Kinshasa, DR Congo – The Democratic Republic of the Congo government called on its senate Wednesday to lift immunity for former president Joseph Kabila who has been accused of helping the armed rebel M23 group.
Eastern DRC, rich in resources and bordering Rwanda, has been plagued by conflict for 30 years, but violence has intensified with the resurgence of the M23 in 2021.
In recent months, President Felix Tshisekedi has accused Kabila of preparing “an insurrection” and backing an alliance that includes the M23 armed group fighting government forces.
As a former president, Kabila holds the title of “senator for life” which would allow immunity from prosecution.
“The Congolese judiciary has gathered the most tangible and irrefutable evidence supporting the clear involvement, the direct participation of senator for life Joseph Kabila in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the massacres of peaceful citizens” in the east of the country, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba told reporters.
The armed forces general auditor, following justice ministry orders, “today filed the requisition seeking the Congolese senate’s authorization for prosecution and the lifting of immunities,” he added.
“We expect from the senate the pure and simple lifting” of immunity so the case can be heard by the High Military Court, Mutamba said.
He also called on Kabila to “come face justice in the Congo and present his defence.”
The former head of state had left the DRC before the last presidential election in 2023, according to his entourage.
On April 19, authorities suspended Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), accusing it of maintaining “complicit silence” pver the M23 advance in eastern DRC.
The M23, which Kinshasa, UN experts and several international powers have said is backed by Rwanda, has taken the key cities of Goma and Bukavu since the beginning of this year.
© Agence France-Presse
