The Special Presidential Division (DSP, after the original French Division Spéciale Présidentielle) was an elite military force created by Zairian President

Mobutu Sese Seko Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

in 1985 and charged with his personal security. Called the Special Presidential Brigade before being enlarged in 1986, it was one of several competing forces directly linked to the president, along with the Civil Guard and ."The Stalled Transition"

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ri ...

, 1997 Trained by

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i advisors, the DSP was among the few units paid adequately and regularly. It was commanded by Mobutu's cousin, General Etienne Nzimbi Ngbale Kongo wa Basa. The soldiers were recruited only from Mobutu's own tribe. The force was used to deal with internal opponents or suspected opponents. People were taken away, tortured, imprisoned without trial, exiled to another part of the country, or simply disappeared. After the Rwandan Patriotic Army invaded northern

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equat ...

at the start of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...

, Mobutu sent several hundred DSP troops to assist the government of

Juvénal Habyarimana Juvénal Habyarimana (, ; 8 March 19376 April 1994) was a Rwandan politician and military officer who served as the second president of Rwanda, from 1973 until 1994. He was nicknamed ''Kinani'', a Kinyarwanda word meaning "invincible". An eth ...

Linda Melvern Linda Melvern is a British investigative journalist. Early in her career, she worked for ''The Evening Standard'' and then ''The Sunday Times'' (UK), including on the investigative Insight Team. Since leaving the newspaper she has written seven b ...

, ''Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide'', Verso: New York, 2004, , p. 14 In 1993, the DSP was sent to quell unrest in Masisi,

North Kivu North Kivu (french: link=no, Nord-Kivu) is a province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Goma. North Kivu borders the provinces of Ituri to the north, Tshopo to the northwest, Maniema to the ...

but inflamed the situation after it sided with the

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the pri ...

residents against the indigenous Bahunde. It also shipped cobalt from Shaba Province to

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. (Reno 1997, 48) A 1996

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

report noted that Prime Minister

Étienne Tshisekedi Étienne Tshisekedi wa Mulumba (14 December 1932 – 1 February 2017) was a Congolese politician and the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), the main opposing political party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC ...

and his staff were subject to routine surveillance and harassment by DSP soldiers."Communication No 542/1993 : Democratic Republic of the Congo. 16/04/96."
Human Rights Committee on the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom ...

, 16 April 1996

Notes and references

Further reading