Congo court sentences 66 soldiers to death for cowardice, mutiny

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced 66 soldiers to death for cowardice, refusing to obey orders, mutiny and squandering of munition, according to local media reports. The troops spent 12 days on trial at a military court in the town of Walikale, in Congo's eastern North Kivu province, according to Radio Okapi, along with four others who were acquitted and one who was given a 10-year jail sentence. 

Military authorities said the aim of the trial was to boost discipline in the armed forces, according to multiple reports by Congolese and international news outlets. 

Troops from Congo have been fighting armed groups in the country's resource-rich east for decades, including the M23 group, and the umbrella rebel coalition Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN). 

The soldiers were arrested on Oct. 20 after being accused of fleeing fighting with FRN fighters, according to CBS News' partner network BBC News. 

The country's armed forces have been plagued by accusations of ill-discipline, while soldiers have decried poor pay and equipment, according to the BBC.

In early October, 27 other Congolese government soldiers were sentenced to death for cowardice, Radio Okapi reported.

Congolese authorities reintroduced the death penalty in March 2024 to fight "treason" within the armed forces, according to Amnesty International, which, at the time, said the country's justice system was "plagued by numerous problems, and trials rarely meet fair trial standards as documented."

"Whether those who have been sentenced to death are in the national army or police, in armed groups or have been involved in gang violence, everyone has a right to life and for that right to be protected," Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty's regional director for East and Southern Africa, said. "This heartless decision will endanger the lives of hundreds of people who have been sentenced to death, including those who were put on death row following unfair trials and politically motivated charges."

The United Nations, many Western governments and the DRC have long accused the government in neighboring Rwanda of backing M23 in a bid to control and exploit the much larger country's vast mineral resources.

The United Nations warned last year the M23 fighters were carrying out summary executions and mass rape as they advanced into DR Congo. 

Since the start of 2025, 381 Congolese soldiers have been sentenced to death, according to a tally by Radio France Internationale.