Joseph Kabila
President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 2001–2019; alleged Black Cube client in "Operation Coltan"
| Joseph Kabila
| |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Congolese |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Known for | President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2001–2019; alleged client of Black Cube in "Operation Coltan" (2015–16, denied by Black Cube); close friend of Dan Gertler, according to the US Treasury |
Joseph Kabila was president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. In June 2019 the Israeli television programme Uvda alleged that from late 2015 he had used the private intelligence firm Black Cube to spy on his opponents, in a project called "Operation Coltan". Black Cube denied any activity in the country. The US Treasury has described his close friendship with the sanctioned Israeli mining businessman Dan Gertler.
Kabila's presidency ran from 2001 to 2019, when Félix Tshisekedi succeeded him after a disputed election.[1][2] OCCRP described the period as "18 years of corruption and mismanagement under Joseph Kabila".[2]
Operation Coltan (2015–16)
Uvda, Ilana Dayan's investigative programme on Israel's Channel 12, reported in June 2019 that Black Cube's director Dan Zorella met Kabila in Kinshasa in late 2015, in the first of a series of increasingly regular meetings. These gave rise to "Operation Coltan", a project to gather intelligence on the president's critics. About ten Black Cube agents were said to have turned a floor of a large Kinshasa hotel into the headquarters of an unofficial intelligence service.[3][4] An anonymous former Black Cube employee told the programme: "Kabila wanted to know everything that was going on at opposition meetings. He wanted to know who was there and who criticised him. He wanted to know if any of his relatives betrayed him in those meetings – and there were indeed such traitors."[4]
Uvda noted that seventeen opponents of the government were shot dead during demonstrations in 2016. It also reported that a Black Cube agent tried, apparently without success, to investigate the relationship between Kabila and Dan Gertler.[3]
Black Cube issued a statement denying all the "publications" about the DRC. It said it did "not work with governments" and called the story "a fantasy worthy of a spy novel".[5] It sued Uvda for libel in London, then dropped the claim in November 2020 and was ordered to pay £350,000 towards the broadcaster's costs (see Black Cube v Keshet).[6] In 2022 the firm told Africa Intelligence that it had "never worked" with Gertler or Kabila.[1] No response from Kabila to the Uvda allegations has been found. Full detail is on Black Cube in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dan Gertler
In December 2017 the US Treasury sanctioned Dan Gertler, saying he had used "his close friendship" with Kabila to act as a middleman for mining asset sales in the DRC, and that he had acted for or on behalf of Kabila, including in organising offshore leasing companies.[7] Africa Intelligence described Gertler as Kabila's "brother" (in quotation marks) and said that after Tshisekedi took office Gertler was no longer at the heart of power.[1]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Africa Intelligence (Olivier Liffran and Joan Tilouine), republished as RDC: « VidiyeGate »/Le mystérieux « Petr Salomon » alias Mark Lebedev: Gertler est-il l'exécutant des « opérations secrètes » qui ont ciblé Vidiye et D. Budimbu?, Congovirtuel, 21 October 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Clément Fayol, Antoine Harari and Pete Jones, "I Will Take My Percentage": Congolese Presidential Adviser Caught on Tape Negotiating Corrupt Mineral Deal, OCCRP, 15 September 2022.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 RFI (correspondent Michel Paul), RDC: quand Joseph Kabila utilisait des anciens du Mossad contre l'opposition (DRC: when Joseph Kabila used Mossad veterans against the opposition), RFI, 9 June 2019.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Israeli '21st-century mercenaries' spied for DR Congo's Kabila, report says, France 24, 10 June 2019.
- ↑ RDC: le drôle de démenti de la société israélienne Black Cube (DRC: the strange denial of the Israeli firm Black Cube), RFI, 11 June 2019.
- ↑ Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Owen Bowcott, Intelligence firm Black Cube ordered to pay £350,000 to Israeli TV show, The Guardian, 25 November 2020.
- ↑ United States Sanctions Human Rights Abusers and Corrupt Actors Across the Globe, U.S. Department of the Treasury, 21 December 2017.