The U.S. Department of State is offering rewards of up to $5 million for information that leads to the arrest or conviction of four people in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the war crime of murder in the 2017 killing of Mennonite United Nations worker Michael Sharp and his UN colleague Zaida Maria Catalán.

Sharp was a former Mennonite Central Committee and Mennonite Mission Network worker whose service experience inspired his work digging into atrocities. Sharp and Catalán were abducted and killed March 12, 2017, while investigating rebel groups’ and state security forces’ human rights abuses and sanctions violations in Kasaï-Central Province.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in a Dec. 10 statement that this is the first reward proposal for a war crimes trial taking place in another country’s domestic court under the State Department’s Global Criminal Justice Rewards Program. Evariste Ilunga Lumu, Mérovée Mutombo, Gérard Kabongo and Jean Kutenelu Badibanga are wanted by the DRC High Military Court for their role in the killings.

“Lasting peace in the DRC depends on justice for victims and accountability for those responsible for human rights abuses and violations — both past and present,” Blinken said, noting it is critical that the whereabouts of the four individuals be determined and that they face the charges against them. “We welcome the High Military Court’s decision to proceed, which sends a strong message that impunity for atrocity crimes in the DRC will not be tolerated.”

Reuters reported in 2019 that Lumu had been in custody in the city of Kananga but escaped a prison.

MCC developed the Michael J. Sharp Global Peacemaker Award in 2022 to recognize and encourage courageous peacebuilding around the world. The prize is stewarded by the MCC United Nations Office and includes a monetary prize.

The 2023 prize honored Pastor Victor Dogos of Chad, for his work encouraging people of all religions to live together in peace. The 2024 prize honored a Colombian Mennonite woman, whose name was not revealed for her protection, for empowering young people to choose peace in the midst of violence.