DR Congo Sentences 66 Soldiers to Death for Cowardice and Mutiny After 12-Day Military Trial

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced 66 soldiers to death for cowardice, mutiny and refusing orders, in one of the largest mass death sentences ever handed to the country’s own troops.

The Goma Garrison Military Court delivered the verdict on the night of Friday, 6 November 2026, after a 12-day trial held in Walikale, a town in the troubled North Kivu province in eastern DR Congo. All 66 men belonged to the same unit, the 3415th Regiment of the Congolese army, known as the FARDC.

The case has put a harsh spotlight on discipline inside an army that has spent years losing ground to rebel groups in the east of the country. Military officials say the trial was meant to send a message: soldiers who abandon their posts or turn against their commanders will face the severest punishment the law allows.

But the verdict has also raised difficult questions. A death sentence in DR Congo is not the same as an execution. For two decades, such sentences were routinely changed to life in prison, and none were carried out. Whether these 66 men will ever face a firing squad is far from certain.

What happened in Walikale

The story began in mid-October in the Walikale territory, a remote, mineral-rich area of North Kivu where the army has been fighting armed groups.

According to reports on the case, shootings took place on 16 and 20 October in Ngora, in the Waloa-Loanda area, leaving three people dead: two soldiers and one civilian. The incidents involved men from the 3415th Regiment.

On 20 October, the army arrested 54 soldiers from the regiment in Ngora, following the incidents in Ntoto, a nearby area in the Wanianga sector of Walikale territory. The arrests were confirmed by Major Dieudonné Kasereka, the communications officer for the army’s 34th Military Region.

The case then grew. On 2 November, 16 more soldiers were added to the same case. In total, 71 soldiers stood trial. The trial itself formally opened on 26 October in Walikale-centre, with the Goma military court travelling to the area so the case could be heard close to where the events happened.

The trial was originally scheduled to last 10 days. It ran for 12 before the court announced its verdict on the night of 6 November.

The verdict: 66 death sentences, one prison term, four acquittals

Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty for 70 of the 71 defendants. The court went almost all the way: it sentenced 66 soldiers to death.

Not everyone received the same punishment. One sergeant was given 10 years of penal servitude — a form of hard-labour imprisonment — after the court accepted that there were mitigating circumstances in his case. Four other defendants were acquitted altogether, including the regiment’s intelligence captain, an officer known as Captain Mwinyi Justin, who served as the regiment’s S2 intelligence officer.

The fact that four men walked free and one received a prison term instead of death shows that the court weighed the cases individually, even though the soldiers were tried together.

The charges, explained in plain language

The soldiers faced some of the most serious charges in military law. Here is what each one means in simple terms.

Military revolt.

This means rising up against military authority — refusing to accept orders from commanders or acting together against them. In an army, this is treated as one of the gravest offences, because an army that will not follow orders cannot function.

Cowardice in the face of the enemy.

This is the charge of running away from battle or refusing to fight when the enemy is near. Armies punish this severely because one unit fleeing can cause others to collapse, leaving civilians unprotected.

Refusal to obey orders.

Soldiers are legally required to follow lawful orders from their commanders. Refusing is a crime under military law in almost every country, and in wartime it can carry the heaviest penalties.

Dissipation of war munitions.

This means wasting, misusing or getting rid of military ammunition and weapons — for example, firing them off without orders or losing them. In a country where the army is short of supplies, this is taken very seriously.

Earlier reports on the case also said some of the accused faced a murder charge, linked to the shootings in October that killed two soldiers and a civilian. The full list of charges each man faced was not published in the reports of the verdict.

Why the army is cracking down so hard

To understand why the Congolese army is handing out death sentences to its own men, it helps to understand the war it is fighting.

Eastern DR Congo has been in conflict for decades. Dozens of armed groups operate in the region, and the most powerful is the M23, a Rwanda-backed rebel movement that has captured large areas of North Kivu, including towns and strategic roads. The Congolese army, the FARDC, has repeatedly struggled to hold its positions against the rebels.

Soldiers abandoning their posts has become a recurring problem. When troops flee, they often leave weapons behind, loot villages on their way out, and leave civilians at the mercy of armed groups. The army’s leadership believes that only harsh punishment will stop this.

This is not the first time the 3415th Regiment has been in trouble. In September, 10 other soldiers from the same regiment were given prison sentences for firing on their own commander. The regiment’s discipline problems were already known before the October incidents.

Military officials were open about the purpose of the Walikale trial. They said it was part of a wider effort to strengthen discipline across the armed forces at a time when the army is under pressure on several fronts in the east.

The death penalty in DR Congo

The 66 death sentences sound final. In DR Congo, however, a death sentence has not always meant an execution.

