Congo lifts immunity of former president Kabila over his alleged support of rebels

Congo’s senate has overwhelmingly voted to lift former President Joseph Kabila of his immunity

KINSHASA, Congo -- Congo’s senate has voted overwhelmingly to lift former President Joseph Kabila of his parliamentary immunity, paving the way for his prosecution over his alleged support of a rebel insurgency in the country’s east.

“The Senate authorizes the prosecution and lifting of Joseph Kabila’s immunity," Senate speaker Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde said Thursday after the vote.

Kabila has not commented on his immunity being lifted.

Justice Minister Constant Mutamba said the former president is accused of “treason, war crimes, crimes against humanity and participation in an insurrectional movement” in the country’s east.

Earlier this month the attorney general of Congo’s army asked the Senate to revoke the lifetime immunity from prosecution that Kabila enjoyed because of his honorific title as senator for life.

The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January when the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advanced and seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by the town of Bukavu, which they took in February.

On Friday, Human Rights Watch said a Congolese army-backed militias known as the “Wazalendo” committed beatings, killings, and extortion against civilians in the war-torn country’s east. Earlier this month, Congo accused M23 of murdering dozens, kidnapping thousands more and committing rape, torture and looting.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi last year alleged Kabila was supporting the rebels and “preparing an insurrection” in eastern Congo with them, a claim Kabila denies.

Kabila led Congo from 2001 to 2019, taking office at the age of 29 and extending his mandate by delaying elections for two years after his term ended in 2016. His father, former President Laurent Kabila, was assassinated in 2001.

M23 is one of about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo near the border with Rwanda. The rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts.

Despite Congo’s army and M23 having agreed to work toward a truce earlier this month, fighting continues in the eastern province of South-Kivu.

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Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Justin Kabumba in Goma, Congo contributed to this report.

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