The Democratic Republic of the Congo has lifted a moratorium on the death penalty that had been in place for more than two decades, in response to recurring armed conflicts and militant attacks.
The decision, announced on Friday by the central African nation’s Ministry of Justice, said the pause on capital punishment since 2003 had guaranteed impunity for offenders.
The eastern part of DR Congo has been plagued with decades of conflict, linked to dozens of armed groups, including M23, whose deadly attacks in recent weeks have displaced thousands. The Tutsi-led group has reportedly laid siege to several communities in the troubled region, controlling about half of North Kivu province. Congolese authorities, a group of UN experts, and Western governments, including the US, have accused Rwanda of arming the M23 insurgents to fight in DR Congo, a claim the east African country has consistently denied.
The death penalty is often handed down in the DR Congo, but no offender has been executed in over 20 years, and their sentences are typically commuted to life in prison. Last October, a military court in the former Belgian colony sentenced Edouard Mwangachuchu, a member of the National Assembly, to death, on charges including treason and involvement with the M23 rebel movement.
While announcing the reinstatement of the death penalty last week, Congolese Justice Minister Rose Mutombo said domestic hostilities are “often orchestrated by foreign states, which sometimes benefit from the complicity of some of our compatriots.”
The resumption of executions will allow authorities to rid the “country’s army of traitors, on the one hand, and stem the resurgence of acts of terrorism and urban banditry,” the minister wrote.
Capital punishment will be imposed on individuals accused of espionage, participation in banned groups or insurgency movements, treason, or genocide, among other crimes, according to the statement.
The decision has sparked widespread condemnation, with local human rights movement Lucha calling it “unconstitutional” and claiming it “opens a corridor to summary executions” in a country with a “defective” justice system.
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said reinstating executions in DR Congo is a “gross injustice” to those sentenced to death and shows a “callous disregard” for the right to life.