DRC: relatives of Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana still demand justice 13 years after their murder

On 1 June 2010 in Kinshasa, Floribert Chebeya and de Fidèle Bazana, two members of the organization La Voix des sans-voix pour les droits de l'homme, were murdered in the premises of the General Inspectorate of the National Police. Thirteen years later, their relatives and human rights activists believe that the full light has not been shed on this case.

A man wearing a t-shirt with portraits of Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana awaits the trial of one of the main defendants in the case in April 2013. (Illustrative photo) AFP PHOTO / JUNIOR D. KANNAH

Text by: RFI Follow

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Kamanda Wa Kamanda Muzembe

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the human rights community remembers on 1 June Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana, two members of the Voice of the Voiceless for Human Rights murdered in 2010 in the premises of the General Inspectorate of the National Police.

On the run for several years, the members of the commando who executed them were caught and some convicted. The reopening of the trial is now demanded by the public to know the whole truth about this case.

>> READ ALSO: DRC: the assassination of Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana continues to haunt the spirits

For this crime, those who executed Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana were identified, arrested and convicted after confessing. This commando was composed of elements of the Simba battalion, led by Christian Kenga Kenga, then a major.

Throughout the trial, the name of General John Numbi Tambo came up often. The defendants had revealed that they had taken refuge with this officer after carrying out their crime before being evacuated by plane to Lubumbashi. They were then assigned to the mining police unit. After the change in leadership, they chose to go into exile abroad.

But after the arrest of Christian Kenga Kenga, General Numbi disappeared, forcing the military prosecutor's office to issue a wanted notice for desertion.

For the lawyers of the civil parties, the complaint of the widow of Floribert Chebeya against General Numbi, inspector general of the national police at the time of the facts and suspect number one, remained unanswered. The family of his companion in misfortune, Fidèle Bazana, is still looking for his body to finally mourn. Arguments that argue for a reopening of the trial.

>> READ ALSO: Assassination of Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana in the DRC: the lawyers of the civil parties denounce a state crime

Newsletter Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

Read on on the same topics:

• DRC
• Floribert Chebeya and Fidèle Bazana