The public prosecutor of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) formally requested the death penalty for former president Joseph Kabila on Aug. 22 during proceedings before the High Military Court in Kinshasa. The military auditor general, Lt-Gen. Lucien René Likulia, argued before the court that the former president should face capital punishment for his role in war crimes, including homicide, rape, deportation and torture. Additionally, prosecutors sought a 20-year sentence for condoning war crimes and 15 years for conspiracy, for his role in enabling armed violence in eastern Congo.

Kabila, who governed the country from 2001 to 2019, is being tried in absentia on charges of treason and war crimes for his alleged ties to the M23 rebel group, which has waged a long-running insurgency in the country. He has consistently denied the allegations.

Kabila's political party, the People's Party for Reconstruction & Democracy (PPRD), dismissed the proceedings as politically motivated and accused President Félix Tshisekedi of weaponizing the judiciary to silence opponents. In April, the Congolese government suspended the PPRD, citing its alleged complicity with the M23. Tshisekedi, a longtime rival of Kabila, assumed office in January 2019 in what marked the DRC's first peaceful transfer of power in nearly six decades. However, political enmities have continued to strain democratic processes.

Rights groups have criticized the proceedings against Kabila, noting the troubled record of the DRC on due process and the national retention of the death penalty, despite a de facto moratorium on executions since 2003. Moreover, the treason case marks an unprecedented moment in Congolese politics: No former head of state has previously faced a demand for capital punishment in a domestic court.

Kabila has been outside the country for the past two years, although he is believed to have returned to the eastern DRC city of Goma after it was occupied by the M23 earlier this year.

The trial has unfolded amid escalating atrocities in eastern Congo. In a briefing released last week, Amnesty International reported that armed groups allied with Rwanda, including M23 and local militias known as Wazalendo, have carried out serious abuses against civilians. Documented violations include summary executions, enforced disappearances, attacks on hospitals, and widespread sexual violence that amounts to grave breaches of international humanitarian law, thereby deepening the humanitarian crisis in the region.

From JURIST, Aug. 25. Used with permission. Internal links added.

Note: Kabila has been linked to the M23 before.