A/HRC/7/25 page 8 since February 2005, has yet to begin, even though the case has been referred to the Kamina military prosecutor in Katanga. The above-mentioned cases of Buramba and the mass graves in North Kivu are also among the many stalled cases. 16. There is a worrying tendency for military courts systematically to exercise jurisdiction over civilians, a practice which is contrary to the Constitution (art. 152), but which is still common. D. The Kilwa and Serge Maheshe cases: sham trials which have provoked international condemnation 17. During the reporting period, two landmark trials in the fight against impunity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo provoked strong reactions from the international community and Congolese civil society and disappointment among the population. Fundamental fair trial guarantees were not afforded, there were instances of political and military interference and the judgements handed down were strongly criticized. 18. On 28 June 2007, the Katanga Military Court pronounced its verdict in the Kilwa massacre case. None of the defendants was convicted of war crimes. Colonel Adémar and another defendant were convicted of murder. The other FARDC soldiers were either given light sentences or acquitted, and the three expatriate employees of the Anvil Mining multinational company were also acquitted. In its judgement, the Military Court concluded that no massacre had taken place, and that the deaths of the 73 victims had been an accidental consequence of the fighting. In a statement issued on 4 July 2007, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed her concern about the “court’s conclusions that the events in Kilwa were the accidental results of fighting, despite the presence at the trial of substantial eyewitness testimony and material evidence pointing to the commission of serious and deliberate human rights violations”. 19. The High Commissioner urged the court of appeal “to fully and fairly weigh all the evidence before it reaches the appropriate conclusions that justice and the rights of the victims demand”. The appeal proceedings began on 6 December 2007 before the Military High Court, in a circuit court hearing held in Lubumbashi. However, from the very outset of the proceedings, there were protests at the scope of the appeal and the impartiality of the judges was called into question. 20. In the case of the murder of journalist Serge Maheshe, the Bukavu garrison military court sentenced four civilians to death on 28 August 2007, including two friends of the victim who were the only eyewitnesses to the murder. At the trial, which began on the evening of 14 June - less than 24 hours after the murder - the court neglected to follow up several important leads and relied almost exclusively on the statements of two civilians who claimed to have been hired by the victim’s friends to murder him. 21. When the trial started, two navy servicemen had been arrested and had been considered the main suspects until the announcement was made about the new suspects and their “confessions”, obtained in unexplained circumstances. Despite many inconsistencies in the statements of the two civilian suspects (taken by the court itself) and the other unanswered questions in the case, the court sentenced the four civilians to death without even considering the responsibility of the