Kamonia

On Saturday June 1, 2024, the Military Court of the former Kasai Occidental declared itself incompetent to judge certain high-ranking state officials accused of involvement in the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Bana Mura militias in Kamonia between 2017 and 2018. The presence, among the 11 defendants, of a senior commander of the Congolese national police as well as a national senator justified the court’s decision to refer the case, in its entirety, to the High Military Court in Kinshasa. This is a very disappointing outcome for the victims, who will have to wait once again to make their voices heard and see those responsible for the crimes punished.

On Monday May 20, a major trial opens in Tshikapa, capital of the Kasai province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the dock are 11 defendants, including a Congolese police commander, village chiefs, a former national deputy and a former vice-governor of the province. These alleged members of the Bana Mura militia, formed in 2017 in response to attacks by the Kamuina Nsapu rebellion, are facing charges for crimes allegedly committed in Kamonia territory between 2017 and 2018. They are accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, torture, pillaging, sexual violence, imprisonment and enforced disappearance.

On the second day of the trial, the defendants’ lawyers requested that the general and senator be referred to the compeatent authority, the Constitutional Court, due to their status. The plaintiffs’ lawyers rejected this argument. The court suspended the hearings, which will resume on Thursday May 23.

On May 20, the trial of a dozen militiamen, local politicians and representatives of the Congolese security forces for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Kamonia territory between 2017 and 2018 opened in Tshikapa (Kasai province, Democratic Republic of Congo). The trial is taking place in the context of a deadly conflict in the Kasai region that opposed the customary chief Kamuina Nsapu and his supporters to the government in Kinshasa between 2016 and 2019. The conflict, coupled with inter-ethnic tensions, has resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of 1.4 million people. This trial could shed light, for the first time, on the responsibility of certain Congolese authorities in the Kasai conflict. The verdict is expected in early June.

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