Colonel Mike Mikombe was sentenced to death by the Garrison Military Court after pleading guilty to ordering the shooting of anti-United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) protestors in Goma City.
The death sentence was handed down after Colonel Mikombe entered his guilty plea.
Mikombe, who was serving as the commander of the Elite Republican Guard in Goma city at the time the shootings occurred on August 30th, was also kicked out of the Congolese army by the court after being found guilty of his role in the shootings.
Colonel Ben Kabeya Yahani, who was serving as the court’s first president magistrate, presided over the proceedings on Monday.
Mwati Musombwa, Daniel Bangala, and Fabrice Mbaya Mbaya were all condemned to ten years in prison by the court for their roles as soldiers of the second class.
After hearing their pleas of innocence, the court acquitted Commander Donat Bawili of the 19th Regiment in Goma and another junior soldier known as Kabamba Kauila Idriss.
Colonel Mikombe denied having given the order to shoot at the protestors and said he had no knowledge of the incident.
He testified in front of the judge that he had ordered the shooting to stop over the radio before going on to explain that he had also requested that the protestors vacate the area because their lives were in danger.
“When I observed that the officers were dragging out the negotiations with these followers, I arrived to advise them to leave since their lives were in danger. I came to tell them to leave because I saw that the negotiations were running on. It wasn’t until I turned around in my jeep and heard shots that I realized what was going on,” he claimed.
Residents of the Nyabushongo district staged demonstrations under the umbrella of Wazalendo, which was led by Pastor Efraim Bisimwa, the leader of a Christian-animist group called the “Natural Judaic and Messianic Faith Towards the Nations.”
These demonstrations took place in a variety of locations throughout the district, including Kyeshero, Ndosho, Himbi, Katoyi, and Kasika, amongst others.
During the demonstrations, over 57 people, including a police officer, were killed, 56 others were injured, and 168 people were arrested.
The demonstrators blocked highways with stones and assaulted MONUSCO bases in the region, accusing the peacekeepers of being ineffective in bringing an end to the state of instability in Eastern DRC.
In addition to this accusation, they stated that the peacekeepers had failed to initiate an attack against the rebels of the March 23 Movement (M23).
As a result of the protests, Senior Superintendent Bongo Wifema José, who was the Commander in Charge of Operations in the City of Goma, and Senior Superintendent Luna Kimanga Martin, who was the Commander in Charge of Intelligence in Goma, were both removed from their positions in the police force.
General Constant Ndima Kongba, the military governor of the province of North Kivu, was also called back to Kinshasa for interrogation. Later on, Major General Peter Chirimwami took over for him as his successor.