Bebe Kibawa, cousin to President Joseph Kabila, was arrested Monday night in the Kalebuka family farm, about 10 kilometres away from Lubumbashi, the administrative district of the Katanga province, UN radio Okapi reported Wednesday. He was taken to the military Auditorium then to the Kasapa main prison, the radio announced, adding that Kibawa has been accused of assault and battery, abduction, death threats and rape. Over a month ago, the Congolese leader’s cousin was accused of burning his wife with a water-heater after beating her up. Radio Okapi said Kibawa was also believed to have abducted a 16-year-old girl and “did the same with his father-in law and two soldiers assigned to guard his in – laws last week”. On hearing the news, the African Human Rights’ Association (ASADHO), Katanga Chapter, expressed its satisfaction, saying the arrest was “a giant step in fighting against impunity”. “Now, ASADHO will not just be satisfied with this arrest as we experienced many similar cases of arrests that end without legal prosecution and two or three weeks later these same people were released,” Thimotée Mbuya, the deputy chair of AS A DHO, deplored, concluding: “We will organise the defence for the victims until justice is rendered”.
