The trial of the alleged killers of UN experts may soon end, almost four years after it was opened. The American Michael Sharp and the Swedish Zaïda Catalan were killed on March 12, 2017 in the province of Kasaï-Central, shaken at that time by an uprising of militiamen who claimed to be Chief Kamuina Nsapu, a customary chief who had rebelled against state authority and who had been killed . The announcement of the transition to the indictment and the submissions worries the chancelleries. Appeals have been made to the top of the state.
From the beginning, this trial is the subject of a suspension between the UN and Congolese military justice. A few days after the opening, a UN spokesman openly criticized his credibility. In utmost silence, the UN police investigated this double murder. When the military prosecutor’s office accused only the military of Kamuina Nsapu, the UN police implicated a witness who had become the main accused, Jean Bosco Mukanda.
The latter, very close to the Congolese army, passed on the views of the authorities and accused the local leaders of being responsible for this murder. But during the months and investigations, it turns out that government agents were involved. At the end of 2017, under pressure from the United States and Sweden in particular, the UN Secretary-General appointed a monitoring mechanism to support the Congolese instructions. Several government agents were arrested, including a colonel, John of God Mambweni.
But already in a few weeks, the president of the military court announces the debates, while the military auditor takes up the first dissertation and assigns this crime only to the militia members. At various levels, the United States and Sweden had insisted that military justice cooperate with UN experts and take into account the evidence they presented, so far largely to no avail.
.
