Colonel Sentenced to Death for Role in DR Congo Protest Killings

Colonel Mike Mikombe, the former commander of the elite Republican Guard in Goma city, has been sentenced to death by a military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo for his involvement in the killing of over 50 anti-UN protesters. The protesters were demanding the withdrawal of UN troops, accusing them of failing to protect civilians from rebel attacks. Mikombe's lawyers plan to appeal the ruling. This was the highest number of deaths in a crackdown on protests against UN peacekeepers in eastern DR Congo.