DRC bishops oppose death sentence for former president

Members of CENCO (Conférence Épiscopale Nationale du Congo, National Episcopal Conference of Congo) expressed shock at the sentence decreed by a High Military Court against former President Joseph Kabila.

On September 30, former president Kabila – who governed from 2001 to 2019 – was sentenced to death in absentia, accused of treason. Kabila had left the country in 2023, but had recently reappeared in Goma, capital of the eastern province of North Kivu, occupied by M23/AFD (Congo River Alliance) guerrillas. The court considers him an accomplice in the rebellion.

The bishops described the death sentence as a step backward “in contradiction with the protection of life and the values of the Gospel”.

“Aware that the death penalty and its retributive logic are not compatible with the Gospel, and eager to restore peace, national cohesion and guarantee the integrity of the territory, we are horrified by the verdict of the High Military Court of Kinshasa at the end of the summary trial against Honorary President Joseph Kabila,” read the statement signed by Bishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu, Metropolitan Archbishop of Lubumbashi and president of CENCO.

The bishops spoke out when the Congolese Ministry of Justice decided to revoke a moratorium on the death penalty that had been in force since 2003. The Congolese Constitution recognises the sanctity of human life, and this is incompatible with the death penalty, the bishops said.

In their statement after the Kabila sentence, the bishops call for a national dialogue that includes the former president and the rebel groups, in order to resolve political differences and, above all, put an end to the wars and instability that have plagued the eastern provinces of the DRC for 30 years.

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Bishops react to the death sentence handed down against former President Kabila (Agenzia Fides)