The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has asked the senate to lift the immunity of former president Joseph Kabila, who has been accused of helping the armed rebel group M23 and has indicated he will return to the country.
Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi has accused Kabila of preparing "an insurrection" and backing an alliance that includes the M23 armed group fighting government forces in the east of the country.
"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," justice minister Constant Mutamba told reporters on Wednesday.
Rwanda and DR Congo hopeful for peace talks this week under US mediation
As a former president, Kabila holds the title of "senator for life", which allows immunity from prosecution.
Mutamba said this immunity could be removed with the approval of the senate, and that his ministry ordered the armed forces general auditor to file a request with the senate, seeking its “authorisation for prosecution and the lifting of immunities” so that Kabila can be tried by the High Military Court.
M23, which Kinshasa, United Nations 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.
It is unclear how the senate, which is dominated by the president’s party, will decide on the issue, amid calls for scaling back violence and international mediation in the conflict with M23.
Fears for political stability as Joseph Kabila plans return to DRC
Kabila, who left DRC before the last presidential election in 2023 and went to South Africa, has announced his intention to return to the country, to address the security situation in the east.
Last week, authorities suspended his People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy, accusing it of maintaining "complicit silence" over the M23 advance.
(with AFP)
