Congolese man beaten to death in Brazil over unpaid wages, family say

Moise Kabagambe was seen in a video from the Tropikalia beach kiosk’s security cameras being attacked by a group of men who beat him repeatedly with a club and a baseball bat, according to police, who have opened an investigation into his death. Three men have been arrested in connecting to the murder, according to police. Kabagambe moved to Brazil in 2011 after fleeing violence and conflict in Congo, his mother Ivana LayLay, Kabagambe’s mother, is pleading for justice.”They (the murderers) broke my son’s back, they broke his neck. I fled Congo so we wouldn´t get killed. However, they killed my son here as they kill in my country. They killed my son with punches, kicks. They killed him like a beast,” Lay told Brazilian Newspaper Extra.Kabagambe and his family arrived in Rio de Janeiro as refugees in 2011 after fleeing civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where some of his relatives had been killed in the conflict, Lay said.Kabagambe’s murder has also ignited a social media campaign where many Brazilians — including local celebrities — are calling for justice. The country’s Congolese community has also called for protests at the Tropicália kiosk where Kabamgabe was killed.Racial discrimination remains rife in many parts of Brazil, with Afro-Brazilians often targeted in racially motivated attacks. Tainá de Paula, a city councilor for Rio de Janeiro linked Kabamgabe’s killing to xenophobia, saying in a tweet: “RJ (Rio de Janeiro) is the 2nd city that receives the most immigrants in Brazil. It was Xenophobia! It was racism! Justice for Moses!” Kabagambe is the fifth person from the DRC to be murdered in Brazil since 2019, the DRC’s embassy in Brasilia told CNN. Three of those killings took place in Rio, one in São Paulo and one in Brasilia, it said.