Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga
Born: 1972; alt. 1974;
Place of Birth: Manono territory, Katanga Province (now Tanganyika Province), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC);
Gender: Male;
Nationality: Congo;
Known also as: Kyungu Mutanga Gédéon; Gedeon Mtanga; Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga wa Bafunkwa Kanonga; Gideon Kyungu Mutanga.
Activities:
Mutanga joined the Mai Mai movement in 1999, which saw the widespread formation of community-based armed groups in the eastern DRC.
He commanded one of the most active groups in the province of Katanga from 2003 until 2006, when he approached UN Mission in the DRC forces to integrate into the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process.
Gédéon was convicted by a DRC court in 2009 for crimes against humanity that included murder, arbitrary executions, torture, cannibalism, mutilation, rape, and sexual slavery.
After his escape from prison in 2011, Gédéon reconstituted his Mai Mai group and began allying his movement with that of the Bakata Katanga, known also as Kata Katanga, and resumed attacks on local populations.
As of March 2014, the two groups were considered one group under the presumed leadership of Gédéon.
Kata Katanga is responsible for serious human rights abuses and war crimes, with militants carrying out small-scale attacks during 2013 in Lubumbashi and primarily targeting civilians in rural areas.
In 2013, Gédéon and his militia attacked Lubumbashi, killing at least 25 people.
Very young children were reportedly being actively recruited to join the Mai Mai Gédéon group whenever it passed through inhabited areas.