Joseph Kabila denies charges of treason and war crimes amid escalating tensions in volatile eastern provinces.Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have asked the Senate to lift the immunity of former President Joseph Kabila so he could face trial on charges of supporting a rebel uprising in the country’s east, the justice minister says.
Constant Mutamba told reporters in the capital, Kinshasa, on Wednesday evening that authorities have amassed clear evidence implicating the former president in “war crimes, crimes against humanity and massacres of peaceful civilians and military personnel” in the east.
Mutamba said the attorney general of Congo’s army has asked the Senate to revoke the lifetime immunity from prosecution that Kabila enjoys as a former president and senator.
The former president is accused of “treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectional movement”, the justice minister added.
His successor, President Felix Tshisekedi, last year alleged Kabila was supporting the M23 rebels and “preparing an insurrection” in the eastern DRC with them, a claim Kabila denied. Advertisement
Kabila led the DRC from 2001 to 2019, taking office at the age of 29 and extending his mandate by delaying elections for two years after his term ended in 2016. His father, former President Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001.
Last month, he returned to the DRC after having left in 2023 in part due to deteriorating relations with the government of Tshisekedi. He arrived in the rebel-held eastern city of Goma, where he planned to “participate in peace efforts”, ac …