A military court in late September sentenced a Congolese colonel to death and also convicted three soldiers for their involvement in the deaths of more than 50 people protesting a U.N. peacekeeping mission in August (AP).
The seven military members were charged on September 5th, 2023, for their part in firing into and killing 56 people during a planned anti-U.N. demonstration in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The soldiers include a colonel and lieutenant-colonel from the republican guard, Commanders Mike Mikombe and Donat Bawili, according to AP News.
Colonel Mike Mikombe was previously a commander of the Republican Guard in Goma. The Congo has not enforced the death penalty in over 20 years, so his sentence will most likely end up being for life in prison.
Three other soldiers, second class, from the same unit, were sentenced to ten years in prison, while two other officers were acquitted. Col. Donat Bawili was one of them, and he presided over the Congolese armed forces regiment in Goma at the time (AP).
In August, Goma’s mayor had banned a protest organized by a sect known as Wazalendo. Its supporters planned to demonstrate against the regional East African Community organization and the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Congo known as MONUSCO. Wazalendo also planned to protest the East African Community organization. MONUSCO has faced protests since last year brought on by complaints that it has failed to protect civilians from shootings by the military.
Human Rights Watch said that before the protests could take place, armed forces fired on Wazalendo demonstrators (AP).
According to Reuters, U.N. peacekeeping missions like MONUSCO began in Congo twenty-four years ago. Conflict since the mid-90s in northeastern Congo displaced over 6 million people, according to the U.N., with the crisis intensifying since 2021. Both the sect and critics claim MONUSCO has’t significantly helped protect civilians from several conflicts in the Congo, including in protests in 2022.
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