On August 10, 2012, Ibrahim Nsanzimana, a 28-year-old Rwandan man, is taken out of his cell at the Congolese military intelligence facility in Goma. -

Last updated: 2 hours ago

Democratic Republic Of Congo

The number of death sentences handed down in the Democratic Republic of Congo has skyrocketed since the government lifted a de facto moratorium on executions in 2024, a campaign group warned Tuesday.

Courts sentenced more than 480 people to death in 2024 and 344 in 2025 — up from just 122 in 2023, according to a report by French NGO Together Against the Death Penalty and several Congolese organisations.

No executions confirmed, but climate of fear

To date, no execution has been officially confirmed. However, the report warns that the multiplication of death sentences is creating an “unprecedented climate of fear” in a country already plagued by decades of conflict.

An investigative mission visited around 20 prisons and identified at least 950 people on death row – nearly double the 500 recorded in 2019.

Overcrowded jails and summary trials

The report describes overcrowded, dilapidated prison facilities where detainees live in “extreme health and food insecurity,” sometimes without even knowing they have been sentenced to death.

Death sentences “are often handed down at the end of summary trials,” the authors wrote.

Effective legal assistance is frequently lacking, and the right to a fair trial is not always guaranteed.

In Congo’s opaque and influence-prone judicial system, avenues of appeal remain inaccessible to those without a lawyer, money or connections.

One third of those interviewed had been convicted for “criminal conspiracy” — a vague and expandable offense, according to the report.

DR Congo: Death sentences rise after government lifts ban, report shows

Suggested for you

More Stories

APC chairman threatens sanction against Akpabio's spokesperson, former NDDC MD and others

I love the OSP but it has become an expensive office with little return – Dafeamekpor

Old Tafo MP Vincent Assafuah shares 10,000 mathematical sets with BECE students

Nigeria's ambassador-designate to Algeria, Mohammed Lele, dies

OSP should not be scrapped but must do better work - Dafeamekpor

Police Catch Officer Taking Money from Driver

Discussion