ANTI-RWANDOPHONE SENTIMENT AMONGST THE HUNDE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000510 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS PHUM PREF CG SUBJECT: ANTI-RWANDOPHONE SENTIMENT AMONGST THE HUNDE Classified By: Ambassador William J. Garvelink for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: In a recent conversation with two prominent members of the Alliance of Patriots for a Free Congo (APCLS), the Hunde-led organization vowed to continue its armed struggle against Rwandophones, whom they characterized as "Rwandan refugees." The APCLS remains convinced that the GoR, GDRC (including President Kabila),and the international community are part of a grand conspiracy to deprive "native" North Kivu groups of political and economic power at the expense of Rwandophone, particularly Tutsi, interests. The APCLS also railed against perceived favoritism towards Rwandophones in the integration process, benefits for CNDP wounded and widows, and through payoffs to the CNDP military leadership. End summary. Hunde Complaints About the Rwandophone Agenda -------------- ¶2. (C) We recently met with two prominent Hunde, "Colonel" Balume, the deputy to PARECO-Hunde military leader "General" Janvier, and Michel Kabuya, a self-described representative of the Hunde community. Both are members of the Alliance of Patriots for a Free Congo (APCLS),which was formed in 2006 as part of PARECO, but then split with PARECO in January 2008 when it refused to sign the Goma Accords. (Note: The group is also known as PARECO-Hunde. End note.) APCLS therefore never participated in the Amani commissions. Its armed struggle has two related goals: to defend the DRC's territorial integrity and to oppose the Rwandophone agenda. According to both interlocutors, the APCLS will continue to fight until all Hutus and Tutsis have returned to Rwanda. (Note: Balume and Kabuya presented us with UNHCR documents supposedly validating APCLS claims that all Rwandophones were "refugees" in the DRC. End note.) They acknowledged that the Nande were natives of the Petit Nord, but they emphasized that the group was not disadvantaged to the extent the Hunde were. ¶3. (C) The APCLS views all developments in the Kivus through the prism of Rwandophone conspiracies to further their interests at the expense of North Kivu's "native" ethnic groups, particularly the Hundes. Both Balume and Kabuya characterized the Umoja Wetu and Kimia II military operations as attempts to prepare the way for further Rwandophone immigrants in the Petit Nord. They are also convinced that �00A;the RDF troops that crossed the border to participate in Umoja Wetu have remained in the DRC, most integrated into the FARDC. The APCLS also blames the GDRC for "transporting the Tutsis around the Petit Nord" under the guise of integration and joint military operations. ¶4. (C) Balume and Kabuya also complained about more banal favoritism towards Tutsis. According to APCLS, CNDP leaders had been given large payoffs ($200,000 for Bosco Ntaganda down to $8,000 for lower-level commanders),but non-Rwandophones had received nothing. Both interlocutors were incensed that the GDRC had agreed to look after the CNDP's wounded, widows, and orphans under the March 23 agreement, while the GDRC refused to do the same for other armed groups. (Note: There is no equivalent clause in the agreements with the other armed groups requiring the GDRC to extend this benefit to non-CNDP elements. End note.) APCLS criticism of the GDRC extends to President Kabila, who, APCLS claims, is an ethnic Rwandan, and willing to allow the Tutsis to gain control of the Petit Nord. The only APCLS official about whom the two interlocutors spoke highly was General Etumba, FARDC Chief of Staff. Integration -------------- ¶5. (C) Balume maintained that the APCLS was willing to integrate into the FARDC, but the group opposed a plan whereby "natives go to brassage in Bas-Congo while Tutsis are allowed to stay in the Petit Nord." Balume feigned disinterest in what ranks integrated APCLS would receive. He insisted that if any APCLS had integrated, they have since deserted. (Note: According to the GDRC, 614 APCLS have in fact integrated into the FARDC. End note.) According to Balume, Janvier, who came to Goma in February in hopes of securing a military commission in the FARDC, has since returned to the bush. Apparently still unhappy that the GDRC has ignored him, Janvier is reportedly near Nyabiondo in Masisi. KINSHASA 00000510 002 OF 002 ¶6. (C) Comment: The APCLS are classic anti-Rwandophone extremists, especially anti-Tutsi, seeing the GoR, GDRC, Kabila, and the international community as involved in a grand conspiracy to supplant "natives" of the Petit Nord with Rwandophones. Their calls to continue armed resistance, rather than to integrate, is most likely an empty threat. We still need to monitor the group's evolution, however, not only because it is a potential spoiler, but also because it is a potential spark that could cause ethnic tensions in the region to ignite. Finally, the decline in Hunde power in the Petit Nord is much more a function of new political dynamics in North Kivu linked to the recent rapprochement between the DRC and Rwanda, rather than a grand conspiracy targeting the Hunde. GARVELINK