C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000029

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/28
TAGS: PHUM PREF MOPS PGOV PREL MONUC CG
SUBJECT: Looting at North Kivu IDP Camp Attributed to ex-CNDP
Elements

REF: KINSHASA 23

CLASSIFIED BY: William J. Garvelink, Ambassador, STATE, Embassy
Kinshasa; REASON: 1.4(B), (D)


1. (SBU) United Nations Mission in the Democratic of Congo
(MONUC) sources confirmed to us that Major Muzungu, the leader of
the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) unit that pillaged an IDP camp
in Muhanga in North Kivu on January 15 (reftel), formerly belonged
to the CNDP (CongrC(s National pour la DC)fense du Peuple/National
Congress for the Defense of the People), a Congolese Tutsi militia
that was effectively disbanded when the DRC and Rwanda reconciled
in January, 2009. The sources, who are based in Kitchanga, said
that the other 19 FARDC soldiers involved in the looting were also
ex-CNDP "integrated" into the FARDC. The camp's inhabitants,
according to MONUC, are primarily Congolese ethnic Hutus. The
ex-CNDP FARDC in the area have accused the camp's residents of
being sympathizers of the FDLR (Front DC)moratique pour la
LibC)ration du Rwanda/Democratic Front for the Liberation of
Rwanda), a loose union of Rwandan Hutus that has been operating
inside the DRC since the defeat of Rwandan genocidaires in 1994.




2. (C) Comment: In addition to the issue of MONUC troops
abandoning the camp to the FARDC (reftel), this incident highlights
that the overwhelming majority of ex-CNDP "integrated" elements
continue to operate within their old command and control
structures. Moreover, such abuses will only increase the local
population's sympathy for groups fighting the FARDC, such as the
FDLR and the predominantly Hunde-based APCLS (Alliance Patriotique
pour un Congo Libre et Souverain/Patriotic Alliance for a Free and
Sovereign Congo). End comment.
GARVELINK