International human rights NGO Amnesty International...

International human rights NGO Amnesty International and DRC human rights NGO ASADHO (African Association for the Defence of Human Rights) protested the death sentences of eight people issued on September 14 by the Cour d'ordre militaire (COM - Military Order Court) in Likasi, Katanga province, after being convicted of plotting to overthrow the government of the DRC in early 2001.
In a statement, Amnesty International said it "is concerned that they [Maj Wozango Lele Kongbo, Maj Kesangana Mafu, Lt Gerengbo Ngakola, Warrant Officer Iluku Isofa, Maj Kpakasa Ngazali, Maj Kayekwe Ngoysu, Maj Jean Ngato, and Yangba Samuluma, a civilian] may soon be executed if they are not granted a presidential pardon. Virtually all those tried are known to have been tortured in order to force them to implicate themselves or other co-defendants. They were also denied access to lawyers before their trial."
ASADHO further protested the conviction of 11 additional individuals accused of conspiring against DRC President Joseph Kabila; of treason intended to demoralise the army and the nation; and of incitement of the military.
"Deploring the irregularities with which this trial took place, ASADHO recommends to the government of Kinshasa that it commute the death sentence to lifetime imprisonment; that it expedite an investigation to verify all allegations of torture, subsequent deaths, and bring to justice all implicated in this torture; and that it suspend the COM and replace it with traditional systems of justice," the NGO said in a statement.