The national army of the Democratic Republic of Congo Tuesday night, December 7, arrested one self-proclaimed ‘general’ of the rebel Mai-mai armed movement.
Known as General Mille Tours, the arrested rebel fighter was of one of the Mai-mai factions known as Congo Ebebi.
He was picked up in the village of Manyama, within the Babila Babombi chiefdom in the Mambasa territory of Ituri province.
According to John Vuleberyo, assistant chief of the Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CRHR) based in the area, the self-proclaimed general was accused of having taken hostage, traditional rulers as well as other criminal exactions.
“We salute this act carried out by our loyalist forces in collaboration with the local population leading to the arrest of this militiaman,” John Vuleberyo revealed.
“He and his group have taken hostage some traditional rulers of the region including that of the Mitume and Lelesi villages whom they slaughtered.”
“On several occasions, he has been cited in the RP 1261 dossier which was before the judge at the Ituri garrison military tribunal.”
The Convention for the Respect of Human Rights (CRHR) has recommended that open air audiences be conducted in the region to serve as examples to other militia leaders who have been responsible for the increasing insecurity in the territory.
“Let the criminal be presented before the natural judge to face the rigour of the law and above all, let open air hearings be organized by the Ituri garrison military court in Biakato so as to discourage those who persist in incivility in the region,” an official of CRHR said.
“Let the military authorities be personally implicated in order to guarantee the security of the population of Manyama who are being threatened with a massacre by the Mai-mai Congo Ebebi militiamen if their leader is not released immediately,” added the CRHR official.
The military judiciary has not yet confirmed the arrest of the self-proclaimed general but sources close to the military tribunal say the necessary dispositions have been taken for the trial of the militia leader.
It should be recalled that in December 2019, a Yugu militia leader was also arrested in Mambasa but he managed to escape as he was being transported to the Mambasa military court for trial.
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