POLICE OPERATION AGAINST BDK MILITANTS IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000218

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/03/2018
TAGS: PGOV ASEC SOCI PHUM MOPS CG AO CF
SUBJECT: POLICE OPERATION AGAINST BDK MILITANTS IN
BAS-CONGO LEAVES AT LEAST 22 DEAD

REF: A. KINSHASA 25


B. 07 KINSHASA 350

C. 07 KINSHASA 134

Classified By: PolCouns D. Brown, reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)


1. (SBU) Summary. February 28-29 clashes in Bas-Congo
province between police and partisans of the Bunda dia Kongo
(BDK) politico-religious movement have left at least 22 dead
following weeks of government inaction in response to a wave
of intimidation and violence by BDK militants, primarily in
Luozi and Seke Banza territories northwest and north of the
provincial capital of Matadi. No Americans have been
reported affected by the clashes or related violence.
Interior Minister Kalume told Security Council ambassadors he
ordered police reinforcements to affected areas in order to
re-establish state authority following appeals by church
leaders, many of whose pastors have been terrorized,
kidnapped or forced to flee by the militants. The operation
is ongoing, accompanied by reports of indiscriminate use of
force by both sides. Kalume blamed BDK leader Nsemi for the
situation; Nsemi claimed the operation was aimed at
discrediting him. Separately, both agreed on the need to for
a roundtable conference to resolve longstanding conflict and
tensions. End summary.


2. (SBU) Police and militants of the politico-religious
movement Bunda dia Kongo (BDK) clashed February 28 and 29 in
Luozi territory, 235 km northeast of the Bas-Congo capital
Matadi, following a decision by Interior Minister Gen. Denis
Kalume to send in the newly-trained 7th Battalion of the
Rapid Intervention Police (PIR) to establish order after a
series of violent incidents directed at pastors, teachers,
government officials and non-Kongo residents by young BDK
toughs. Kalume convoked Security Council ambassadors late in
the afternoon of March 3 to present documents and video
supporting his decision, including the graphic testimony of a
Catholic priest, Fr. Andre Mingiedi, who endured an
excruciating 12-hour torture by members of BDK's Makesa
militia January 21.


3. (SBU) We have received no reports of Americans affected by
the clash or related violence. DAO cancelled a planned visit
to the province by a group of 17 Air War College students.
MONUC Force Commander General Gaye told the ambassadors that
MONUC had reinforced its police and military detachments in
the provincial capital of Matadi and in Seke Banza territory
north of Matadi, where a January 5 confrontation between
police and militants left six dead and six wounded (ref A).


4. (SBU) Kalume insistently told the ambassadors that the
death toll stood at seven, dismissing attempts by several
Europeans to flag higher numbers cited by local sources or
press reports. MONUC's Radio Okapi has floated figures of up
to a dozen injured. Kalume said some militants had fled
north into Congo-Brazzaville and Angola's Cabinda enclave,
drawing expressions of concern from the Angolan ambassador.
According to Okapi, Bas-Congo Governor Simon Mbatshi told the
press the same day that 22 people had been killed, although
it was not clear whether he was referring to the operation in
Luozi alone or to other areas as well.


5. (SBU) Kalume reported that he and Mbatshi visited Luozi
town March 2. He presented a video from their visit showing
a burnt-out church and jeep, two dead bodies -- apparently of
a woman and a child -- and testimony of victims. These
included several residents born outside the province who told
stories of ill-treatment and intimidation by BDK militants,
whose creed foresees the millennial re-establishment of an
ethnically-pure Kongo kingdom in parts of modern
Congo-Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville and Angola (ref B).
Mbatshi also appeared on the tape, recounting in Kikongo
(helpfully translated by Kalume) to a crowd that the
confrontation began on the evening of February 28 when
militants began stoning recently-arrived police, who
responded with tear gas.


