DR Congo Military Court Sentences 66 Soldiers to Death for Cowardice in Walikale

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced 66 soldiers to death for cowardice, mutiny and disobeying orders. The Goma Garrison Military Court delivered the verdict late on Friday, November 6, after 12 days of hearings in Walikale-Centre, in North Kivu province, according to Radio Okapi, the United Nations backed broadcaster, and ACP, the Congolese national news agency.

The soldiers were tried as a group of 71. Four defendants were acquitted. One sergeant received a 10 year prison sentence after the court took mitigating circumstances into account. The rest received the death sentence.

The charges and the verdict

The reported charges included military mutiny, disobeying orders and cowardice in the face of the enemy. Radio Okapi also listed wasting war ammunition among the alleged offences. All of the defendants belonged to the Congolese army 3415th Regiment.

Prosecutors had asked for death sentences for 70 of the defendants. They had asked for a 10 year prison term for the military intelligence officer in the group. The court acquitted four defendants, including a captain who served as head of intelligence for the regiment. That outcome means the court did not grant every request the prosecution made, even as it imposed death sentences on 66 of the 71 soldiers tried.

Arrested after the fighting at Ntoto

The case began in Walikale territory in October. The soldiers were arrested on October 20 at Ngora, following incidents at Ntoto. They were accused of abandoning their positions during clashes with fighters from the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation, known as the FRN.

The army 34th Military Region said the proceedings were intended in part to strengthen discipline during continuing operations against armed groups in eastern Congo. That statement, carried by ACP, is the main public explanation the army has given for a trial that put almost every defendant at risk of a death sentence.

A second mass verdict in the east

This is not the first verdict of its kind this autumn. On October 2, a separate military court in Uvira sentenced 27 soldiers to death for cowardice. That case involved 112 soldiers accused of abandoning or inadequately defending their positions.

DR Congo lifted a moratorium on executions of more than 20 years in March 2024. No executions have been officially reported since the moratorium was lifted, according to reporting that cites Africanews and Amnesty International. No execution from the Walikale verdict has been confirmed.

What is not yet known

The reporting reviewed for this story does not establish whether the Walikale sentences are final, what appeal rights the convicted soldiers have, or whether any execution is planned. The court detailed reasoning has not been made public. The defence account has not been made public either. Those gaps matter in a case of this size, because they leave open how the court separated the conduct of the 66 soldiers it condemned from the four it acquitted and the one it sent to prison.

For now, the confirmed record is the verdict itself: 66 death sentences, four acquittals and one 10 year prison term, handed down in Walikale-Centre on November 6 at the end of a 12 day trial.