Monday marked the start of the trial for 84 Congolese troops who are charged with rape, murder, and other offenses against civilians in the war-torn east of the country.
The soldiers are suspected of raping multiple women and killing at least 12 people over the weekend by breaking into civilian homes in a number of villages in the Kabare and Kalehe areas in the eastern province of South Kivu.
A military court in Bukavu, the South Kivu provincial capital, heard the accused troops’ case on Monday.
The civil party requested the death penalty for all of the accused.
Congo lifted a more than 20-year moratorium on the death penalty in March, a decision criticized by rights activists.
The last execution took place in 2003.
Zawadi Chapo Ombeni, a resident of Kavumu, said he was beaten and robbed by soldiers as he was preparing to flee the village from the rebels’ advances.
The trial comes as Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have been making significant gains in South Kivu in recent weeks after having captured the key city of Goma in the neighboring North Kivu province.
Some 3,000 people have been killed and nearly as many injured since late January.