The country kept a moratorium — a formal pause — on carrying out the death penalty for more than 20 years, from 2003 until March 2024. During that time, military courts often handed down death sentences, but they were systematically changed to life imprisonment, and none were carried out.

In March 2024, the government lifted that moratorium. The justice minister at the time said the move was needed to remove “traitors” from the army. Since then, death sentences have carried a real possibility of being carried out, although the government has not made clear how many, if any, have actually been executed.

That history matters for the 66 soldiers. A sentence is a court decision. Carrying it out is a separate step, and in DR Congo the two have often been very different things.

Human rights groups have criticised the return of executions. They argue that the death penalty does not stop crime, that it cannot be undone if a court makes a mistake, and that rushed military trials carry a higher risk of error than ordinary courts. The European Union has also opposed death sentences in DR Congo, saying every accused person has the right to a fair trial.

Not the first time: a pattern of mass death sentences

The Walikale verdict fits a pattern that has become familiar in DR Congo’s military courts.

In July 2024, a military court sentenced 25 soldiers to death for fleeing battles against the M23 rebels. The men were also found guilty of theft, after stealing goods from shops in a nearby village when they abandoned their positions. A lawyer for the soldiers said at the time that he would appeal.

In May 2025, a military court in Butembo, also in North Kivu, sentenced 55 soldiers to death for abandoning their positions against M23 fighters in the Lubero territory. That trial lasted five days and involved 66 defendants. One soldier received five years in prison, and another was acquitted.

In May 2024, a military court in Goma sentenced eight soldiers to death for desertion and cowardice while fighting rebel forces.

Each of these cases followed the same shape: soldiers fleeing or refusing to fight, a fast military trial, and a large number of death sentences. The Walikale case is the biggest of them so far, with 66 men condemned at once.

What happens next

Three questions will decide what this verdict really means.

First, will the sentences be carried out? Given that DR Congo went 20 years without an execution, and that death sentences were routinely commuted to life imprisonment during that period, it is not certain that these 66 men will be executed. The government’s position since lifting the moratorium in March 2024 suggests the sentences may be treated more seriously than in the past, but no execution has been confirmed publicly.

Second, will the verdict change behaviour in the army? The military’s leadership clearly hopes the sheer scale of the sentences — 66 men at once — will frighten other soldiers into staying at their posts. Critics of this approach say harsh punishment does not fix the deeper problems behind desertion: poor pay, weak supplies, bad leadership and low morale.

Third, what happens to the war in the east? The trial took place while fighting continues in North Kivu. The army’s problems go beyond discipline. M23 remains in control of large areas, and peace talks have repeatedly stalled. A court verdict in Walikale will not change the balance of forces on the battlefield.

For now, the 66 soldiers wait in custody, their fate uncertain. Their case has shown the world how far DR Congo’s military justice system will go to enforce discipline — and how far the country’s army still has to go to win its war.

Frequently asked questions

How many soldiers were sentenced to death?

Sixty-six soldiers from the FARDC’s 3415th Regiment were sentenced to death by the Goma Garrison Military Court on 6 November 2026.

What were they convicted of?

Cowardice in the face of the enemy, military revolt, refusal to obey orders and dissipation of war munitions. Some of the accused also faced a murder charge linked to shootings in October.

Where did the trial take place?

In Walikale-centre, in North Kivu province, eastern DR Congo. The Goma military court moved there to hear the case near where the incidents happened.

Did everyone on trial get the death penalty?

No. Of the 71 defendants, 66 were sentenced to death, one sergeant received 10 years of penal servitude, and four were acquitted, including the regiment’s intelligence captain.

Will the soldiers actually be executed?

That is not certain. DR Congo did not carry out any executions for more than 20 years, and death sentences were routinely commuted to life imprisonment. The government lifted the moratorium on executions in March 2024, but it is not clear whether these sentences will be carried out.

Why is the Congolese army struggling in the east?

The army has been fighting the M23 rebel group and other armed groups in North Kivu for years. Soldiers abandoning their posts, poor supplies and weak leadership have all been reported as problems.

Sources

• Radio Okapi (via Wansom): https://www.wansom.ai/briefly/news/tribunal-militaire-goma-66-condamnations-mort-rdc_cecac47b-4617-4a2f-b9cb-a55f686acd72
• Agence Congolaise de Presse (via Isoko360): https://isoko360.com/kin/blog/2026/11/congo-abasirikare-66-ba-fardc-bakatiwe-urwo-gupfa-nyuma-yo-gushinjwa-kuba-ibigwari-ku-rugamba
• BBC (via Ghana News): https://ghananewss.com/dr-congo-soldiers-sentenced-to-death-for-desertion/
• Anadolu Agency (via Mwebantu): https://mwebantu.news/drc-55-soldiers-condemned-to-death-for-flight-before-the-enemy-in-the-east-of-the-country-2/

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.