Rights Group Demands Probe of Ex-governor, 2 Army Officers in DR Congo for Possible Humanitarian Crimes

Arrested members of the Wazalendo sect are sat and lined up in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Aug. 30, 2023. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

By MARK BANCHEREAU

12:04 AM EST, December 11, 2024

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Amnesty International called for an investigation Wednesday into a former governor and two top army officials in Congo for “possible crimes against humanity” during a deadly crackdown on demonstrators last year protesting the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country.

The human rights group said in a report Congo’s security forces killed at least 56 people and injured 80 more, during a protest in the eastern city of Goma in August 2023.

The protest was organized by a sect called the Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith Towards the Nations and known colloquially as Wazalendo. Its supporters were demonstrating against the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo, called MONUSCO.

The MONUSCO force arrived in Congo in 2010 after taking over from an earlier U.N. peacekeeping mission to protect civilians and humanitarian personnel and to support the Congolese government in its stabilization and peace consolidation efforts. However, frustrated Congolese say that no one is protecting them from rebel attacks, leading to several protests against the U.N. mission.

Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings. More than 7 million people have been displaced.

Goma’s Mayor Faustin Napenda Kapend banned the protest soon after it was announced over concerns the organizers were inciting hate and violence. Amnesty International said it found no evidence of incitement to violence in the statements and messages from the Wazalendo it reviewed.

Congolese security and defense forces amassed at major intersections in anticipation of the protest when violence broke out early in the morning. Amnesty International said it saw operational plans in which the security forces were given orders to “destroy isolated enemy elements.”

“This massacre was not the result of a blunder by a few soldiers who intervened unexpectedly after Wazalendo followers stoned a police officer, as authorities have claimed,” Tigere Chagutah, the rights group regional director for East and Southern Africa, said in the statement. “It was the result of a series of deliberate, planned actions by the Congolese authorities, after MONUSCO explicitly requested they prohibit the protest.”

Amnesty International said it traced the timeline and locations of the killings, identifying three top officials who should be investigated and, if evidence supports it, prosecuted for possible crimes against humanity. They include Lt. Gen. Constant Ndima, who was governor of the North Kivu province at the time, Col. Mike Kalamba Mikombe, who was head of the Republican Guard unit in Goma, and Maj. Peter Kabwe, who led the Republican Guard’s Special Forces.

The rights group said Ndima had directed the army and the police to “take all measures” to protect MONUSCO facilities and the city, after he informed the army and police that the Wazalendo posed a serious threat.

Mikombe was accused of ordering soldiers to open fire on the protesters, who were unarmed, according to Amnesty International and two Congolese military trials, killing dozens.

Amnesty International accused Kabwe of leading a raid on a Wazalendo radio station ahead of the protest in which six people, including a journalist, were summarily executed.

While Mikombe was convicted and sentenced to death, which the rights group said it opposed, Ndima and Kabwe have not faced justice.

“The Democratic Republic of Congo authorities must reopen the investigations into this massacre, in line with regional and international standards, to establish the truth and hold all of those involved accountable,” Chagutah said. He added that Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi should suspend Ndima and Kabew, further investigate Mikombe, and ban the Republican Guard and Special Forces from law enforcement operations.