Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KINSHASA382
2009-04-17 14:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kinshasa
Cable title:  

OPPOSITION MEETINGS BROKEN UP BY POLICE

Tags:  PHUM PGOV KDEM CG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO2773
PP RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHKI #0382/01 1071407
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 171407Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9496
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUZEJAA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000382 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/17/2019
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM CG
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION MEETINGS BROKEN UP BY POLICE

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

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000382

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/17/2019
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM CG
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION MEETINGS BROKEN UP BY POLICE

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

Summary
--------------


1. (C) In two separate cases in the past week, Kinshasa
police broke up opposition political meetings. On April 12,
police prevented approximately 40 AMP and opposition MPs from
meeting, apparently as the group was considering the creation
of a political movement under the leadership of outgoing
National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe. Diplomatic
sources have told us that as many as 135 MPs would support a
new political formation led by Kamerhe. In the second
incident, police turned away members of the Union for
Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) party, who had planned
to stage a party congress April 15. While the police action
against the UDPS supporters was disturbing, the underlying
problem appears to have been an internal UDPS dispute between
a faction loyal to long-time party president Etienne
Tshisekedi and another group favoring a more activist stance
from the party. End Summary.

Kamerhe Supporters Harassed
--------------


2. (C) Kinshasa police broke up a meeting of a group of 40
national AMP and opposition parliamentarians at a Kinshasa
restaurant on April 12. One of the participants, Jean-Bosco
Barihima, told post that he arrived at the meeting, as the
police began to forcibly disperse the MPs. The police
prevented Barihima from entering the venue, so he observed
agitated policemen chasing those inside the restaurant out on
to the street. The group had reportedly been waiting for the
arrival of outgoing National Assembly President Vitale
Kamerhe to discuss the creation of a new political movement.
Press reports and diplomatic sources indicate that the group
later met at Kamerhe's home. Several diplomatic contacts
told PolCouns that the new movement has the support of as
many as 135 parliamentarians. Officials for the Movement for
the Liberation of Congo (MLC) party have reportedly also
contacted Kamerhe to discuss the possibility of political
collaboration.

UDPS Congress
--------------


3. (SBU) The Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS)
had planned to hold a party congress April 15 in Kinshasa.
However, police prevented participants from entering the
building where the congress was to have taken place. (Note:
UDPS currently is not represented in parliament, as it
boycotted the 2006 election. End Note.) Attempting to
observe the party congress, EmbOff was also turned away by
police. A UDPS advisor, Aka Mansia, told us that the police
were operating under orders from Kinshasa Governor Andre
Kimbuta. Apparently, Kimbuta had rescinded an authorization
for the congress. One of the organizers, Jean-Joseph
Mukendi, claimed that the police have abducted five protocol
members of the party and that they are currently in
detention. Mukendi said that the congress later convened in
a private home in Kinshasa.


4. (C) MONUC and western diplomatic missions characterized
the conflict surrounding the aborted party congress as an
internal UDPS struggle. Those loyal to ailing party
president Etienne Tshisekedi, who is under medical care in
Belgium, reportedly rejected the decision by another UDPS
faction to hold the party congress without Tshisekedi's
blessing. (Comment: Regardless of the internal party rules
and procedures, it does appear that the Congolese authorities
infringed on the rights of the party organizers to freely
assemble. End Comment.)

Comment
--------------


5. (C) Following his fall from grace within the ruling
coalition, it is not surprising that Kamerhe would consider
establishing a rival political formation. It appears the
rebel AMP and opposition parliamentarians have carefully
chosen to establish a "movement," rather than a new political
party. Any MP who changes parties, automatically loses his
seat; on the other hand, there are no such restrictions on
"movements." On the UDPS side, there is indeed a power
struggle between a group that views Tshisekedi as the supreme
leader of the party, and a group that wants to move forward

KINSHASA 00000382 002 OF 002


without the long-time UDPS leader. Most disturbingly, the
police, apparently acting on orders from the Kinshasa
Governor, intervened to prevent political gatherings in two
separate cases over the past week.
GARVELINK