DRC jails 12 after protests over emergency measures

BENI, DRC — A military court in eastern DR Congo on Friday handed down one-year jail terms to 12 activists who protested at exceptional measures imposed last year to support a crackdown on armed groups.

Amnesty International condemned the sentences as a “scandalous attempt to silence critical voices”, calling for the activists’ “immediate and unconditional” release.

Under a “state of siege” announced in May, civilian leaders in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri have been replaced by senior military or police officers.

Members of a pro-democracy group called Struggle for Change (Lucha) were arrested in Beni in North Kivu last November as they took part in an unauthorised protest against an extension of the initiative.

The court in Beni handed out 12-month jail terms and fines of 250,000 Congolese francs (110 euros/$125) to each for “disobeying the laws of the republic” and “inciting disrespect for public authority”, according to a ruling read by the presiding judge, Major Anicet Kalambayi.

Defence attorney Jean Pie Mbayo said he would appeal.

Lucha, founded in 2012 in North Kivu’s capital of Goma, describes itself as an apolitical and non-violent group which campaigns for accountability.

It played a leading part in protests, often bloodily repressed, against former president Joseph Kabila, who was succeeded in January 2019 by veteran opposition figure Felix Tshisekedi.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army is struggling with scores of armed groups in the country’s troubled east, many of them the legacy of two regional wars in the 1990s.

However, the so-called state of siege has failed to ease the bloodshed, especially by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) — a group that the Islamic State organisation describes as its local affiliate.

Last month, Goma MP Jean-Baptiste Muhindo Kasekwa said that 2,068 civilians had died since the measures were imposed.

Amnesty International condemned the sentences as a “scandalous attempt to silence critical voices”, calling for the “immediate and unconditional” release of activist.