SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF CODEL INHOFE TO THE

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000316

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OREP PREL PGOV MARR MOPS CG
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR THE VISIT OF CODEL INHOFE TO THE
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (APRIL 9)


1. (SBU) Summary: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
continues to grapple with fundamental security challenges,
particularly in the eastern part of the country, making it one of
the most fragile and volatile states in the world. Armed groups,
including the infamous Lord's Resistance Army, continue to terrorize
the Congolese population in the east. At the same time, there have
been a number of recent breakthroughs that, over time, could help to
bring at least a modicum of stability and security to the DRC. Most
important of these is a recent rapprochement between the DRC and its
regional rival Rwanda, which in turn has led to newfound cooperation
between the two governments to address the problems posed by two of
the principal armed groups operating on Congolese soil - one
traditionally supported (or at least tolerated) by Kinshasa which
operated against Rwanda's interests, and the other supported by
Kigali which operated against the DRC's interests. Separately, a
recent high-profile power struggle between the President and the
Speaker of the National Assembly, which ran the risk of igniting
conflict here in Kinshasa, was resolved according to established,
democratic procedures, with the Speaker resigning his post.


2. (SBU) Summary continued: Nevertheless, the problems faced by
the Congolese state and population remain rife: endemic government
corruption, rampant government abuse of human rights, economic
crisis, and wrenching poverty and destitution. Your visit here can
reinforce the point that, while the USG stands ready to assist the
DRC with its many challenges, it is vitally important that the
elites of this country make the commitment to build a transparent,
modern, liberal state which is focused on the delivery of services -
as opposed to what exists now, which is a situation in which the
state is used almost exclusively as a means by which a few people
can enrich themselves and their families. End Summary.

Peace and Security
--------------


3. (SBU) The issues surrounding the well-publicized and
now-concluded Operation Lightning Thunder - a joint effort between
the Congolese armed forces (FARDC),the Ugandan armed forces (UPDF),
and the armed forces of South Sudan to combat the scourge of the
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) - remain in focus for us. The LRA,
lodged in a remote and largely inaccessible region of northeastern
DRC, has long terrorized the local population; the numbers of
Congolese killed, tortured, kidnapped, and forced into slavery by
this group stagger the imagination. While this joint operation was
successful in degrading some of the LRA's capability, the group
remains intact and viable, and continues to carry out
well-publicized attacks against the population. The responsibility
now lies with the FARDC, supported by the peacekeepers of the UN
mission in the DRC (MONUC),to finish the job - but there are
serious doubts as to whether these two entities have the capability
or will to do so.


4. (SBU) News of a more positive nature is coming out of the Kivu
provinces, site of long-simmering ethnic tensions and the
battleground for both direct and proxy battles between the DRC and
Rwanda. A recent diplomatic rapprochement between the two countries
allowed for two important agreements, both of which were, frankly,
staggering in terms of their impact.


5. (SBU) The first of these agreements was that the DRC permitted
Rwandan armed forces (which had previously invaded and occupied
large parts of the DRC) to enter its territory to fight the armed
group known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
(FDLR),an outfit comprised in part of those complicit in the 1994
genocide and to which Kinshasa had given tacit and direct support at
various times over the years. The second agreement was clearly
(though it was never publicly stated as such) that Rwanda allowed
for the collapse of a group called the National Congress for the
Defense of the People (CNDP),a Rwandan proxy which had terrorized
North Kivu for a number of years. These developments are
remarkable, particularly when seen against the backdrop of the
DRC-Rwandan relationship of just three months ago, when many
observers believed the two countries appeared to be headed towards
war. At a meeting in Kinshasa last weekend, the Rwandans and
Congolese even announced their intention to reestablish diplomatic
relations immediately.


6. (SBU) Like the operation against the LRA, the operation against
the FDLR succeeded in weakening the group's capability to a certain
extent, but it remains active and continues to terrorize the local
civilian population. The FARDC and MONUC also now have the task to
finish the job but, as with the LRA, there are doubts as to their
ability to do so. Concerning the CNDP, its fighters are being
integrated into the FARDC and the Congolese police force as part of
the agreement that dismantled the group as a fighting force. While
a positive step, significant work remains to be done to ensure that
this process of integration succeeds in permanently ending the
status of the CNDP as an armed group.

Assistance Efforts

7. (SBU) The Congolese military, which must play a key role in
solving the security challenges faced by the DRC, itself faces
severe internal and external challenges. The USG and other partners
are committed to seeing through progress in this area, though the
pace of reform has been slow. Alongside our ongoing programs to
provide capacity to military investigators to investigate sex crimes
and to enhance the leadership ability of FARDC officers, actions to
begin training a light infantry battalion are continuing apace.


8. (SBU) In general, the Mission's overriding goals focus on
reinforcing Congolese political will and capacity for robust and
effective leadership and oversight at all levels of government,
while promoting broad economic development. Together with
Washington and other diplomatic missions, we will identify and
engage key decision-makers and implement results-oriented
initiatives to support transparent governance, legislative
accountability, judicial independence, political pluralism and
provincial and local autonomy. Our assistance programs focus on
enhancing security, fighting poverty, and supporting democratic
reforms.