6. (SBU) Details of the operation remain sketchy, but it is
ongoing. Most reports, including Kalume's briefing, allege
indiscriminate use of force, multiple house-burnings and
murder by police and/or militants. MONUC analysts who
briefed us on the situation earlier in the day March 3 cited
culpability on both sides. They noted accusations that
Congolese police shot up a BDK church during a prayer service
February 28 in Luozi, police-BDK confrontations there the
following day and March 2 allegations from an NGO source of

police setting houses on fire in the village of Kikenge, 57
km from Luozi. MONUC and Okapi have also received reports of
further clashes in Kikenge and the nearby villages of
Bandakani and Lufuku, houses burnt in Lufuku -- including
that of the local head of the Salvation Army -- and bodies
carried away or thrown in the river. An Okapi report March
4, citing civil society, pointed to shooting in Seke Banza
town and burning of government agents' houses there.


7. (SBU) Kalume said he ordered the deployment in the
aftermath of an appeal to Mbatshi last week by bishops of the
Eglise du Christ au Congo (ECC),an influential evangelical
church with close ties to President Kabila. The bishops'
letter demanded restoration of state authority in areas of
the province plagued by acts of intimidation, assault and
murder by BDK Makesa dating June 2007 and targeting state,
church and school authorities. Kalume repeated claims that
Makesa had taken over border posts and police stations. He
also played a video of a press conference the same week by
the province's head ECC bishop, in which the bishop recited a
litany of outrages directed by militants against members of
other religious groups -- Protestant, Catholic and
Kimbanguist -- their suppression of the national flag and
anthem at schools in favor of BDK's, and banning of religious
services at the churches' own schools.


8. (SBU) Kalume said he made the decision to intervene after
viewing the video, including Mingiedi's testimony of torture,
and calling in Mbatshi and several Bas-Congo deputies for
consultations. He said he had acted on the basis that BDK
actions were: a) violent -- Makesa had burned two men to
death in Kikenge the previous weekend after condemning them
in a BDK court known as a Zikwa, and buried others alive; b)
intolerant -- aimed at the province's three Christian
denominations; c) xenophobic -- targeted non-Kongo residents
of the province; and d) insurrectional -- militants were
systematically dismantling the apparatus of the state.


9. (SBU) Kalume said he had met with BDK spiritual leader and
National Assembly Deputy Ne Muanda Nsemi last week to urge
him to help stop the violence, told him of the acts committed
in his name and presented him photos of victims burned alive
by the militants. A joint declaration February 26 by Nsemi
and the province's Catholic bishops condemned violence and
threats against religious figures as not in accord with the
BDK's teachings about respect for human life. It also stated
that freedom of religion is at the heart of the culture of
the Kongo people.


10. (SBU) Nsemi has called again for a roundtable conference,
a longtime demand of many of the province's residents.
Kalume told the ambassadors he was in favor of a conference,
but expressed frustration at Nsemi. He said he had asked
Nsemi to accompany him and Mbatshi on their visit to the
province, but Nsemi begged off. "What is clear," said
Kalume, "is that he is directing this," and noted that the
National Assembly has not acted on previous requests to lift
Nsemi's parliamentary immunity. Nsemi denied all accusations
in a March 1 interview with Okapi, claiming he was the victim
of a plot aimed at discrediting him and causing trouble in
the province.


11. (SBU) Kalume said the government's objective is to
restore state authority and enable the pastors who have fled
to return home and resume their work. Gaye observed that the
situation was urgent, and had been building for a long time.
National Police Inspector General John Numbi reported that
the situation was under control, with police working to
restore security and support the rule of law.


12. (C) Comment: MONUC's lead BDK analyst portrays the
current situation as an outgrowth of a tendency by many
people in the province to resolve problems by turning to BDK,
rather than state institutions, which they view as weak and
corrupt. He noted, however, that BDK's effectiveness has
rested on its use of violence. In fact, this situation has
been building since the Seke Banza incident early in the
year, which took place as the spotlight was turning to the
Kivus peace and security conference. Attention to Bas-Congo
by the government and the international press has suffered as
a result. Even Human Rights Watch, which conducted an
investigation into last year's deadly clashes between
security forces and BDK militants (ref C),was unaware of
anything out of the ordinary when we raised the issue with
its respected senior researcher February 28. End comment.

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