DR Congo: Militia leader 'raped and murdered on ethnic lines',
International Criminal Court hears
Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda appears at the International
Criminal Court charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in
a hearing in The Hague
By Toby Sterling
Monday 10 February 2014
A Congolese militia leader led fighters, including child soldiers, in
ethnically-motivated rape and murder, the International Criminal Court
has heard.
Bosco Ntaganda allegedly committed the crimes while leading Hema
troops against ethnic Lendus out of the mineral-rich Ituri region in
the DR of Congo over a decade ago.
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda accused Ntaganda, nicknamed "The Terminator"
for his ruthlessness, of 13 charges, including murder, rape, and
persecution and recruiting child soldiers.
Ntaganda's lawyer, Marc Desailliers, said on Monday that the
prosecution's case "has no foundation".
Ntaganda's alleged crimes took place in 2002-2003 in Ituri province,
Democratic Republic of Congo, where he served as a top leader in the
Union of Congolese Patriots under Thomas Lubanga.
Lubanga was indicted and arrested in 2006, and in 2012 became the
first person to be convicted at the ICC, for conscripting child
soldiers. He is appealing a 14-year sentence.
Bensouda described the testimony of one woman from the Lendu tribe,
the frequent target of attacks by Union soldiers, who were often from
the Hema tribe. He said the woman was raped repeatedly and told "you
are not human beings and in three days we will finish you all."
Ntaganda was indicted in 2006, but he became part of the country's
regular army and the government in Kinshasa did not seek to arrest him
until he rebelled as part of a different group, M23, in the province
of Kivu.
He was only brought to the court in The Hague, Netherlands, last year
after M23 splintered, his faction was defeated, and he fled to
neighboring Rwanda. He took refuge in the U.S. Embassy before being
deported.
The court has yet to set a date to decide on Ntaganda's case. Hearings
are expected to last several days. AP
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/dr-congo-militia-leader-raped-and-murdered-on-ethnic-lines-international-criminal-court-hears-9120034.html
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