A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced former President Joseph Kabila to death in absentia, accusing him of treason and supporting an armed rebellion in the country’s volatile eastern region.
The Kinshasa-based high court found Kabila guilty of backing the Rwanda-backed M23 insurgency, which occupies significant portions of Congo’s mineral-rich east.
The group seized two of the region’s largest cities earlier this year and has since expanded its control, prompting international condemnation and targeted sanctions.
The court’s ruling accuses Kabila, who led the country from 2001 to 2019, of conspiring with M23 rebels to undermine the government of his successor, President Félix Tshisekedi. Prosecutors said Kabila’s involvement included financing and directing the armed group’s operations, resulting in widespread atrocities, including murder, rape, and torture. The verdict also imposed a record $29 billion fine against Kabila for damages related to the conflict.
Kabila, who has recently been seen travelling through eastern Congo and Rwanda in what he describes as peace-promoting visits, rejected the charges. “This prosecution is arbitrary,” he said in a statement earlier this year, calling Tshisekedi a “dictator” and accusing him of politically motivated attacks.
Longtime Kabila adviser Kikaya Bin Karubi declined to comment immediately on the sentence, Bloomberg stated.
President Tshisekedi’s administration has repeatedly accused Kabila of attempting to destabilize the country by supporting M23’s efforts to seize power. Analysts say the charges and death sentence mark an escalation in the political rivalry between Congo’s current leadership and the former president, whose tenure was marked by accusations of corruption and authoritarianism, but also by economic growth and regional diplomacy.
International observers have expressed concern that the ruling could further inflame tensions in an already fragile security landscape. The M23 rebellion, along with other armed groups operating in eastern Congo, has long exploited the region’s rich deposits of coltan, gold, and other minerals, fueling cycles of violence and displacement.
Kabila, 53, has maintained a low profile since leaving office, though he retains a strong political base within the Congolese People’s Party. Whether the death sentence can be enforced remains uncertain, given Kabila’s current absence from the country and the complex web of alliances surrounding him.
The case shows the continuing instability in Congo, where power struggles and rebel activity have hindered efforts to consolidate democracy and secure peace in the eastern provinces. The international community now faces the delicate challenge of responding to the court’s decision without further destabilizing the region.