In a controversial move, on March 15, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) lifted a more than two-decade old moratorium on the death penalty. The country lifted the moratorium on the death penalty, citing treachery and espionage in recurring armed conflicts as the reason for allowing a resumption of executions, said a justice ministry circular.

This drastic measure was said to be a response to the surging violence and insurgent attacks in the nation’s eastern provinces, and aimed to deter the collaboration of foreign armed groups with military, and police personnel.

Congolese Justice Minister Rose Mutombo stated that the reintroduction of the death penalty was a response to domestic conflicts that are frequently planned by foreign nations, who occasionally receive support from fellow citizens.

Mutombo wrote in the circular dated March 13 that the death penalty was reintroduced to rid the army of traitors and curb the resurgence of terrorism and banditry acts. The decision was adopted by a council of ministers on February 9.

The minister stated that by resuming executions, authorities will be able to eliminate traitors within the country’s army and prevent the increase of terrorism and urban banditry, adding that individuals accused of crimes such as espionage, involvement in prohibited organizations or insurgency movements, treason, or genocide, will face capital punishment.

The move was criticized by several human rights’ organizations, indicating that this is the DRC government’s new tactic to exterminate people solely based on their identity, and not because of any crime they might have committed.

In recent months, dozens of political opponents, businessmen, civil servants and soldiers have been arrested allegedly for colluding with the M23 rebels and Rwanda, which the Congolese government alleges is supporting the rebels.

Kinshasa has refused to engage in peace talks with the M23 rebels, calling them terrorists.

The lifting of the moratorium on executions will only target one group - the Kinyarwanda speaking Congolese who are said to be enemies from foreign countries.

For the past two years, the Congolese army and their coalition, have been fighting the M23 rebels who have seized swathes of territories in North Kivu Province.

It is reported that when fighting gets intense, Congolese soldiers and their militias are quick to retreat or surrender, leading to them being accused of collaborating with the enemy. However, when it comes to punishing them, only those that ‘look like Rwandans’ or have ‘Tutsi faces’ are punished and treated as traitors.

Local sources reported several military personnel as well as members of parliament, senators and business leaders that have been arrested and accused of “complicity with the enemy”.

Public executions of soldiers accused of collaborating with the enemy, in particular the M23 and Rwanda, were already planned, even before the death penalty was re-introduced.

Among them are; Col Santos Mugisha, Col Mucyo Claude, Lt Col Kamanzi David, Ali Kabengera and Kamanzi Runigi Emmanuel, president of a North Kivu livestock farmers association,  as well as Petro Kadogi who operates in the aviation sector.

All these individuals have one thing in common. They are Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese, and have either been arrested without charges or summoned by the military.

On several occasions, Congolese Members of Parliament, Ministers and army officers, have publicly declared that that the biggest problem the DRC army is facing is the high infiltration by Rwanda often referring to Congolese Rwandophones in the army. This has been followed by many of them, being relieved from their duties in FARDC, while others are languishing in military jails across the country.

With the death penalty, the DRC government will undoubtedly publicly execute more Rwandophones, as long as they wrongfully pin them with crimes of ‘collaborating with the enemy’, so as to cover their own failures in resolving the security crisis in eastern DRC.

In October 2023, Edouard Mwangachuchu, a lawmaker in the national Assembly, was sentenced to death by a military court. The charges included treason and association with the M23 rebel movement.

Many Congolese Rwandophones are likely facing the same fate in the near future."In addition to being unconstitutional, the lifting of the moratorium... opens the door to summary executions in this country, where the defective functioning of the justice system is recognised by everyone," citizens' movement Lucha said on X.

Kinshasa should know that there is no guarantee that reinstating the death penalty will solve the problem in an ill-equipped, poorly trained army, with soldiers who sometimes struggle to receive their pay because corruption is so widespread. It is disturbing to see that the Congolese government is willing and ready to kill its own people while the world watches.

Injustices against the Congolese Tutsi and Kinyarwanda-speaking Congolese have pushed hundreds of thousands of them to take refuge in neighbouring countries, including Rwanda.