The International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Congolese authorities are called to work together to bring to justice many more individuals responsible for serious crimes, including high-ranking figures. This is what Human Rights Watch believes, following the ICC’s guilty verdict on Monday, July 8, 2019, against former Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda.
« This long-awaited judgment is largely justice to the victims of Bosco Ntaganda and serves as a warning to others responsible for serious crimes. But the new violence witnessed in eastern DR Congo demonstrates the need to put an end to the impunity enjoyed by other abusive leaders, « said Maria Elena Vignoli, Legal Adviser, International Justice Program. Human Rights Watch.
In fact, a panel of three judges has unanimously declared Bosco Ntaganda guilty of 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity committed in the former Ituri district. , in eastern Congo, in 2002 and 2003.
The charges included murder and attempted murder, rape, sexual slavery, attacks on civilians, looting, the displacement of civilians, attacks on protected property and the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
The judges found that Ntaganda and others agreed on a common plan to attack and drive the Lendu ethnic population of Ituri by committing crimes.
« The ICC Prosecutor should develop a clear strategy to address the unmet needs of justice in DR Congo, which includes support for the Congolese authorities. This would help strengthen the rule of law and address the problem posed by recurring cycles of violence in DR Congo. For its part, the Court needs strong and sustained support from the States Parties to the ICC, which should allocate sufficient resources to it so that it can effectively carry out an increased workload. heavier, « said Human Rights Watch.
As a reminder, Ntaganda is the fourth person to be tried by the ICC for serious crimes committed in DR Congo. The ICC has issued a fifth arrest warrant against General Sylvestre Mudacumura, military commander of another Rwandan Hutu majority armed group active in DR Congo, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Human Rights Watch recommends that the Congolese authorities, with the help of the United Nations peacekeeping force, take prompt action to arrest Mudacumura and surrender him to the ICC.
Despite their number and size, the DRC cases before the ICC do not really reflect the magnitude of the crimes committed in that country since 2002, when the Court took office.
Time and again, Human Rights Watch has urged successive ICC prosecutors to expand the scope of their investigations in the DRC to include, for example, the role played by some senior Congolese, Rwandan and Ugandan politicians and military leaders who have supported, armed and financed for years armed groups committing abuses in eastern DR Congo, as well as other crimes, including those committed during the attacks that began in Beni, North Kivu, in October 2014 .
Agnes KAYEMBE
