| Special Presidential Division | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1985–1997 |
| Country |  Zaire |
| Allegiance | Mobutu Sese Seko |
| Type | Praetorian Guard Protective security unit Special operations force |
| Role | Special operations Expeditionary warfare Special reconnaissance Direct action |
| Size | 5–10,000 (5,200 estimated in 1988[1]) |
| Part of | Zairian Armed Forces (FAZ) |
| Base | Kinshasa |
| Equipment | AK-47 AKM M16 FN FAL Type 56 UZI and some artillery |
| Engagements | Rwandan Civil War First Congo War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Nzimbi Ngbale |
The Special Presidential Division (DSP; French Division Spéciale Présidentielle) was an elite praetorian guard unit created by Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko in 1985[2] and charged with his personal security. It was initially called the Special Presidential Brigade (French: Brigade spéciale présidentielle) before being enlarged into a division in 1986, and was one of several competing forces directly linked to the president, along with the Civil Guard and Service for Action and Military Intelligence.[3] Trained by Israeli advisors, the DSP was among the few units paid adequately and regularly.[4] It was commanded by Mobutu's cousin, General Etienne Nzimbi Ngbale Kongo wa Basa.[5] The soldiers were recruited only from Mobutu's own tribe.[6] 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.[6]
After the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded northern Rwanda which lead to the Rwandan Civil War, Mobutu sent several hundred DSP troops to assist the government of Juvénal Habyarimana.[7][8] In 1993, the DSP was sent to quell unrest in Masisi, North Kivu but inflamed the situation after it sided with the Hutu residents against the indigenous Bahunde.[9] It also shipped cobalt from Shaba Province to Zambia. (Reno 1997, 48) A 1996 United Nations report noted that Prime Minister Étienne Tshisekedi and his staff were subject to routine surveillance and harassment by DSP soldiers.[10]
- ^ Central Intelligence Agency, 'Zaire: The Military Under Mobutu [Deleted],' document created 1/11/1988, accessible via Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room, [1], accessed 4 June 2010
- ^ "Report on the situation of human rights in Zaire, prepared by the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Roberto Garretón, in accordance with Commission resolution 1994/87", United Nations Economic and Social Council
- ^ "The Stalled Transition", Human Rights Watch, 1997
- ^ Zaire: A Country Study, "Army"
- ^ Martin Meredith (2005) The Fate of Africa: From the Hopes of Freedom to the Heart of Despair, a History of Fifty Years of Independence, New York: Public Affairs, p. 535
- ^ a b David van Reybrouck (25 March 2014). Congo: The Epic History of a People. HarperCollins, 2012. p. 386. ISBN 978-0-06-220011-2.
- ^ Linda Melvern, Conspiracy to Murder: The Rwandan Genocide, Verso: New York, 2004, ISBN 1-85984-588-6, p. 14
- ^ Zaire: A Country Study, "Zaire as a Military Aid Donor"
- ^ Mahmood Mamdani (2001) When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 252-253
- ^ "Communication No 542/1993 : Democratic Republic of the Congo. 16/04/96.", Human Rights Committee on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 April 1996