Editing Decapitation (section)

==== Congo ====
In the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], the conflict and ethnic massacre between local army and [[Kamuina Nsapu]] rebels has caused several deaths and atrocities such as rape and mutilation. One of them is decapitation, both a fearsome way to intimidate victims as well as an act that may include ritualistic elements. According to a UN report from Congolese refugees, they believed the [[Bana Mura]] and Kamuina Nsapu militias have "magical powers" as a result of drinking the blood of decapitated victims, making them invincible.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/04/army-bewitched-children-involved-congo-massacres-un-reports/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/04/army-bewitched-children-involved-congo-massacres-un-reports/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Army of 'bewitched' children involved in Congo massacres as UN reports hundreds of deaths |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=4 August 2017 |author=Our Foreign Staff}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Besides the massive decapitations (like the beheading of 40 members of the State Police), a globally notorious case happened in March 2017 to Swedish politician [[Zaida Catalán]] and American UN expert Michael Sharp, who were kidnapped and executed during a mission near the village of Ngombe in [[Kasaï Province]]. The UN was reportedly horrified when video footage of the executions surfaced in April that same year, where some grisly details led to assume ritual components of the beheading: the perpetrators first cut the hair of both victims, and then one of them beheaded Catalán only, because it would "increase his power",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lalibre.be/dernieres-depeches/afp/meurtre-de-deux-experts-de-l-onu-la-rdc-presente-une-video-58fe3008cd70812a659fffed |title=Meurtre de deux experts de l'ONU: la RDC présente une vidéo |trans-title=Murder of two UN experts: the DRC presents a video |website=Lalibre.be |access-date=5 August 2017 |language=fr |archive-date=6 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806064445/http://www.lalibre.be/dernieres-depeches/afp/meurtre-de-deux-experts-de-l-onu-la-rdc-presente-une-video-58fe3008cd70812a659fffed |url-status=live }}</ref> which may be linked to the fact that Congolese militias are particularly brutal in their acts of violence toward women and children.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23263&LangID=E |title=UN Experts conclude crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Kasai, warn against risk of new wave of ethnic violence |website=Ohchr.org |access-date=13 July 2018 |archive-date=13 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180713042922/https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23263&LangID=E |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the trial that followed investigations after the bodies were discovered, and according to a testimony of a primary school teacher from Bunkonde, near the village of Moyo Musuila where the executions took place, he witnessed a teenage militant carrying the young woman's head,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/jo8bA |title=In English Aftonbladet reveals new information about the murders of Zaida Catalán and Michael Sharp |website=Aftonbladet |date=7 October 2017 |access-date=2 August 2020 |archive-date=28 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928102909/https://www.aftonbladet.se/a/jo8bA |url-status=live }}</ref> but despite the efforts of the investigation, the head was never found. According to a report published on 29 May 2019, the Monusco peacekeeping military mission led by Colonel Luis Mangini, in the search for the missing remains, arrived to a ritual place in Moyo Musila where "parts of bodies, hands and heads" were cut and used for rituals,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.passblue.com/2019/05/29/how-uruguayan-peacekeepers-found-the-two-dead-un-experts-in-congo-in-2017/ |title=How Uruguayan Peacekeepers Found the Two Dead UN Experts in Congo in 2017 |date=29 May 2019 |access-date=30 August 2019 |archive-date=11 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011125222/https://www.passblue.com/2019/05/29/how-uruguayan-peacekeepers-found-the-two-dead-un-experts-in-congo-in-2017/ |url-status=live }}</ref> where they lost track of the victim's head.