Congo Sentences 13 Soldiers To Death In Bid To Boost Discipline

A Congolese military tribunal has sentenced 13 soldiers to death on charges including murder, looting, and cowardice in what military authorities said was a drive to improve army discipline after territorial losses due to soldiers fleeing.

The soldiers were sentenced on Tuesday in the town of Lubero in Democratic Republic of Congos eastern North Kivu province, where Congolese forces have been fighting the Rwanda-backed M23 insurgency for nearly three years, as well as facing other militia violence.

Fighting has flared in Lubero territory and cases of soldiers abandoning their positions have helped the enemy advance, said local army spokesperson Mak Hazukay.

Some of the soldiers who are supposed to be fighting the enemy at the front have shown a kind of indiscipline, he said. We had to organise this educational trial to set things right.

Overall, 24 soldiers stood trial. In addition to those handed death penalties, four received 2-10 year sentences, six were acquitted, and ones case was deferred for further investigation.