US nationals escape death penalty in Africa

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) government has commuted the death sentences of three Americans convicted of participating in a failed coup in the Central African state’s capital last year to life imprisonment.

Tina Salama, spokesperson for DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, announced the decision on Tuesday, citing an official order. It comes ahead of a visit on Thursday by newly appointed US senior advisor for Africa, Massad Boulos, who is also planning to go to Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda, according to the State Department.

Boulos is expected to promote US private-sector investment in the region and meet with leaders of the four countries to advance peace efforts in eastern DR Congo, where M23 rebels have intensified their war against the Congolese government.

“Order granting individual clemency: commutation of the death sentence to that of life imprisonment granted to Marcel Malanga Malu, Tyler Christa Thompson, and Zalman-Polun Benjamin, all American citizens,” Salama wrote on X.

The three were among around 50 people, including a Belgian, a British national, and a Canadian, who were tried for criminal conspiracy, murder, terrorism, and other offenses after being arrested in May and charged with trying to overthrow the Congolese government…