DR Congo Court Sentences 51 to Death Over Murder of UN Experts

A military court of Katanga in southern Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced 51 people to death over the murders of two United Nations researchers, Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan, who were carrying out an investigation into violence in the Kasai region in 2017.

The judgement, after a four-year trial, was read in by General Jean Paulin Ntshayokolo against a number of former militiamen of the Kamuina Nsapu sect.

Colonel Jean de Dieu Mambweni, who was accused of sending the UN experts into the trap that resulted in their brutal murder, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The public prosecutor charged him with "terrorism, association with criminals and war crimes," but he was convicted only of disobeying orders and letting the victims travel to an area that was known as dangerous, reports Radio France Internationale.

Many of the sentences were reportedly handed out in absentia, as suspects were either never arrested or escaped from custody.

In March 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the prosecution to go beyond those who carried out the killings and move the investigation up into the broader chain of command.

Great Lakes researcher at HRW Thomas Fessy says that the investigation did not indicate what happened when Catalan and Sharp were murdered, nor did it explain what happened to their Congolese interpreter and driver, who disappeared.

InFocus

An aerial view of the town of Kananga in DRC’s Kasaï-Central province. The remains of UN experts Zaida Catalán and Michael Sharp were found outside the town in 2017 (file photo).

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