human Rights Officers told PolOff July 31 following a donors meeting with SRSG William Swing. Although Arbour and MONUC representatives had previously assured diplomatic missions they would strongly recommend the report be made public, official language in the proposal had remained ambiguous. The exercise aims to gather evidence of human rights and international law violations in the DRC during the period March 1993 to June 2003 (reftel). It will also include an assessment of the existing capacities within the national justice system to address the violations uncovered. ¶2. (SBU) UN officials provided additional details on the timeline and an update on the budgetary shortfall at the July 31 meeting. The proposed exercise will begin in late October with a 30-member team and end in April 2008. Allowing two months for the report to be completed, a final document would be submitted to the Security Council for approval in June. As of July 31, two countries had made pledges toward the $2.7M budget: Austria for $200,000 and Switzerland for $200,000. ¶3. (SBU) Diplomatic representatives at the meeting expressed near unanimous support for the project, although most also mentioned financial difficulties in funding a project at the end of their fiscal years. The Netherlands and the EU both remained uncertain that a human rights mapping exercise was a high priority at present. PolOff conveyed reservations about recommending funding for the project if there was no guarantee the resulting report will be made public, a point with which the French and British representatives concurred. Later the same day, MONUC informed PolOff that an assurance of public release of the report would be put in writing and sent to diplomatic missions within one week. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: The UNHCHR and MONUC have worked hard to alleviate U.S. and other missions' concerns regarding publication of the report. There remains, however, considerable ambiguity about what is to be done with the results of the mapping exercise once completed. The GDRC judicial system is certainly not now capable of systematically and effectively prosecuting guilty parties, and the project proposal is essentially silent as to how local justice capacity can be strengthened. From the perspective here, prospects for possible broad international court action seem limited. While there is certainly some value in documenting the extensive human rights abuses over the 1993-2003 period, the question remains as to whether this is the best priority use for funds in this area. End comment. MEECE