Kinshasa, June 17, 2025 – The High Military Court of Kinshasa has postponed for one week the legal action initiated against a military judge from Goma, who is accused of gross misconduct in a case involving five land rights defenders representing 36,000 farmers forcibly evicted from their ancestral lands in the Masisi and Rutchuru territories (North Kivu).
The adjournment aims to allow the defense to fully review the case file and obtain essential documents needed to prepare its arguments. “The High Court has heard the parties and the opinion of the public prosecutor. It is compelled to postpone the case by one week,” declared the presiding judge. The court clerk has been instructed to immediately grant access to the file.
The military prosecutor supported the decision, citing the principles of a fair trial: “We do not try people who are not in a proper state. It is only fair that the defendant be placed in appropriate conditions to defend himself.”
Me Jean-Claude Bashangwa, lawyer for land rights defender Ndesho Kabwene, emphasized the stakes involved in the case: “Our client was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a military judge in Goma, but we found serious misconduct in the judgment. The judge clearly sided with the civil party, in violation of the principle of impartiality.”
Ndesho Kabwene and four other climate activists were representing the interests of 36,000 farmers who had lived and worked for generations on agricultural concessions in North Kivu. These families were brutally evicted following conflicts related to the RCD war. Today, they live scattered in displacement camps, stripped of their rights and dignity.
A defense committee was established to amplify the voices of these dispossessed communities. Their conviction has raised serious concerns about the criminalization of environmental and land rights defenders in eastern DRC.
The hearing, now scheduled for June 24, 2025, will be crucial in uncovering the truth in a case with profound social and environmental implications. Let’s say this trial began in North Kivu following a strong wave of support for these climate activists, as part of a global legal assistance program in favor of climate defenders working in contexts of deforestation and resistance to fossil fuels around the world. The program is supported by the Global Climate Legal Defense platform, abbreviated as Clidef.
This case raises a fundamental question: can we continue to repress those who peacefully defend their right to live with dignity on their land?
By kilalopress
