Congo-Kinshasa: Indigenous Twa Are Freed but Still Landless

analysis

A Congolese military court has released seven members of the Twa ethnic group convicted for "wicked destruction of nature" after settling in a park in the south of the country. But the struggle continues for these indigenous people, since the July 30 ruling still does not give them access to the park where their ancestors always lived.

Jean-Marie Kasula's name has become known around the world. His brush with officials of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) in southeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) brought sudden notoriety to this leader of a small village of indigenous pygmies. When his arrest was announced in January 2020, some local media portrayed him as a "warlord spreading terror and desolation" like the leaders of armed groups active in the region.

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