ANA reports that the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) said on Monday that eleven soldiers had been convicted of the assault of a 17-year-old boy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a “ground-breaking trial” in military court.  

Sixteen SANDF members attached to the Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) of Operation MISTRAL in the DRC were charged under the Prevention of Combating and Torture of Persons Act for the first time.  The SANDF indicated in a statement:  “Of the original 16 accused, 11 were convicted.  Five of the accused were acquitted.  Even though no accused were convicted of contravening the provisions of the Prevention of Combating and Torture of Persons Act, they were found guilty of common law assault.  This case cleared the way for the future application of the Act.”  In the incident which took place in January this year, the youth was suspected of stealing basins and buckets from the soldiers, and he sustained a minor injury when he was beaten up.

• Read the original report in this regard at The Citizen
• See too, Eleven SANDF soldiers guilty of committing assault while on peacekeeping mission, at News24

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