Goma Report for January 20 - CNDP Makes

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000055 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM MOPS PREL CG SUBJECT: Goma Report for January 20 - CNDP Makes Demands as Kivus Conference Prolongs ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On what was meant to be the next-to-last day of the Kivus Conference (now apparently extended to January 22),the CNDP expressed dissatisfaction on multiple points. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) On what was meant to be a final day of preparations before closure on January 21, the Kivus Conference was on hold while the conference leaders and president's advisers were disputing concessions to be made to the CNDP. As of late afternoon January 20, successful conclusion of the conference -- meaning, to a significant degree, signature by the CNDP -- remains unsure, and the conference's closure has been apparently extended to January 22. ¶3. (SBU) In a meeting with international observers January 20, the CNDP delegation reviewed its many points of dissatisfaction. The delegation, speaking mainly through Bertrand Bisimina, said that it had received different versions of the final conference declaration to be signed by all parties, a version from the president's Chief of Staff Raymond Tshibanda and one from the conference leaders. The former left out key points dealing with amnesty and a presidential decree formalizing and legalizing the conference declaration, points which were contained in the version offered by the conference leaders. ¶4. (SBU) Bisimina reviewed the many issues which the CNDP felt remained unaddressed, particularly in the former version. He emphasized that it was inadequate for President Kabila to assert that he should be trusted to hold his word, without solid guarantees built into the conference's final document. He stressed: -- The ceasefire and other major recommendations of the conference needed to be converted into formal government decisions through a decree from the president, with signature by the president. -- The conference needed to establish political as well as military follow-up commissions to resolve political problems such as return of refugees and reconciliation, while the military commission would deal with problems of demobilization, securing territory, and brassage. -- Refugee return would need to be elaborated with a specific timetable. -- Brassage would be put in force only after the issue of FDLR was resolved pursuant to the Nairobi communiqu. -- Amnesty must be established by decree. CNDP needed solid assurance that none of its members would be arrested. -- Exile for certain members (i.e., Nkunda) was unconstitutional and out of the question. -- The text would have to be signed and guaranteed by the international community. ¶5. (SBU) In response, EU Special Envoy Roeland van de Geer addressed the main points. On FDLR, he stressed that the Nairobi process was under way. FDLR was the one of the fundamental causes of conflict in the Kivus, and all sides had stressed this point during the conference. A "sensitization" program was beginning and there was reason to hope that the remaining FDLR could be much reduced in size voluntarily. He said that a refugee-return timetable was a laudable objective but not appropriate in the conference's declaration, which should rather call for return of refugees as soon as possible in conformance with normal international standards. Belgian Special Envoy Jozef Smets noted that the president had told the international community that he would be soon convoke the leaders of the FDLR to tell them they had reached "the end of the road" in DRC. He urged the CNDP, however much they feared that the government with MONUC would not be able completely to stem the threat from FDLR, to seize the moment of this conference to bring peace to the region and gain in stature. ¶6. (SBU) Van de Geer said that amnesty for rebellion was to be sharply distinguished from amnesty for war crimes and crimes against humanity. A political solution in Goma required the former, but it would be very unwise for CNDP to ask for the latter, which was beyond the capability of an individual state to comply with. Bertrand said that CNDP had heard that the government had forwarded the arrest warrant for Nkunda to Interpol. Human Rights Watch representative, attending the meeting, clarified that, to her knowledge, while the government had the right to forward the warrant to Interpol it had not done so. She noted that the existing amnesty law (amnesty for insurrection) covered the period up to 2003, and the president to could follow a simple procedure (avoiding the KINSHASA 00000055 002 OF 002 national assembly) for extending that period to the present. As for the arrest warrant, she said, it had been valid for only three months and had expired, and the auditor general could officially notify Nkunda that it had expired. ¶7. (SBU) Van de Geer said that on signature by the government, there was no problem, as he believed a decision had been made for signature by a high official such as the Minister of State for Interior. He advised CNDP strongly against demanding that the president himself sign. As for exile, van de Geer noted that the issue was not in any of the texts being discussed, and the focus had moved to a cooling off period rather than exile. He noted that the real work of bringing peace to the Kivus was only beginning, would unfold with many starts and stops in the commissions set up by the conference, and issues such as Nkunda's remaining or leaving the country for a period could be worked out over time. ¶8. (SBU) Several other members of the CNDP delegation then offered their views. They were mollified on the amnesty issue, but they remained very distrustful of the government and disquieted by the prospect of moving forward on the Goma peace process without adequate assurances about Nairobi and the FDLR. They cautioned that it would be better for Nkunda to remain in the country, as he had the adoration of his troops and was by far the best person to keep them under control. ¶9. (SBU) This meeting was followed immediately by CNDP's meeting with conference leaders. Brock