The number of death sentences handed down by “military justice” in the Kinshasa-Gombe High Court in Democratic Republic of Congo has grown by five and now stands at 37, prompting further condemnation from the European Union (EU).
The sentences come in the wake of an attempted coup to oust Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi in May this year. It was reportedly “quickly foiled by security forces” and arrests made.
In August the EU repeated its “total opposition” to the death penalty, a point again stressed in a statement this week. It reads, in part: “The death penalty is incompatible with the inalienable right to life and is cruel, inhumane and degrading. It represents the ultimate denial of human dignity, fails to deter criminal acts and makes miscarriages of justice irreversible”.
The European bloc expressed what it terms “deep fears about this decline in the rule of law” stressing it would be exacerbated “if executions were to be carried out in a country which had, until now, chosen to maintain a moratorium on capital punishment”.
The EU statement, released yesterday (16 September) coincides with a visit to the DR Congo by United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix. He is set to spend five days and will visit, among others, Goma in North Kivu where the Southern African Development Community (SADC) mission is headquartered, and Ituri.
Speaking on arrival in Kinshasa Lacroix said diplomatic efforts in the wake of the Luanda process have led to results adding “they must be supported to lead to greater stability and progress toward lasting peace”.
In Goma he will meet officials from SAMIDRC (SADC Mission in the DR Congo) to discuss increased support for the Southern African peacekeeping mission from MONUSCO, the UN mission currently working toward a year-end target of ceasing operations. The discussions are in context with UN Security Council (SC) resolution 2746 which provides for technical assistance, prevention of conflict-related sexual violence and disarmament and co-ordination for utilisation of MONUSCO air and other logistic assets for medical and casualty evacuation of SADC troops. It also authorise utilisation of MONUSCO air assets and armoured vehicles, “excluding the mission’s involvement in combat operations” and sharing of information and peacekeeping intelligence.
Also on Lacroix’s agenda are calls on President Tshisekedi and DRC Prime Minister Judith Suminwa.
