Dozens of militiamen have been sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for their involvement in the murder of two UN experts.
Swedish-Chilean Zaida Catalan and American Michael Sharp were kidnapped and killed in the Kasai region in 2017.
They were investigating suspected mass graves after fighting broke out between government forces and a militia.
Their interpreter, Betu Tshintela, was also killed. Their bodies were found 16 days after their abduction.
The UN was shocked by the killings and at the time, and Secretary General António Guterres said the organization would “do everything possible to see justice done”.
Hundreds of people have died in the Kasai conflict that ended in 2017. More than a million people have been displaced by the fighting, which began after a traditional leader, Kamwina Sapu, was killed in August 2016.
The guilty verdicts were handed down by a military tribunal after a four-year trial.
Of the dozens of defendants, 51, almost all militiamen, were sentenced to death. But as DR Congo has declared a moratorium on executions, the sentences will likely end up being life imprisonment.
They had faced various charges, ranging from terrorism and murder to an act of war crime and mutilation, reports the AFP news agency.
Colonel Jean de Dieu Mambweni, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison, was charged with violating orders. Two others — a journalist and a policeman — were acquitted.
However, Human Rights Watch says this trial did not reveal what really happened. He wants another investigation to find out if the orders to kill the UN investigators came from higher up the military chain of command.
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