DRC : the military court sentences 66 soldiers to death, a wave of capital punishments hits the FARDC

SOS Médias Burundi

Goma, November 10, 2026 — The Congolese military justice has dealt a harsh blow to the army. Sixty-six soldiers from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), belonging to the 3415th regiment, were sentenced to death following a summary trial held in Walikale-Centre, in North Kivu province, in the east of the country. The verdict was handed down on Friday, November 6, after twelve days of hearings.

The soldiers were prosecuted for, among other things, cowardice in the face of the enemy, military mutiny, refusal to obey orders, and misappropriation of ammunition.

According to Major Dieudonné Kasereka, communications officer for the 34th Military Region, the defendants were arrested on October 20 in the village of Ngora, following incidents in Ntoto, in the Wanianga sector of Walikale territory.

The events stemmed from an altercation between soldiers and members of the military police who were attempting to prevent soldiers from leaving their positions without authorization. The incident escalated into an exchange of gunfire, resulting in two deaths—a soldier and a civilian—and two injuries, also a soldier and a civilian.

Initially, 54 soldiers were arrested. Other members of the same regiment were subsequently added to the case. At the end of the trial, 66 soldiers were sentenced to death. A sergeant received a ten-year prison sentence after benefiting from significant mitigating circumstances. Four other defendants were acquitted, including a captain who served as head of intelligence for the 3415th Regiment.

A series of death sentences within the army

This latest decision comes after other death sentences handed down to Congolese soldiers in the context of the armed conflict in the east of the country.

In a similar case in Uvira, in South Kivu province, 27 soldiers were sentenced to death after abandoning strategic positions in the Malimba and Masango areas of the Bijombo groupment.

In Walikale, military authorities describe the trial as a step towards strengthening discipline and respect for hierarchy within the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo). These convictions come as the Congolese army is engaged in operations against armed groups in the east of the country.

More than 500 soldiers have been convicted since 2025.

In a tally published on November 9, 2026, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported that at least 507 Congolese soldiers had been sentenced since the beginning of 2025. Among them, 381 received the death penalty.

For 2026 alone, RFI recorded 237 military convictions, including 114 death sentences. In 2025, military courts had already handed down 267 death sentences, notably following trials held in Bukavu and Musienene.

These figures demonstrate the scale of the sentences pronounced within the Congolese armed forces, in a context of war and persistent difficulties on the ground.

The DRC lifted the moratorium on the application of the death penalty in March 2024, which had been in effect since 2003. However, a death sentence does not necessarily mean that an execution has taken place. Amnesty International recorded no executions in the country in 2025.

The FRN, successor to the Congo River Alliance

This situation comes as the Congolese loyalist army faces military setbacks, the loss of strategic positions, and disciplinary problems within its ranks.

It is confronted by the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), a politico-military movement created on October 12, 2026, in Goma, North Kivu province. This new structure succeeds the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which had formed a politico-military coalition with the March 23 Movement (M23) known as the AFC-M23. The creation of the FRN marks the dissolution of the AFC and the resumption of its commitments, particularly those made within the framework of the Doha peace negotiations in Qatar.

Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila leads the FRN. He is assisted by Corneille Nangaa and Bertrand Bisimwa, appointed vice-presidents, as well as by General Sultani Makenga, who also retains command of the armed wing. Freddy Kaniki serves as its secretary general.

The FRN thus brings together the main political and military figures of the former AFC-M23 coalition and intends to continue its fight against the government of Félix Tshisekedi. Faced with this new politico-military structure, the FARDC must contend not only with military pressure on several fronts in the east of the country, but also with internal problems of discipline, cohesion, and command.

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Congolese soldiers and Wazalendo militiamen flee in a Congolese army vehicle. The photograph was taken on December 11, 2025, in Gatumba, western Burundi (SOS Médias Burundi)