Human Rights and Gender-Based Violence
--------------


9. (SBU) A large part of the problem resides in the fact that
security forces and armed groups remain responsible for most human
rights violations in the DRC, including unlawful killings,
disappearances, torture, rape and arbitrary arrest and detention.
Human rights advocates have extensively documented the involvement
of these elements in such abuses. Constitutionally-protected
freedoms of association, speech, and protest are increasingly
disregarded by security and administrative authorities using vague
Mobutu and colonial-era laws to arrest and detain perceived critics.
The Embassy is working with NGOs and other diplomatic missions to
encourage Parliament to bring these laws into line with the 2006
constitution.


10. (SBU) Sexual violence against women and girls in eastern DRC is
pervasive. While most of the recorded attacks have been by armed
groups and the FARDC, reports of rape by civilians is increasingly
prevalent. A general climate of impunity does nothing to discourage
these acts. In a recent report, the UN Human Rights Integrated
Office in the DRC (UNHRO) stated that, despite strengthened laws on
sexual violence, "law enforcement personnel and magistrates continue
to treat rape and sexual violence in general with a marked lack of
seriousness. Consequently, men accused of rape are often granted
bail or given relatively light sentences, and out-of-court
settlements of sexual violence cases are widespread." In fact,
relatively few cases are reported to the police, and fewer still
result in prosecution.


11. (SBU) USAID and the Departments of State and Defense support
activities to respond to and prevent gender-based violence through a
variety of interventions in the eastern provinces. Since 2002,
USAID has allocated more than $10 million for activities to combat
gender-based violence in the Eastern DRC. The Defense Institute for
International Legal Studies (DIILS) has provided training sessions
on the investigation of sex crimes to nearly all 350 of the FARDC
military magistrates and police investigators with investigatory and
adjudicatory roles. The program, funded through PKO monies,
sponsored sessions across the country, and received laudatory
comments from the international community.

Economic Issues
--------------

12. (SBU) The DRC has been significantly and negatively impacted by
the global financial crisis due to its heavy reliance on natural
resources for foreign exchange and limited capacity to protect
against external shocks. Reduced demand for and lower prices of
minerals have resulted in a significant contraction of the DRC's
mining sector, the driver of the DRC's recent economic growth and a
major source of formal sector employment and investment. The IMF
has projected GDP growth for 2009 at 4.4 percent, less than half of
projection before the global financial crisis. International
reserves have fallen to the lowest level in five years and the
exchange rate has depreciated by more than 25 percent over the last
four months. At the same time, continuing conflict in eastern DRC
is having an adverse impact on the fiscal balance through public
expenditures. To help support the continuation of basic services
and augment international reserve levels, the World Bank approved
$100 million in emergency assistance under its Fast Track Assistance
Program in February and the IMF approved $200 million in emergency
assistance under its Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF) in March. The
EU also plans to provide emergency assistance.

13. (SBU) The DRC's development framework includes implementation
of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP),approved in mid-2006
by the IMF and World Bank boards, and the government's five-year
program, approved by the National Assembly in February 2007. The
five-year program, known as the five pillars, or "cinq chantiers" in
French, is based on the PRSP and focuses heavily on President
Kabila's five priority areas: infrastructure; employment;
education; water/electricity; and health. The DRC currently

participates in a non-disbursing IMF Staff Monitored Program (SMP)
and continues discussions with the IMF on the re-establishment of an
IMF Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF). A new IMF PRGF
will help pave the way for external debt relief under the Heavily
Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. The DRC's external debt
totals approximately $11 billion. In early 2008, the DRC concluded
an agreement with a consortium of Chinese companies to create a
joint venture to exploit mining resources and develop Congolese
infrastructure. The project will be financed by a $9 billion loan
arranged by the consortium. To ensure debt sustainability, some of
the loan agreement's provisions must be clarified in order to
qualify the DRC for a PRGF program and receive debt relief under
HIPC.
The Scene Today
--------------


14. (SBU) The problems faced by the DRC are overwhelming, but your
visit will reinforce the point that the USG stands ready and willing
to assist the country with its security, economic, and governmental
challenges. At the same time, we have high expectations of the
Kabila government and there will be no blank check issued to his
regime. Post believes that it is particularly important that the
following points be reinforced during your visit: 1) those in power
must first and foremost truly commit to the creation of a modern
state, focused on the rational and just delivery of services to all
its citizens (not just individual constituencies),and to address
the endemic corruption that renders progress in this area
impossible; 2) the appalling human rights record of the government
and its security services must be corrected - not by empty rhetoric
but with concrete action; and 3) we expect the full engagement of
the FARDC to fight the LRA and FDLR, in cooperation with MONUC and
keeping in mind first and foremost the need to protect civilians.

GARVELINK