BENI, DRC, A high military court in Beni, North Kivu, has sentenced 14 individuals, among them Ugandan nationals, to death after finding them guilty of a string of violent crimes, including armed robbery. The ruling, delivered late last week, has sparked renewed debate over the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) return to capital punishment.
According to court documents, the convicts were accused of carrying out a series of armed attacks between April and June this year. The raids targeted local cooperatives, shops, and money transfer offices, leaving communities already burdened by conflict even more vulnerable.
In a separate case, the court sentenced another man to death after he was caught in Dindi attempting to steal while armed with an AK-47 rifle. Judges found him guilty of membership in a criminal gang. His co-accused was acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence.
Military authorities say the harsh verdicts are intended to send a strong signal at a time when insecurity in Beni is spiraling. The region, which lies at the heart of eastern Congo’s conflict zones, has long been a flashpoint for violence, with armed groups, including the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), blamed for massacres, kidnappings, and attacks on civilians.
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“The court wanted to make an example of these cases,” a military official said after the ruling, emphasizing that the sentences were meant to deter further lawlessness.
The death penalty had been dormant in the DRC for years, with authorities opting instead for long prison terms. However, in March 2024, President Félix Tshisekedi’s government reinstated it, citing the need to combat treason, terrorism, and widespread banditry, particularly in areas affected by armed conflict.
The Beni verdict is one of the clearest applications of the policy so far.Rights groups have condemned the move. Amnesty International and other international organizations argue that capital punishment is a violation of the right to life and warn that hasty trials in conflict-affected regions risk miscarriages of justice.
“The use of the death penalty in such volatile conditions raises serious concerns about due process and fair trial standards,” one rights advocate told regional media.
Despite the criticism, Kinshasa has stood firm, insisting that extraordinary measures are necessary to restore order in the country’s volatile east.
The inclusion of Ugandan nationals among those sentenced also underscores the cross-border dimension of insecurity in eastern Congo. The porous frontier between North Kivu and Uganda has long served as a corridor for both armed groups and smuggling networks, complicating relations between the two neighbors.
Analysts warn that while the death sentences may demonstrate toughness, they do little to address the underlying drivers of violence, weak state authority, local grievances, and the proliferation of armed groups.
For communities in Beni, however, the ruling reflects both hope and fear: hope that justice might finally confront impunity, and fear that executions could deepen the cycle of violence.
