Public statement  Posté le 03-03-2021 10:49, modifié le 03-03-2021 10:49 par Tournons la Page

The Military Tribunal of the Bukavu Garrison, sitting as a repressive court, pronounced its verdict this Wednesday, March 03, 2021, in the case opposing the Public Prosecutor and civil parties YASHENGE and FURAHA to Sergeant BWIRA MALIRA of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (AFRDC).

The Court has just sentenced Sergeant BWIRA MALIRA to death and ordered him to pay damages in solidum with the Congolese State in the amount of $50,000 ($20,000 for civil party YASHENGE, the victim's father, and $30,000 for Mrs. FURAHA, the victim's widow) for murder and abandonment of duty.

As a reminder, on Sunday, December 06, 2020, at around noon, Sergeant BWIRA MALIRA, assigned to guard the disputed concession said to belong to Mr. Joseph KABILA, former President of the DRC, coldly shot Mr. Patrick IRENGE KAFARHIRE at point-blank range in an argument over a cell phone.

The murder of Mr. Patrick IRENGE has added to the long list of other murders and other heinous, villainous crimes committed by Kabila's military since 2016, a year which saw the former President enter into open land disputes with his own constituents, going so far as to violently demolish more than 350 houses, including a hospital with interned sick patients. To date, there have been four cases of killings with the same modus operandi.

Tournons La Page-DRC (TLP-DRC), which with its coordinating organization New Dynamics of Civil Society in the DRC (NDSCI) has always supported the victims of MBOBERO, takes note of today's judgment.

TLP-DRC, which, thanks to its pool of lawyers, was able to assist the civil parties, regrets that the death penalty was pronounced, as this is a denial of the right to life, the principal human right. It also regrets that several of its demands, in particular that the owner of this problematic site, former President Kabila and his wife Olive Lembe, be named as civilly responsible for all these crimes, were not met by the court.

TLP-DRC, which considers this judgment to be a strong signal, calls on the FARDC's senior military hierarchy to order the total demilitarization of the Hongo hill, so that the inhabitants of the area can return to their normal way of life and live in peace.

TLP-DRC and its lead organization, NDSCI, reaffirm their firm determination to continue supporting all the victims of Mbobero, in particular with the objective of getting all the land titles giving property rights to Joseph Kabila cancelled due to the many serious irregularities surrounding them.

Pour Tournons La Page DRC,

Mr. Jean Chrysostome KIJANA,

International Vice-President and Country Coordinator.