Congo court sentences 66 soldiers to death over alleged retreat

A military court in eastern Congo has sentenced 66 soldiers to death after an alleged unauthorized withdrawal, extending the army's use of capital punishment to enforce battlefield discipline. ^[2][3]

The Goma Garrison Military Court delivered the verdict late on November 6 after 12 days of hearings in Walikale-Centre, North Kivu province, according to the United Nations-backed broadcaster Radio Okapi and the Congolese national news agency ACP. The defendants belonged to the Congolese army's 3415th Regiment. ^[2][3]

One other soldier received a 10-year prison sentence and four defendants were acquitted. The reported charges included military mutiny, disobeying orders and cowardice in the face of the enemy. Radio Okapi also listed wasting war ammunition among the alleged offences. ^[2][3]

Whether the death sentences are final, what appeal rights or deadlines apply, and whether any execution is planned have not been established. The court's detailed reasoning and the defence's account have not been made available in the accounts of the proceedings, leaving the evidence against each soldier and the safeguards in the fast-track trial unknown. ^[1][2][3][4]

The 34th Military Region said the proceedings were intended in part to strengthen discipline during continuing operations against armed groups in eastern Congo. Its account supplies much of the public explanation for a prosecution that put almost every defendant at risk of a death sentence. ^[2][3]

A withdrawal and an altercation

The case began with events on October 20 at Ntoto, in Walikale territory. Military sources said soldiers had tried to leave a combat zone without authorization. Major Dieudonné Kasereka, the 34th Military Region's communications officer, said the soldiers were arrested that day at Ngora following incidents at Ntoto. ^[4]

According to Kasereka's account, an altercation left one soldier and one civilian dead, with another soldier and civilian injured. Those casualties were reported by the military spokesperson, rather than established through an independent inquiry. ^[4]

Radio Okapi's initial account said 54 soldiers appeared before the court from October 26. At that stage, the accusations included murder, abandoning their post, wasting ammunition and disobeying orders. Those were allegations at the opening of proceedings, not a description of the court's eventual findings against each defendant. ^[4]

By the verdict, the number of defendants had reached 71. ACP's account of the military region's statement described the group of accused growing before judgment. Radio Okapi said the hearings followed a fast-track procedure. ^[2][3]

The prosecution sought death sentences for 70 defendants and a 10-year prison term for a military intelligence officer, according to the military region's statement reported by Radio Okapi. The court acquitted four people, including that officer, and imposed a 10-year term on another defendant. ^[2]

The resulting death sentences covered 66 of the 71 people tried, about 93%. The acquittals show the court did not accept every prosecution request. They do not explain how it distinguished the conduct of the soldiers it condemned. ^[2]

Discipline enforced through death sentences

Walikale follows another mass capital verdict against Congolese soldiers accused of failing to hold their positions. On October 2, a separate military court in Uvira sentenced 27 soldiers to death for cowardice after proceedings involving 112 soldiers accused of abandoning or inadequately defending positions near the city. ^[6]

Together, the two verdicts imposed 93 death sentences in cases linked to alleged retreats or failures to defend positions. They came from different courts and concerned different defendants, but both placed the ultimate penalty behind the army's demands for discipline. ^[2][3][6]

An army fighting armed groups needs soldiers to obey lawful orders and hold assigned positions. A death sentence, however, demands an individual answer to an individual charge. The size of this verdict makes the court's explanation of each soldier's responsibility essential.

A written judgment would allow scrutiny of which acts the court found proven and how those findings led to the sentences. ^[2][3][4]

An execution policy with higher stakes

Congo's government formally notified judicial authorities on March 13, 2024, that it had decided to resume executions after more than two decades without known executions, according to Amnesty International. The rights group said the last known executions took place in 2003. ^[5]

That decision changed the stakes of capital trials. Amnesty condemned the move and warned that weaknesses in the justice system and proceedings that failed to meet fair-trial standards could put innocent people at risk. Its warning concerned the broader system, rather than a finding about the Walikale trial. ^[5]

Africanews said no executions had been officially reported since the moratorium was lifted in 2024. The government's policy therefore makes these sentences more threatening without establishing that they will be carried out. ^[1]