DRC : Joseph Kabila sentenced to death by a military court

SOS Médias Burundi

Goma, October 1, 2025 – Former President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, was sentenced to death on Tuesday, September 30, by the Kinshasa High Military Court, in absentia.

The former Head of State was also ordered to pay USD 33 billion in damages :

USD 29 billion for the Republic,

USD 2 billion for each of the civil parties in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu.

The High Military Court ordered the senator’s immediate arrest for life after finding him guilty of all the offenses charged, including treason, participation in an insurrectional movement, and war crimes.

Grounds for the sentence

According to the judges, Joseph Kabila is the leader of the AFC/M23 coalition. Although President of the Republic, he was allegedly the undisputed leader of all rebel movements in the country, dating back to the Mutebusi rebellion.

The Court stated that he conducted inspections of AFC/M23 training centers, supervised rebel headquarters meetings, and directed hostilities against the DRC.

Joseph Kabila, in exile for more than two years, was seen in late May in Goma, the capital of rebel-occupied North Kivu, where he met with representatives of churches and women’s and youth associations.

History and role of the M23

The M23 is a former Tutsi rebel group that retook arms in late 2021, accusing the Congolese authorities of failing to honor their reintegration commitments. It is suspected of receiving support from Rwanda, a claim Kigali firmly denies.

Since the beginning of the year, M23 rebels affiliated with the Congo River Alliance (AFC), a politico-military movement hostile to Kinshasa, have controlled several strategic locations in the provinces of North and South Kivu, as well as the capitals of the two Kivus, which are rich in minerals.

Nationality and other decisions of the court

Regarding his alleged Rwandan nationality, the Court declared itself incompetent, specifying that it was trying a Congolese who had held the presidency. The ruling also did not authorize the seizure of his assets.

The Court established that Joseph Kabila participated in the insurrection in collusion with Corneille Nangaa, the former president of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) and coordinator of the AFC, who had become Kinshasa’s number one enemy, and Rwanda, to overthrow the institutions of the Republic, including through the physical elimination of the incumbent president, Félix Tshisekedi.

Gravity of the facts

For the Court, these facts are extremely serious and scandalize millions of Congolese people, as Kabila was president for 18 years (2001-2019), thereby violating his duty of discretion, dignity, and loyalty to the State.