FARDC 14TH BRIGADE: A BURDEN TO KABARE RESIDENTS

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000441 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: MOPS PHUM PGOV PINS SOCI CG SUBJECT: FARDC 14TH BRIGADE: A BURDEN TO KABARE RESIDENTS ¶1. (SBU) Summary. The FARDC 14th Brigade looted two schools in Kabare Center, South Kivu on April 28 and continues to plunder the local population, including food supplies. The 14th Brigade settled in Kabare since it disintegrated during fighting with the CNDP in North Kivu in December 2007. A South Kivu national deputy and a traditional chief from Kabare have called upon the national government to either provide support for the troops or to remove them from Kabare Center. The problem of providing support to troops is endemic in the FARDC. End summary. ¶2. (U) FARDC troops of the 14th Integrated Brigade under Col. John Tshibangu looted two schools in Kabare Center, South Kivu province on April 28, according to Radio Okapi. A MONUC mission visiting Kabare the same day noted that the same troops were plundering local food supplies. Tshibangu confirmed these facts to Radio Okapi and announced that six of his soldiers had been arrested and were currently in custody at the military court in Bukavu. ¶3. (SBU) Zubaida Rasul, head of MONUC's Bukavu field office, confirmed to us May 7 the events in the Radio Okapi report. Additionally, she said this was the infamous brigade that disintegrated while fighting the CNDP in North Kivu in December ¶2007. After fleeing the fighting, they congregated in Minova, South Kivu and started to terrorize the local population. Later in December, they settled in their present location in Kabare Center. Rasul said that the 14th brigade does not receive any financial assistance from the FARDC and that there are no facilities in Kabare Center to support them, thus they are living off the local population. Rasul also said that she understood they have been ordered to report to Kitona, Bas-Congo province, but there is no logistical support available to transport them. ¶4. (SBU) On April 18, Solide Birindwa, a national deputy from South Kivu, called on the National Assembly to summon the Defense Minister and ask him to pull the brigade out of Kabare or provide for its logistical support, including housing. Birindwa said troops from the 14th Brigade had been stealing, raping, destroying the environment and occupying homes. He also said there are ethnic conflicts among the troops; the brigade is a mixture of Hutu and Tutsi soldiers. ¶5. (SBU) Birindwa told us May 7 that the National Assembly has drafted a letter to the Minister of Defense and that he will deliver the letter as soon as a final copy is available. The traditional chief of Kabare, Prince Desire Kabare, told us in March that he had sent a letter to the government demanding either that they provide support to the troops or that they remove them from Kabare Center. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: The problem of providing support to military troops is endemic in the FARDC. The Congolese military does not have the administrative or logistical capacity to pay, feed, and house all of its soldiers. The presence of improperly trained and inadequately supported troops in the volatile Kivus represents a legitimate threat to the ongoing peace process in eastern Congo. End comment. BROCK