23 March 2009 :

Mai Mai commander Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga and 6 other combatants were sentenced to death by a military court in the garrison of Haut-Katanga, in Katanga province. The 19 month trial was a crucial step toward creating accountability in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Human Rights Watch said. Gédéon (whose legal name is Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga Wa Bafunkwa Kanonga) was the commander of the Mai Mai militia responsible for brutal crimes committed in the "triangle of death" in central Katanga between 2003 and 2006. The judges of the military court found them guilty of crimes against humanity, insurgency and terrorism. Human Rights Watch expressed serious concern about the sentence.