NGO OFFICIALS RELEASED AS KABILA-KAMERHE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000251

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/18/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM CG
SUBJECT: NGO OFFICIALS RELEASED AS KABILA-KAMERHE
GAMESMANSHIP CONTINUES

REF: KINSHASA 245

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Garvelink for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (C) Summary: Human Rights NGO officials, arrested March 15
to pre-empt street violence the following day in conjunction
with the opening of Parliament, have been released. The
National Assembly has not yet taken steps to remove its
president, Vital Kamerhe, who is locked in a power struggle
with President Joseph Kabila. It may be more difficult to
vote Kamerhe out of office than was previously believed.
Kabila is reportedly remaining in Goma until the Kamerhe
issue is resolved. If the issue is not resolved soon street
violence could occur or Kamerhe could suffer physical harm.
End Summary.


2. (C) Dolly Inefo, Deputy Executive Director of the NGO
Voix Sans Voix (VSV),told emboff March 18 that DRC
authorities had released him, VSV Executive Director
Floribert Chebaya, and Donat Tshikaya, a Director with the
NGO RENADHOC. The national police (PNC) had arrested them at
a March 15 press conference (ref A). According to Inefo,
they were taken to Kinmaziere prison March 15, then to
National Security Agency (ANR -- "Agence Nationale de
Renseignements") facilities the same day where they were
interrogated, stripped, photographed, and then returned to
Kinmaziere prison. Kinmaziere is a special prison in
Kinshasa that is run by PNC's special intelligence service
("Renseignements Generaux du Service Special de la Police").
The GDRC does not allow outside access to Kinmaziere
detainees, including from the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN Joint Human Rights Office. Inefo
claims that a police official told him that the three were
released on the order of Prince Kaumba, the national security
counselor to President Kabila.


3. (C) Inefo said attorneys for the two NGO's would go March
18 to ANR offices to request the return of property (security
cameras, two computers, cell phones) taken from the NGO's on
March 15. He also noted that three students from the National
Teachers University (UPN--"Universite Pedagogique
Nationale"),who were arrested by the PNC March 14 for
carrying flyers supporting the National Assembly
investigation of Rwandan and Ugandan troop activity in the
DRC, remained in detention at Kinmaziere prison.


4. (SBU) Following the March 16 opening of Parliament, a
member of National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe's staff
told us March 18 that the National Assembly "Conference of
Chairmen", the collection of assembly leadership that
determines the legislative calendar, did not meet March 17,
but may meet as early as March 19. The calendar will likely
include the question of a no confidence vote against Kamerhe.
Local press reported that Aubin Minaku, a member of majority
coalition AMP, announced March 17 the participation of AMP
deputies in the next plenary and "Conference of Chairmen."
According to article 64 of the National Assembly by-laws,
two-thirds of the legislature's members must be present in
plenary for the motion to hold a no-confidence vote.


5. (C) According to well-placed sources President Joseph
Kabila, who has been traveling in the eastern DRC for several
weeks, has decided to prolong his trip, delaying his return
until the weekend at the earliest. We understand that Kabila
does not want to return to Kinshasa until the Kamerhe
question has been resolved.


6. (C) Comment: The release of the NGO officials at the
request of Kaumba, if true as claimed by Inefo, suggests that
some of Kabila's advisors appreciate the potential negative
consequences of domestic and international disapproval of the
arrests and the adverse impact on the DRC's human rights
record of prolonged detention. The Kamerhe-Kabila rift has
now entered a phase of political gamesmanship within the
National Assembly. Kamerhe can buy time through legal
maneuvering, but Kabila's supporters can also buy something:
enough legislators, even as many as two thirds of the
membership, to out vote Kamerhe. If the issue is not
resolved soon street violence could occur or Kamerhe could
suffer physical harm. End Comment.
GARVELINK