Overview

• The US Department of Justice has charged three Americans and a fourth individual with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and other offenses tied to the May 2024 failed coup in DR Congo.
• The coup, led by opposition figure Christian Malanga, targeted the presidential palace in Kinshasa and resulted in six deaths, including Malanga himself.
• The three Americans, initially sentenced to death in DR Congo, had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment before being repatriated to the US earlier this week.
• High-level talks between the US and DR Congo coincided with the repatriation, with discussions reportedly focusing on a minerals-for-security deal to address regional instability and Congo's vast untapped resources.
• The repatriation has been described as part of efforts to strengthen judicial diplomacy and international cooperation between the two nations.