Former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Joseph Kabila, was on Tuesday sentenced to death by a high military court on charges of treason, war crimes and other serious offences, in connection with the ongoing conflict in the country’s east.Kabila was sentenced in absentia for alleged collaboration with the Rwanda-backed rebel group, M23, which launched lightning offensives in January this year and seized swaths of territory, including the strategic eastern hub of Goma. The group’s advance resulted in more than 3,000 deaths and the displacement of close to a million people.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe sentencing comes as the DRC government and representatives of the M23 rebels continue to engage in slow-moving peace negotiations, which have been mediated by Qatar since July. There are concerns, however, that Kabila’s sentencing could further hamper those talks and deepen a wide political divide in the troubled central African country.The DRC has been in the throes of a decades-long conflict, which escalated in January. Although fighting has ebbed amid the peace talks, there are still some reports of violence. Kabila, who was president between 2001 and 2019, is a political rival of President Felix Tshisekedi and has accused the incumbent president of using the courts to settle political scores.Here’s what you need to know about Kabila’s sentencing: War-displaced people leave camps on the outskirts of Goma on February 2, 2025. More than 700,000 displaced people have arrived in Goma since late 2022, fleeing the fighting in the territories of Rutshuru and Masisi [Alexis Huguet/AFP]What was the ruling?Kabila was found guilty of several charges, including treason, war crimes, conspiracy and organising an insurrection in collaboration with the M23 rebel group, which is backed by Rwanda, according to a …
