Murder of UN Experts: Congo Court Upholds Death Sentence

The military court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) sentenced an army colonel to death. He was involved in the conspiracy to kill two UN experts in the country nearly 10 years ago.

During the initial trial in 2022, Colonel Jean de Dieu Mambweni was sentenced to 10 years in prison. At that time, he was accused of failing to assist persons in danger and disobeying orders. Military prosecutors, dissatisfied with this decision, filed an appeal, emphasizing that his responsibility was much more serious.

The High Military Court in Kinshasa supported this view. On June 5, the court found Mambweni guilty of organizing murder and war crimes. According to the court ruling seen by Reuters and relatives of one of the victims, he was sentenced to death. However, since the death penalty has not been carried out in the DRC since 2003, this sentence is effectively equivalent to life imprisonment.

The UN experts—Swedish-Chilean Zaida Catalán and American Michael Sharp—were investigating mass killings in the Kasai province. On March 12, 2017, they were stopped by fighters from the 'Kamuina Nsapu' group at a bridge near the village of Moyo-Musila. They were then taken into the forest and shot. Their bodies were found 16 days later.

State interests may have been behind the murder

This decision, concluding nearly nine years of judicial proceedings, also upheld the death sentences issued against dozens of militants in 2022. Prosecutors initially stated that state officials were not involved in the case, but later the colonel and other officials were arrested, with allegations that they collaborated with rebels.

Zaida Catalán's sister, Elizabeth Morsby, supported the court's conclusion regarding the existence of a conspiracy.

"This confirms that Zaida and Michael were not victims of random violence," she said.

However, she also emphasized that justice had not been fully served. Referring to audio recordings from the trial, she noted that Mambweni had expressed concern that the experts might expose officials.

Human Rights Watch also reported that important video evidence was overlooked in the 2022 trial. It allegedly showed state representatives involved in directing the experts to the ambush site.

According to Morsby, true justice should not be limited to punishing the guilty but must also involve a thorough investigation into the causes of the crime.

Paul Nsapu Mukulu, head of the DRC National Human Rights Commission, also stated that he did not believe Mambweni acted independently.

"All evidence indicates that this incident was a state-sponsored crime," he said.