SOUTH AFRICA: DRC WATCHER'S ROUND-UP, BOLSTERING

UNCLAS PRETORIA 002181 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF/S AND AF/C WOLPE, KEITH AND LASRY E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM KWMN CG SF SUBJECT: SOUTH AFRICA: DRC WATCHER'S ROUND-UP, BOLSTERING FLAGGING INTEREST REF: 08 PRETORIA 2097 ¶1. (SBU) South Africa's engagement with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) peace process has waned since early 2008, when the ANC leadership showdown at Polokwane eclipsed the Goma Conference, but Pretoria's influence remains significant as a major troop contributor to MONUC and as the key interface for trilateral cooperation. Visiting Human Rights Watch Researcher Anneke Van Woudenberg recently called on South Africa to press for greater protection for the civilian population of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The MONUC Pretoria office serves as a constant diplomatic reminder of South Africa's critical leadership in DRC's transition, and Congolese officials, most recently DDR Adviser Nzekani Zena, visit regularly to update a shrinking contingent of DRC watchers, maintaining a somewhat frayed lifeline to SADC's leading country. End summary. -------------- -------------- HRW Urges Action to Protect Civilians in Eastern DRC -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Addressing an audience of academics, embassy representatives, South African government officials, and NGO's at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria September 30, Senior Human Rights DRC Watcher Anneke Van Woudenberg affirmed the important leadership role South Africa still plays with regard to DRC, both militarily, through its contribution to MONUC, and politically. Van Woudenberg charged that current levels of violence in eastern DRC are comparable to those during the regional wars that ravaged DRC a decade ago. She expressed doubt that President Kabila can see beyond military approaches to resolve the crisis in DRC, despite the fact that Congolese military has been shown without any doubt to be incapable, even when supported by MONUC. She recalled that when Kabila's 2008 request for EU or SADC military support went unanswered, he immediately turned to former belligerents Rwanda and Uganda for a military solution. Predictably, she continued, no sooner had Rwanda and Uganda withdrawn when the FDLR and the LRA again turned on the civilian population, attacking villages accused of betrayal. ¶3. (SBU) Van Woudenberg estimated that a million people had been displaced in eastern DRC in 2009. She called on the UN Office of Peacekeeping Operations to develop a better framework for the protection of civilians. She called for greater pressure to ensure the compliance of all parties to international humanitarian law. Van Woudenberg welcomed Secretary Clinton's tough message to the GDRC on compliance with international human rights standards. She expressed disappointment that international statements condemning the human rights situation in DRC are increasingly infrequent, charging that remaining silent cannot be an option in the face of continuing abuse. She noted that MONUC has a strong human rights section that continues to collect information on abuses. She complained that known human rights abusers remain in leadership positions in the Congolese military. Van Woudenberg observed that South Africa's political engagement in the DRC had fallen off in the last year and a half as South Africa has been pre-occupied with domestic matters. Following the seminar, however, Van Woudenberg told DepPolCouns she was about to address the South African military staff college, the first time HRW had been invited Qmilitary staff college, the first time HRW had been invited to speak to future peacekeepers. -------------- MONUC Pretoria Maintains Steady Contact -------------- ¶4. (SBU) UN Mission Organization to the DRC (MONUC) Head of Office Pretoria Mujahid Alam called on Political Counselor on October 13. DepPolCouns sat in as Alam discussed the 1,200-strong South African National Defense Force contingent in MONUC. Alam said the South African MONUC contingent had previously had problems with discipline and logistics but had largely overcome them. He commented that tribal issues among South Africa's MONUC contingent arise from time to time and tend to undermine discipline, as do racial issues between back and white South African officers. Alam admitted that while discipline had improved among South African troops, South Africa's interest in MONUC had fallen off sharply since the showdown between former president Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma at the African National Congress (ANC) party congress on Polokwane in January 2008. Alam expressed hope that the Zuma administration would take renewed interest in DRC. He noted that Presidential Foreign Policy Advisor Lindiwe Zulu was involved in the Joint Verification Mechanism designed to secure the DRC-Rwanda border. -------------- Update on DRC's DDR Process -------------- ¶5. (SBU) On October 23, Prosper Nzekani Zena, Advisor in Charge of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) for the GDRC and Henri Boshoff, Head of the Peace Missions Program at the Pretoria Institute for Security Studies (ISS), presented a progress report on DDR in the DRC. According to Nzekani Zena, the GDRC's Phase II DDR process is on track to be completed by the end of 2009. He said a July assessment indicated that 45,000 ex-combatants are to be reintegrated into the Congolese military (FARDC),and 5,000 are to be demobilized by the end of the year. He told us that most CNDP and Mai Mai forces had already been integrated into the FARDC through an accelerated (one-month) integration process. Nzekani Zena told the audience of academics, journalists, and embassy representatives that a program called STAREC, which combines elements of the Amani process and the MONUC stabilization plan, is aimed at restoring the rule of law in eastern DRC and would carry on the work of the DDR process after 2009. He added that following the completion of DDR, the GDRC's priority is to retire overage FARDC troops, which is expected to bring FARDC troop strength down from the EUSEC-estimated current troop strength of 130,000 to 100,000. Nzekani Zena indicated that recruitment would follow the demobilization of retiring FARDC troops, dodging questions about how large an army the DRC can afford. Boshoff interjected a comment, saying the DRC had not done its own defense white paper to determine what size military it needs, adding that the Congolese have discarded a number of planning documents done of their behalf by Europeans. Following the presentation, Boshoff told DepPolCouns he was very concerned about the situation in eastern DRC, despite the upbeat scenario Nzekani Zena portrayed. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. (SBU) South Africa's leadership in the DRC peace process is needed, as much now as it was in the era of the Sun City Accord. Renewed involvement for Pretoria in stabilizing eastern DRC might, perhaps with some encouragement, flow from regional engagement. DRC's tenure as president of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) may not offer strong prospects for the advancement of the regional organization, but it could offer some chance for the DRC to play a role in its own history other than that of perpetrator or victim. The plight of civilians still suffering in eastern DRC and the scourge of DRC's gender-based violence epidemic no longer resonate deeply in a South Africa preoccupied with its own protracted and painful transition, but South Africa still expects its peacekeeping operations to end in success. South Africa has an opportunity this year to play big brother to DRC within the SADC troika. GIPS