Tagged As Mobutu Guard, Soldier Killed
Beaten bloody, prodded by kicks and lashes with an ammunition belt, the man closed his eyes, spread out his arms and cried, “I am dead! Now I am dead! They are going to shoot me.”
Seconds later, a rebel fighter did - blasting four or five bullets into the man’s back with an AK-47. Face twisting, the man fell to his knees in the dusty back alley, then collapsed.
Witnesses said another man was shot to death in a similar manner Sunday and a stray bullet killed a boy looking on.
Accusations of rebel atrocities have dogged Kabila’s forces throughout their eight-month drive across Zaire. Kabila has repeatedly denied allegations of killings and attacks against Rwandan refugees.
Asked about Sunday’s execution, a top official at rebel headquarters in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi at first denied it had happened. Told journalists had witnessed the killing, he became defensive.
“Our policy is an economy of violence, we’ve said it from the start,” Deo Bugera said. “Ninety percent of the country was liberated without violence.”
Sunday, rebel fighters lined up scores of Mobutu’s soldiers at a military camp in suburban Kinshasa to collect their weapons and accept their surrender.
Hundreds of residents formed a taunting, cursing gantlet, venting years of anger against Zaire’s corrupt military.
“Thieves!” one man yelled.
Another held out a tin of sardines, waving it at the grim, ragged soldiers.
“Go on, take it,” he taunted. “Now you can’t.”
Suddenly, a group of rebels appeared, pushing and kicking a tall, muscular man in jeans. The crowd cheered as the man was forced inside.
Twenty minutes later, the man emerged with the left side of his face battered and blood staining his pants. His final procession began - the stumbling man, five rebels toting automatic rifles, and a jeering crowd.
A kick to the side. Lashes with an ammunition belt. Shoved by a rifle butt. The man kept his head down. He was never identified, but onlookers claimed he was a member of Mobutu’s presidential guard.
After 200 yards, rebels shouted for the crowd to get back, then fired in the air to drive them away. The procession turned down a tight alley. Now it was only the man, the rebels and four journalists.
One rebel fiddled with his assault rifle as he walked.
At the end of the alley, the captive was given a final shove forward. All the rebels backed off but one, standing 3 yards from the man. The journalists pressed against a wall.
Then the bullets came.
xxxx Eyewitness Associated Press photographer Jean-Marc Bouju and writer Tom Cohen witnessed rebel soldiers summarily execute a man outside a military camp on Sunday. This is their account.