DRC military court passes death sentence to 25 soldiers for ‘fleeing enemy’

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sentenced 25 soldiers to death in a one-day trial on Wednesday (3 July) after finding them guilty of fleeing the enemy, violating orders, dissipation of war munitions and theft, among other charges.
The Congolese army has been fighting the Rwanda-backed M23 insurgency in the country’s east for more than two years, as well as facing violence from other militia. The death sentence was handed down by a military tribunal in Butembo, North Kivu, that was set up as part of a crackdown on soldiers fleeing M23 rebels. 27 soldiers and four of their civilian wives appeared before the military court that was set up close to the scene of recent violent clashes between the Congolese army and M23 fighters with the aim of discouraging soldiers from fleeing the front line. Faced with the combined might of the Rwandan army and M23, DRC troops have repeatedly retreated without a fight, according to some news reports.
The defendants were detained by army officials on Tuesday (2 July) after allegedly receiving goods stolen from shops in a nearby village. They were then brought before Butembo garrison military court the very next day. “I find them guilty and sentence each of them to death,” said Colonel Kabeya Ya Hanu, president of the military court. One soldier was handed a 10-year prison sentence for robbery, while the four wives and another soldier were acquitted. Last March, the DRC government lifted the moratorium on the death penalty that had been in force since 2003 in the country.