DRC: INSIGHT INTO MARCH 23 AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 000690

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2019
TAGS: MOPS PGOV PREL CG
SUBJECT: DRC: INSIGHT INTO MARCH 23 AGREEMENT NEGOTIATIONS

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


1. (C) Summary: Manya Moupondo, GDRC member of the March 23
Agreements Monitoring Committee, briefed diplomatic corps
members July 7 on GDRC negotiations with the CNDP and North
and South Kivu armed groups. Moupondo reported ongoing
discord in the presidential majority coalition over the entry
of CNDP into the government and predicted a cabinet reshuffle
will not occur before September. The CNDP is reportedly
unsatisfied with the pace of political prisoner release and
the GDRC treatment of CNDP war wounded. According to
Moupondo, the GDRC will soon establish a government
commission to harmonize military ranks for integrated armed
group combatants. Regardless of the reasons for slow
implementation of the March 23 Agreements, the GDRC risks
losing credibility with the armed groups if progress is
delayed. She said the GDRC is sensitive to the question of
rendering Bosco Ntaganda to the ICC, but does not want to
jeopardize existing CNDP integration success by acting
hastily. End summary.


2. (C) Manya Moupondo, member of the GDRC sub-committee to
the March 23 Agreement Monitoring Committee ("Comite National
de Suivi" in French) provided a July 7 read out on
negotiations between the GDRC, CNDP ("Congres National pour
la Defense du Peuple" in French) and North and South Kivu
armed groups. The Monitoring Committee was established by
the GDRC on April 30 to implement each of the March 23
Agreements between the GDRC, CNDP and North and South Kivu
armed groups. The briefing was hosted by the UK Embassy and
was attended by POLOFF and members of the diplomatic
community (Note: UK, Belgian, Dutch, Japanese and South
African political secretaries, Swedish ambassador (Sweden
assumed the rotational EU presidency July 1) as well as MONUC
political affairs officers were present.) End note.

CNDP Political Participation
--------------


3. (C) Moupondo said the prospective entry of the CNDP into
the majority AMP ("Alliance de la Majorite Presidentielle" in
French) governing coalition has caused a rift within the AMP
and that the coalition members are "searching for
equilibrium". She said that a cabinet reshuffle, including
the entry of CNDP representatives, was unlikely before
September 2009.

GDRC Care of CNDP War Wounded
--------------


4. (C) Moupondo said the CNDP claims that road tolls are
necessary to finance medical treatment for CNDP wounded until
GDRC-provided care is instituted. However, she also reported
that FARDC General Didier Etumba informed the GDRC
subcommittee that a FARDC medical team is in North Kivu
treating CNDP war wounded on a daily basis, but that the CNDP
were not cooperating with the FARDC teams; Etumba nonetheless
felt, according to Moupondo, that the provision of government
care to CNDP wounded was a positive step under the March 23
Agreements.

Release of CNDP Political Prisoners
--------------


5. (C) The DRC Minister of Justice, according to Moupondo,
has issued orders to release CNDP political prisoners, but
she said the ministry claims it must review each case
separately prior to release. Consequently, she noted, the
process will not result in a single, mass release of the
prisoners which CNDP may be anticipating (Note: Embassy
sources in Goma report that the CNDP has submitted 254 names
for release. End note). Moupondo opined that the Ministry
of Justice could facilitate the release process by providing
the Monitoring Committee, including the government and armed
group subcommittees, with periodic updates on the status of
the cases.

Integration of North and South Kivu Armed Groups
-------------- --------------


6. (C) Moupondo said that the government will soon establish
a committee to review and harmonize the military grades of
integrated former combatants. She did not have any
information on the committee composition or projected life
span. She said that North and South Kivu armed groups had
expressed dissatisfaction with the number of grades they have

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received in comparison to the CNDP. The FARDC, she added,
claims that the difference in the number of military grades
awarded was a by-product of the rapid, accelerated CNDP
integration compared to the other groups, and that the
accelerated integration was necessary to assure CNDP
participation after the CNDP leadership change of January

2009.

DRC Dilemma
--------------


7. (C) Moupondo noted the dilemma posed by the association
of Bosco Ntaganda with the FARDC and stressed that the GDRC
intended to honor its international obligations, albeit in a
well thought-out manner. She added that the swift removal of
Ntaganda would trigger "panic" within integrated former CNDP
cadre who feared for their future. She also noted that
although Ntaganda is the nominal military chief ("c'est le
chef") he is not universally respected within the CNDP.


8. (C) Comment: Moupondo's willingness to share information
with the international community is in stark contrast to the
usual close-hold tendency of many in the Kabila regime. The
September time frame for a change in government is consistent
with recent reports from embassy sources in Goma. The
division in the AMP is possible, especially if AMP deputies
from the Kivus object to the inclusion of CNDP in the
government. The technical reasons for delays in the release
of prisoners, care of CNDP wounded and transfer of rank may
or may not be entirely legitimate, but the consequences
remain grave -- if implementation delays continue, the armed
groups will lose faith in the GDRC and its commitment to
honor the terms of the March 23 Agreements . The DRC has
consistently claimed "peace before justice" in the case of
Bosco Ntaganda and is unlikely to surrender him to the ICC in
the short term so long as the integration of CNDP forces into
the FARDC is functionally incomplete. End comment.
GARVELINK