A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo sentenced former President Joseph Kabila to death

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sentenced former President Joseph Kabila to death

in absentia after finding him guilty of several serious crimes, including treason and crimes against humanity. Historically, the death penalty in the Democratic Republic of Congo (and its predecessor, Zaire) was a legal form of punishment for serious crimes such as murder, treason, and military insubordination. Executions were often carried out by firing squad, and the death row population was substantial. Shortly after taking power, Kabila's government imposed a de facto moratorium on executions. This meant that while courts continued to issue death sentences, they did not carry them out. This was an important first step because it halted state-sanctioned killings but left hundreds of prisoners on death row in a legal gray area. Joseph Kabila is a Congolese politician and the fourth president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 2001 to 2019. He took office after the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Désiré Kabila. He is credited with ending the Second Congo War and ensuring the country's relative stability, although his presidency was also marked by allegations of corruption, human rights violations, and electoral fraud. After leaving office, he became a senator for life. The verdict was announced by Lieutenant General Joseph Mutombo Katalayi (the lieutenant general who presided over the military tribunal that convicted the former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)), who presided over the trial in the capital, Kinshasa. The judge said Kabila, 54, was found guilty of treason, murder, sexual violence, torture, and rebellion, among other offenses. Kabila, who ruled the DRC from 2001 to 2019, left the country in 2023. However, in May of this year, he was briefly seen in the eastern parts of the country controlled by the M23 rebels. M23 (March 23 Movement) is a predominantly Tutsi Congolese rebel group. It was founded in April 2012 by former members of the CNDP (National Congress for the Defense of the People), another Tutsi rebel group. The M23 insurgency is generally considered a proxy conflict. The UN, the US, and several European governments have repeatedly accused Rwanda (and to a lesser extent Uganda) of providing the M23 with troops, weapons, money, and direct military support—charges Rwanda denies. The M23 insurgency erupted during Kabila's presidency and became the defining security crisis of his later years in power. The M23 suffered a military defeat, and Kabila prevailed. In summary, during Joseph Kabila's presidency, the M23 was founded and militarily defeated. However, because his government failed to address the political and regional root causes of the conflict, his victory was only temporary and paved the way for the group's dramatic return after he left power. His whereabouts following the military court's verdict are currently unknown. Prosecutors accused Kabila of supporting the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels who seized large parts of the resource-rich east this year. His trial began in July in his absence. Kabila, for his part, condemned the charges as a "show trial" and accused the country's judicial system of being an "instrument of repression." He added that the proceedings against him, as well as the arrest of senior civilian and military officials, signaled a deep crisis of leadership, justice, and national direction. Several high-ranking politicians and officials of the People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) were arrested in Kinshasa as part of a crackdown by the government on alleged links to the M23 rebel group. Joseph Kabila's conviction led to the confiscation of his assets and the nationwide suspension of the PPRD. The arrests and interrogations of high-ranking PPRD officials took place against a backdrop of tensions surrounding the resurgence of the M23 rebel group and the complex conflict dynamics in eastern Congo. These arrests were part of broader political and legal measures against the party and its allies. Joseph Kabila played a pivotal role in ending the death penalty in the Democratic Republic of Congo through a sustained moratorium. However, his government did not abolish the death penalty completely, leaving the legal framework intact for its possible reintroduction by a future government.