Final verdict delivered in killing of two UN experts A Congolese military court has sentenced 54 defendants, including a former army colonel, to death for the 2017 murder of two UN investigators, Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan. The UN experts were killed in an ambush while investigating violence in the Kasai region. Although death sentences are common, a de facto moratorium had been in place since 2003, which the government ended in March 2024.

• 54 defendants, including former Colonel Jean de Dieu Mambweni, were sentenced to death by the High Military Court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• The convictions are related to the 2017 murders of UN investigators Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan in the Kasai region.
• The court found that the UN experts were lured into an ambush and executed.
• Colonel Mambweni, initially sentenced to 10 years, was found to have played a direct role in the operation leading to the deaths.
• The UN’s National Human Rights Commission stated the investigation did not identify those who may have ordered the killings.
• The death penalty is legal in DR Congo, and the government ended a 21-year suspension of executions in March 2024.
• Several African countries have abolished capital punishment in recent decades.