Goma: Eight Congolese soldiers receive a death sentence

The military court, Goma garrison in the regional capital of North Kivu province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, sentenced eight Congolese soldiers to death.
The interested parties were tried for having killed two civilians in the village of Buhombo in Nyiragongo territory during operations aimed at limiting the circulation of motorcycle taxis after 6 p.m. Local civil society believes that this sentence will help limit the exactions of men in uniform.

INFO SOS Médias Burundi

The military court traveled to the scene of the crime in the Bukumu chiefdom in Nyiragongo territory in North Kivu.

The victims’ families attended the trial. Some even thanked the Congolese justice system.

“I am very relieved to see these criminals sentenced to death. This is what they deserve. Moreover, I ask authorities in Kinshasa to come to our aid because we have had no support until now,” said Rose Nyiransabimana, whose brother was killed by these soldiers.

Local civil society, through its rapporteur Thierry Gasisiro, welcomes a measure that strengthens trust between the military and civilians to fight against impunity.

“At the end of this trial which has just been concluded with a death sentence for these 8 soldiers who had killed our peaceful populations, we are satisfied, because this strengthens trust between the population and the judicial authorities. It is also an act of fighting against impunity that has always characterized the eastern part of the DRC,” he declared.

Wilson Twitegure, a political actor in the province of North Kivu deplores that the government is not able to “supervise the soldiers who continue to cause human damage” in this province.

In less than two months only, 40 civilians were killed by soldiers and countless goods looted, according to the senior auditor at the military court of the province of North Kivu.

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Five soldiers among the eight who were sentenced to death shown to the local press (SOS Médias Burundi)