Kivus Conference opens in Goma without Kabila;

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000008 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS PHUM PREF KPKO CG SUBJECT: Kivus Conference opens in Goma without Kabila; many Tutsis appointed to senior positions REF: Kinshasa 0005 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The ceremonial opening on January 6 of the projected week-long Conference on North and South Kivu (reftel) kept to a positive script. Absent at the opening ceremony was President Joseph Kabila; he did now show, it is believed, because of security concerns. After gaining security assurances from a reluctant MONUC, a delegation from Nkunda's CNDP did attend. Leadership positions in the Conference are widely distributed among ethnicities, with Tutsis getting more than their population in itself would seem to justify. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The Conference on Peace, Security, and Development for the Kivus got underway January 6 in Goma in a relatively positive spirit and with relatively few glitches, considering the monumental difficulties of organizing a huge conference (800 attendees) in such a chaotic city in cramped facilities. President Kabila was expected to give the principal address but, apparently at the last minute, decided not to fly from Lumbumbashi to Goma, handing responsibility for delivering the speech to Denis Kalume Numbi, Minister of State for the Interior, Decentralization, and Security. A government security officer informed ARSO that Kabila had decided that security at the conference site was simply too inadequate. Most of the senior diplomatic corps was flown in on MONUC aircraft to attend the event, and were made to wait two hours for it to commence. Tutsis are well represented -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Conference organizers made a considerable effort to ensure Tutsi involvement among the 20 leaders designated for the conference (see para 8 below for full list) and to ensure ethnic balance, but no ethnic group is likely to be satisfied with its representation. The most important positions within the conference are the so-called Executive Board ("Bureau" in French) with seven members, of whom two are Tutsi; the "Committee of Experts" ("Commission des Sages"),with seven members, of whom two are Tutsi; and the "Panel of Moderators," of which three are Tutsi. The four Tutsis in the first two bodies are close to Nkunda, while the three Tutsi moderators include RCD head Azarias Ruberwa and two of his Banyamulenge allies from South Kivu. Hutus received relatively little representation. ¶4. (SBU) A 10-person delegation from Nkunda's party CNDP attended the opening session and was seated not in the principal conference room into which 400 attendees were squeezed, but in an ancillary hall where the speeches were televised. Getting the CNDP delegation into the conference was the last major hurdle that MONUC had to confront, working till late the previous night. The CNDP insisted that MONUC provide its security, while MONUC insisted that security for the CNDP team was a government function (Note: MONUC wished to avoid being accused of being soft on Nkunda). In the end, MONUC acquiesced. ¶5. (SBU) After long prayers, there were four speeches. The Governor of North Kivu (a Nande from the "Grand Nord") opened with a short address, sticking to platitudes, refraining from his normal invective against Nkunda and merely condemning of "all those who wreak havoc on innocent citizens." The conference president, Apollinaire Malu Malu (also a Nande),a Catholic priest who heads the Congo's Independent Electoral Commission, reviewed what he described as the organizers' considerable efforts to visit and include all sections of the Kivus (they had, he said, only failed to visit Masisi Territory). The mission of the Conference was not to have a talk fest, nor to usurp powers of the executive, legislature, or judiciary as enshrined in the Constitution and the election of 2006, but to find a practical, reconciliatory way forward out of the conflicts that beset the Kivus, to instill a culture of peace instead of violence and to strengthen democracy. Swing's Swan Song -------------- ¶6. (SBU) SRSG William Swing, in his last public address in Congo (he departs the DRC January 8 at the end of his mandate),emphasized how far the country had come in the past five years, "miraculously and irreversibly far." The conference had an historic responsibility to get rid of deep-rooted stereotypes and consolidate the remarkable progress that had been made; the international community would continue to give Congo its full encouragement. Kabila's speech, delivered by the Minister of Interior, emphasized that the conference must work to enhance the strength of the state and rule of law. Forces operating outside the state must be demobilized and integrated into the army, as called for in the Nairobi communique. Congo was a country of diverse ethnicities; protection of minorities was a fundamental requirement. Congo was a KINSHASA 00000008 002 OF 002 country of great natural wealth; pillage of its natural resources had to be stopped. Congo was surrounded by nine neighbors and would pursue peaceful existence with all of them. There were high expectations of this conference which, if it did its work well, could go far toward ensuring durable peace. ¶7. (SBU) The conference is scheduled to work in plenary January 7 (covering accreditation and technical matters),have simultaneous workshops for North and South Kivu January 8, move to separate workshops for North and South Kivu January 9-11, reconvene in simultaneous workshops January 12 and a plenary January 13, and close on January 14. List of Conference Officers -------------- ¶8. Principal leadership positions in the conference (with ethnicities to be confirmed): Executive Board: -- President: Fr. Apollinaire Malu Malu (Nande, Grand Nord) -- First Vice President: Senator (Monseigneur) Jean-Luc Kuye Ndondo (Mushi, S. Kivu) -- Second Vice President: Emmanuel Kamanzi (Tutsi, Goma) -- General Rapporteur: Hon. Sekimonyo wa Magungu (Hutu, Rutshuru) -- First Assistant Rapporteur: Boniface Balamage Nkolo (Mushi, S. Kivu) -- Second Assistant Rapporteur: Azil Tanzi (Tutsi, Orientale) -- Questeur: Hangi Binini (Hunde, Masisi) -- Assistant Questeur: Benjamin Mukulungu (Mushi, S. Kivu) Committee of Experts: -- President and Spokesman: Hon. Vital Kamerhe (Mushi, S. Kivu) -- First Vice President: Denis Ntare Semadwinga (Tutsi, N. Kivu) -- Second Vice President: Pardonne Kaliba (Mushi, S. Kivu) Rapporteur: Basengezi Katintima (Mushi, S. Kivu) -- First Assistant Rapporteur: Safi Adili (Tutsi, N. Kivu) -- Second Assistant Rapporteur: Pasteur Mushunganya Nene (Mushi, S. Kivu) -- Third Assistant Rapporteur: Philemon Balinabo (Hunde, Masisi) Moderators: -- Fr. Apollinaire Malu Malu (see also Bureau) -- Azarias Ruberwa Manyua (Tutsi Banyamulenge, S. Kivu) -- Vital Kamerhe (see also Committee of Experts) -- Foreign Minister Antipas Mbusa Nyamwisi (Nande, Grand Nord) -- Mashako Mamba (Hutu, Rutshuru) -- Jean Kevin Jemsi Mulengwa (Mushi, S. Kivu) -- Joseph Gwamuhanya (Tutsi Banyamulenge, S. Kivu) -- Bizima Karaha (Tutsi Banyamulenge, S. Kivu) Garvelink