DRC Court Sentences Former President to Death in Absentia Over War Crimes

Former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has been sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes and treason. A military tribunal in Kinshasa convicted Kabila, 54, who ruled the country from 2001 to 2019, of treason, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including murder, sexual assault, torture, and insurrection.

The charges concern accusations that Kabila supported the M23 rebel group, which has caused devastation in the country’s eastern region, including murder, sexual assault, torture and insurrection.

The court ordered Kabila to pay a fine of $33 billion. Kabila denied the charges and did not appear in court, rejecting the case as “arbitrary” and claiming the courts were being used as an “instrument of oppression.”

Kabila’s current whereabouts are unknown, and his allies have dismissed the sentence as “illegal” and “tragicomic.” The M23 leader criticized the sentence, saying it undermines ongoing peace talk.

The trial is part of a broader conflict in eastern Congo, where the M23 has seized control of several areas, and the UN and Western countries have accused neighboring Rwanda of backing the rebels.