A military court sentenced a DR Congo army officer to death and handed 10-year prison terms to three others Monday over the August killing of more than 50 protesters in the eastern city of Goma.
The lawyers of the defendants plan to challenge the verdict. Two others on trial were found not guilty.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, death sentences are given quite frequently. However, they haven’t been carried out for two decades, usually changed to life imprisonment.
At the end of the trial, the lead prosecutor didn’t ask for the death penalty for Colonel Mike Mikombe. Instead, he suggested life imprisonment. Surprisingly, the court decided to give Mikombe the death penalty for “murders,” even though charges of crimes against humanity were dismissed.
The prosecutor requested sentences from 10 to 20 years for the other five defendants.
These six soldiers were in court since September 5 for their role in a violent response to a religious group protesting the United Nations in the area.
In this crackdown, 57 people lost their lives, as per the latest official count. This incident caused increased tension in Goma, a place often troubled by armed groups.
Additionally, over 140 civilians, including about 30 young people, were taken into custody during the army’s operation on August 30.
Questions
After the incident, the government swiftly announced the arrest of several soldiers and assured that justice would be done. However, the trial didn’t clarify all the details about the killings.
Interior Minister Peter Kazadi suggested that the elite Republican Guard got involved after a police officer was lynched by members of the religious group.
However, witnesses, including two army colonels, sect members, and locals, claim that the operation started before the police officer’s death. These same witnesses also stated that before the killings, negotiations between the army and the sect were going well. Suddenly, the military began firing at the unarmed sect members.
The question that remains is whether Mikombe ordered the shooting and if he was following orders or acting on his own.
In court, Mikombe said he was given a misleading order that labeled the sect members as allies of M23 rebels and the Rwandan army.
The M23 has taken control of parts of North Kivu province since 2021, alongside other armed groups, despite the presence of peacekeepers.
The Kinshasa government, along with various Western nations like the United States and France, as well as independent UN experts, accuse Rwanda of actively supporting the Tutsi-led M23. Rwanda denies these allegations.
Mikombe also urged the court to investigate General Constant Ndima, the military governor of North Kivu, who was called back to Kinshasa for “consultations.
SOURCE:FRANCE24