FIRST CREDIBLE REPORTS OF WIDESPREAD HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L LUANDA 001221

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DRL FOR KRILLA AND DAVIS, NSC FOR PITTMAN/LEO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL AO
SUBJECT: FIRST CREDIBLE REPORTS OF WIDESPREAD HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSES ON DRC BORDER

Classified By: AMB DAN MOZENA FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: A December 5th, 2007 report from NGO
Medecins San Frontieres is the first substantiated report of
widespread human right abuses perpetrated by Angolan soldiers
against expelled Congolese illegal immigrants in the
diamond-rich region of Lunda Norte. The Embassy is actively
engaging with contacts in the region and the international
community in Luanda to gather information and pressure
Angolan officials to openly investigate and punish human
rights violators. END SUMMARY


2. (U) On December 5th, 2007 Medecins San Frontieres (MSF)
released in Geneva a well-documented account of widespread
human right abuses committed by members of the Angolan Armed
Forces (FAA) during extensive expulsion operations earlier
this year against illegal Congolese immigrants in the
province of Lunda Norte. The report, which documents the
experiences of 100 women during expulsions ranging from April
to November 2007, tells a story of collective rape, beatings,
improper detention and search of body cavities, forced labor,
denial of food and water, and deaths from exhaustion and
mistreatment. The report comes from an MSF team that has
been working in Western Kasai, a Congolese province boarding
Angola, since October 2007.


3. (C) While scattered reports of mass expulsions and abuses
have circulated since March 2007, this report marks the first
public account of systematically gathered information on the
issue. Travel restrictions in the remote area have impeded
outside verification of events on the Angolan side of the
border. In August UNHCR, the UNHRO, and IOM planned a joint
fact-finding mission through the Ministry of the Interior;
not long before the trip they were informed that it must
instead be organized through the Ministry of External
Relations. A request for such a trip was submitted but no
response received to date.


4. (C) COMMENT: The scale and severity of human rights abuses
in the MSF report far exceed the perception previously held
by the diplomatic community and UN organizations in Luanda.
We and concerned diplomatic colleagues will meet December 7
or early next week to exchange information and consider how
most effectively to engage the GRA. Meanwhile, Embassy is
reaching out to various contacts in Lunda Norte to get their
on-the-ground views. We hope to follow up the April 2007
visit to the Lundas by the Embassy,s Human Rights Officer.


5. (C) The fact MSF was able to document credibly so many
cases of abuse indicates that the human rights safeguards put
in place by the Angolan security forces after 2005's forced
expulsions have failed to take hold. The GRA's
unwillingness to let independent observers travel to the area
only lends credence to the MSF accounts. These reports make
clear the need for continued efforts to bring human rights
training to Angolan forces. Angola, as a state newly voted
onto the UN Human Rights Commission, now has a chance to
demonstrate its commitment to investigate such abuses and
bring those accused, if proven guilty, to justice. END
COMMENT.
MOZENA