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The Goma Garrison Military Court sitting in Walikale in North Kivu province convicted the 66 members of the 3415th Regiment following a 12-day trial that concluded on November 6 2026 according to a statement from the 34th Military Region. Four soldiers including a captain who headed intelligence for the regiment were acquitted while a sergeant received a 10-year prison term after the court accepted substantial mitigating circumstances the statement added. All the defendants had been arrested on October 20 in Ngora village after allegedly fleeing fighting in nearby Ntoto in Walikale territory where one soldier and one civilian were killed and two others wounded the 34th Military Region reported. Major Dieudonné Kasereka communications officer for the region said the men faced charges of cowardice military mutiny and refusal to obey orders with prosecutors initially seeking death penalties for 70 of the 71 who appeared in the dock.
The proceedings formed part of a drive to reinforce discipline within the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo as government troops battle the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation rebel coalition that includes the M23 group the army statement emphasised. The soldiers were accused of abandoning their posts during fierce clashes with FRN fighters in the Wanianga sector of Walikale territory according to Radio Okapi. Kasereka told local media the trial which began with 54 defendants before additional arrests brought the total to more than 70 served both a dissuasive and educational purpose. The 34th Military Region noted that the case initially expected to last 10 days ran for two extra days before the verdicts were delivered late on November 6.
This latest wave of death sentences continues a pattern that has seen Congolese military tribunals impose capital punishment on hundreds of soldiers since the government lifted a 20-year moratorium on executions in March 2024 Reuters reported. French broadcaster RFI compiled figures showing that since the beginning of 2025 at least 507 soldiers have been convicted in similar trials with 381 receiving death sentences. In October 2026 another 27 soldiers from the same regiment faced death penalties for cowardice after withdrawing from frontline positions during fighting with AFC-M23 forces according to Al Jazeera. A Reuters dispatch from March 2025 described how trials of more than 300 soldiers yielded over 260 death sentences amid territorial losses to M23 rebels.
Eastern Congo’s protracted conflict has displaced more than 7.8 million people and left 28 million facing food shortages according to United Nations data. The M23 group which the UN and Congolese authorities accuse Rwanda of backing has seized large areas of North and South Kivu provinces including key cities such as Goma in January 2025 Al Jazeera assessments found. Rwanda has consistently denied involvement in the fighting that has killed thousands of civilians and further strained the Congolese army’s already limited resources. AP News reporting from earlier tribunals noted that military courts have used such cases to address desertions that have contributed to battlefield setbacks against more than 100 active armed groups in the region.
Congo’s armed forces have long struggled with internal divisions insufficient pay poor logistics and corruption that have undermined operational effectiveness a series of Reuters investigations into similar desertion trials concluded. In May 2024 eight soldiers including five officers received death sentences for cowardice and related offences in Goma while 25 more were condemned in July of that year for fleeing battles and theft according to AP and Al Jazeera dispatches. None of the previous death sentences from these proceedings are known to have been carried out the reports added. Defence lawyers have routinely appealed the verdicts arguing that the fast-track nature of the tribunals near the front lines limits due process.
The latest convictions come as peace efforts between Congo and Rwanda including a US-brokered agreement signed in June 2025 and a Qatar-mediated Doha Framework appear fragile with both sides accusing each other of violations Reuters sources indicated. Former president Joseph Kabila was himself sentenced to death in absentia in September 2025 on treason and war crimes charges linked to alleged collaboration with M23 a separate military court ruling that highlighted the depth of political tensions surrounding the eastern conflict AP News reported. The 34th Military Region has framed the Walikale trial as necessary to restore trust between the army and local populations affected by both rebel advances and alleged misconduct by fleeing soldiers.
