International donors seek to push GDRC on press freedom

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000128 SENSITIVE C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (SUBJECT LINE) SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OEXC KPAO OPRC SCUL SOCI PREL PHUM PINS CG SUBJECT: International donors seek to push GDRC on press freedom issues REF: 09 KINSHASA 1044; 10 KINSHASA 86; 09 KINSHASA 1102 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Despite international calls (reftels) for the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (GDRC) to improve the press climate, little action has been taken, according to members participating in the last meeting of the Groupe Inter-Baileurs M????dias (International Group of Media Donors or GIBM). Donor representatives present at the meeting also pointed out the lack of progress in the reopening of Radio France International (RFI),as well as the subjection of international journalists to the military penal code, and asserted additional steps might need to be taken to press the GDRC to address these issues. During a separate presentation about Radio Okapi, United Nations Mission to the Congo (MONUC) officials said steps were being taken to address concerns raised by staff about mismanagement of the organization. End summary. ¶2. (U) The GIBM met in Kinshasa on January 26 to discuss shared concerns about press freedom and other media issues in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The GIBM meets on an irregular basis (approximately every two months) to discuss issues of shared concern for international donors seeking to build media capacity and support a free and responsible press. The group is chaired by representatives of the French Embassy, and hosted by the Belgian Cultural Center. At the January 26 meeting, representatives from the European Union, French, Belgian, and Swedish Embassies attended, as well as emboffs and PAS Kinshasa senior press assistant. On the agenda were three major issues: a follow-up to the November 27, 2009 Chiefs of Missions (COMs) demarche to Minister of Information and Communications Lambert Mende concerning press freedom (ref a); challenges faced by UN-sponsored Radio Okapi; and the recently signed law establishing a new media regulatory body (ref b). Demarche follow-up -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Meeting participants were in agreement there had been no progress on the issues raised during the November 27 demarche to Mende, in which Kinshasa-based COMs called on the GDRC to address (1) death threats and other forms of intimidation against Congolese journalists, (2) the accreditation of international journalists submitting them to the military penal code, (3) and the re-establishment of RFI's signal. French official Myriam Habil stated that a reporter for Reuters and Agence France Presse recently received an accreditation letter renewal from Mende that included the same clause holding the journalist subject to military penal code, which seemed to indicate that the policy had not changed. Participants discussed several options to follow up on the COMs' demarche, including: a public communiqu???? by COMs, demarching another minister, and raising the issue with President Joseph Kabila. They agreed to ask their COMs whether they would be willing to participate in a communiqu????. RFI still silent -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Despite Mende's private claims that GDRC and RFI have agreed in principle to have the French radio station's signal reestablished (ref c),Habil said that the two sides have not yet come to an agreement, and no date has been set for a visit by RFI representatives. While GDRC and RFI are in apparent agreement on the establishment of an RFI regional bureau in Kinshasa, the French broadcaster is not willing to subject its journalists to the military penal code as an accreditation condition. Habil said that RFI considers this non-negotiable. Friction at Okapi -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Kevin Kennedy, Public Information Officer of MONUC, and Bernard Conchon, project director of Hirondelle Foundation, which provides funding and other support for Radio Okapi, were expected to address the future of the UN-supported radio station. Yet the publication in the independent newspaper Le Potentiel of a letter by members of Okapi's local staff complaining of mismanagement and harassment by the UN management became the main topic. Kennedy acknowledged that Radio Okapi is undergoing many changes in programming, organizational structure and personnel, for which the local staff was not sufficiently prepared. "We have a vision for the future of Okapi, but it is not always shared." Kennedy said. "All this led to a situation where frustrations were expressed." ¶6. (SBU) To address the local staff's concerns, MONUC and Hirondelle have established three separate procedures: (1) a commission to examine the internal issues between management and local staff; (2) an external audit to evaluate the effectiveness of management and changes to radio programming and operations; and (3) an internal audit to examine claims of harassment and negative work climate. New Media Law -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Since President Kabila signed a bill establishing a new media regulatory body, the law remains unpublished in the official gazette. Primo Mukambilwa, president of the Haute Autorite des Medias (Federal Media Authority or HAM),told local staff that the Supreme Court has ruled that HAM will retain its powers until the new group is in place. Meanwhile, the law itself remains unavailable to the press or public. At the GIBM meeting, emboff suggested inquiring at the official gazette whether GIBM, or some other organization, could pay for the publication. A representative from the Belgian Cultural Center said he would investigate this possibility. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: As the GIBM meeting made clear, there is considerable concern among the international media support community that the GDRC is dragging its feet on respecting constitutional guarantees of press freedom. In particular, they question whether Information Minister Mende has acted in good faith regarding his promises to address a number of concerns. GIBM members also voiced concerns, however, that that a communiqu???? or other forms of public pressure against Mende might backfire, either directly upon press freedom issues, or with regard to other bi-lateral and multi-lateral concerns, such as the elections planned for autumn 2011. Yet GIBM members all agree that action is needed lest press freedom (and individual journalists) continue to suffer, with negative consequences for Congolese democracy. End comment. GARVELINK