Democratic
Republic of Congo
Urgent appeal to save 30 people sentenced to death
Their
story
Thirty
people have been sentenced to death for their alleged role in the
murder of the former President of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Laurent Desir� Kabila, happened in January 2001. The defendants
have been judged by a Military Order Court, the statutes of which do
not meet international fair trial standards and the judges of which
are not liable for impartiality and independence, as they are all
members of the Executive, too. The prisoners did not have time to
arrange an adequate defence, were told about the trial just a few
days before it started and were only able to meet their lawyers for
the first time on the opening day of the audition. Besides all that,
they did not have right to appeal against the first decree ruling.
Their salvation is only relying on a would-be measure of clemency
from the Head of State, Joseph Kabila.
The
appeal to save them
The
Community of Sant'Egidio invites everybody to share its appeal
aiming to spare thirty people's lives from the execution, sending
the following statement to the President Joseph Kabila through some
of the Country's permanent missions, by fax or e-mail.
URGENT
APPEAL BROUGHT IN BY THE COMMUNITY OF SANT'EGIDIO TO SAVE THE LIFE OF 30
PEOPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH
Your
Excellency We are writing to express our deep concern over a ruling that
sentenced to death 30 prisoners, subjected to an unfair trial, without an
adequate legal defence and with no right to appeal. We urge you to intervene
on their behalf to prevent that cruel and inhuman punishment from being
meted out against them. We implore you to ensure that this cruel and inhuman
sentence is not carried out.
Respectfully
Yours
(signature
and date)
Indirizzi
a cui inviare l'appello:
Ambasciata
della Repubblica Democratica del Congo presso la Santa Sede
Fax: (+39) 06.44.55.771
MISSION
PERMANENTE DE LA REPUBLIQUE DEMOCRATIQUE DU CONGO A L'ONU
