Three American citizens and 53 other men appeared before a military court Friday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in connection with last month’s foiled putsch in Kinshasa.
In a statement, Major Patrick Muyembe Nsenyansenya, the registrar of the Gombe garrison military court, said the men would face charges of terrorism, illegal possession of weapons and arms of war, attempted assassination, criminal association, murder, and financing of terrorism.
Marcel Malanga, the Utah-born son of the alleged coup mastermind, Christian Malanga, killed during the putsch attempt, will stand trial.
His co-accused is high school friend, Tyler Thompson, also from Utah.
Thompson had travelled outside the United States for the first time in his life for what his family back home believed was a holiday.
The third American citizen is Malanga’s business partner, Benjamin Zalman-Polun, who has investments in the DRC and Mozambique.
Last month, upon learning about the involvement of its citizens, the United States promised to cooperate with DRC officials.
However, Kinshasa remained mum about the coup prisoners or what steps to take. President Felix Tshisekedi has not spoken a word about the attempted putsch on his government, leaving matters to the military.
Thomspon’s family told journalists they had “zero idea” about what was going on because they had failed to reach out to their son.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the DRC government to accord the accused a fair and transparent trial.
“The government both has a responsibility to ensure the security of the country and to hold those responsible for the coup attempt accountable, based on international fair trial standards,” Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at HRW, said in a statement.
The president’s office in Kinshasa, known as Palais de la Nation, was breached by coup participants in the early hours of Pentecostal Sunday.
Another attack was at the nearby home of Vital Kamerhe, the country’s speaker of parliament. Two guards and an attacker were killed.
Reports say they also intended to attack the home of then defence minister, Jean-Pierre Bemba but learnt that he was not available. They also allegedly planned to raid the DRC’s prime minister Judith Suminwa’s home but failed to locate it.
HRW also wants the DRC government to investigate how some of the coup plotters were killed.
“The government’s response needs to be rights-respecting, which includes impartially investigating possible security force involvement in alleged summary executions,” said Mudge.
The rights group claimed Congolese security forces killed Malanga in unclear circumstances hours after he seized the Palais de la Nation.
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