The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has announced that it is preparing to release 15 individuals who were among those requested by the AFC/M23 coalition, while clarifying that none of them are people who had previously been sentenced to death.
The individuals have already been transferred from different prisons in Kinshasa to Beni, in North Kivu province, where they have been waiting for more than a month to be handed over to AFC/M23.
The Doha Agreement signed in Qatar stipulates that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) should facilitate the transfer of prisoners between AFC/M23 and the Congolese government.
The planned release of the 15 prisoners follows another commitment previously agreed upon between AFC/M23 and the DRC government under the framework of the Doha Agreement, in which both sides expressed willingness to release some detainees.
Although the decision has been viewed as a step toward building confidence between the two rival sides, its implementation has continued to move slowly due to security and health-related challenges, including the Ebola outbreak affecting parts of North Kivu.
Rwandatribune.rw
