South Kivu: Kasula and fellow Batwa released from prison at last

During the initial trial, eight Batwa, including two women, were convicted of criminal conspiracy, illegal possession of weapons and munitions of war, and destruction of flora in protected areas. One of the defendants, Chekanabo Kayeye, unfortunately died during the trial. His health deteriorated during his six-month detention in Bukavu Central Prison, before he was released on bail in August 2020.  

Overturning the judgment of the Bukavu garrison military court of 4 February 2020, flawed by irregularities and violations of due process, the court acquitted the five Batwa men of the charge of criminal association, but sentenced them to 15 months' principal penal servitude for illegal possession of weapons and munitions of war, and destruction of flora in protected areas. As for the two Batwa women already released on bail on 30 July 2020, they were sentenced to 12 months for destruction of flora in protected areas. The court also sentenced each of the five defendants to pay the sum of one million Congolese francs (approximately 500 USD) as compensation to ICCN/PNKB. While such a fine is difficult to understand given the precarious conditions of the defendants, it is nonetheless welcome that the court reduced the amount which was initially set at USD 5,000 each. Considering that the length of the imprisonment already served by each of the defendants (17 months) is longer than the length of the penal servitude ordered (15 months), the Court therefore ordered their immediate release, after 17 months of waiting.  

Attorney Adèle Bisharwa, the main lawyer for the Batwa defendants, welcomed "an objective ruling by the Military Court of South Kivu", and recalled that "these communities were expelled from their ancestral land, without their consent, nor any measure of compensation or restitution. And today, absolutely nothing is being done to ensure their survival". 

Lassana Koné, Lawyer at FPP, welcomed “an important judicial victory for the seven defendants individually, but also collectively for the entire Batwa/Bambuti community, who felt that this judicial persecution of Kasula and others was a kind of extreme criminalisation of their quest for survival and livelihood”. He also points out that “at one point, Kasula and the six others were associated to militiamen by the PNKB administration and some of the local press. Their acquittal on the charge of criminal association is therefore not without significance. This means that in the current context of widespread insecurity, a distinction must be made between the armed groups that have been operating inside the Park for many years, and the Batwa families who returned to their ancestral land in October 2018, in search of survival and means of subsistence.” 

 

"I feel a sense of justice, but at the same time I am aware of the magnitude of the challenges that remain. We must continue to advocate to allow the Batwa/Bambuti community to access at least part of their ancestral land.” 

Elikia Amani, Coordinator of the RCF

 

The arrest of the defendants took place at the beginning of 2020 in a context of high tension between the administration of the KBNP, the eco-guards and the Batwa communities expelled from their ancestral land. In fact, in the 1970s, around 6,000 Batwa were expelled from their ancestral lands to make way for the creation of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) without consultation, consent, compensation or any resettlement plan.   

In October 2018, deprived of any means of subsistence, and desperate for sustainable solutions to their precarious situation, a group of Batwa had no choice but to return to the Park. Unfortunately for them, this return to the park was met with violence by the park administration, which accused them of destroying the park's flora, fauna and ecosystem, instead of choosing to recognise Batwa rights and work in partnership with them to protect the ecosystem.