26 03 13 HRW: Warlord Ntaganda at ICC a Victory for Justice

(New
York, March 25, 2013) – The Congolese rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda’s first
appearance before the International
Criminal Court (ICC) on March 26, 2013, will be a major achievement on the
path to ending human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Human
Rights Watch said today. Ntaganda was flown to The Hague on March
22 after he unexpectedly and for unknown reasons surrendered to the United
States embassy in Kigali, Rwanda on March 18
and requested transfer to the ICC.

Ntaganda’s appearance before the ICC
comes almost seven years after the court first issued an arrest warrant against
him for war crimes in the Ituri district of northeastern Congo. For years
Ntaganda led rebel and government forces involved in killings, rape, torture,
use of child soldiers, and pillage.

“Ntaganda’s appearance at the ICC
after years as a fugitive offers victims of horrific crimes a real hope of
seeing justice,” said Géraldine
Mattioli-Zeltner, international justice advocacy director at Human Rights
Watch. “Ntaganda’s detention in The Hague shows that no one is above the
law.”

The ICC does not have a police force to enforce its warrants and
relies entirely on governments to make arrests. The United States, which is not
a state party to the ICC, played a crucial role by its prompt and efficient
transfer of Ntaganda to The Hague after his surrender at the embassy, Human
Rights Watch said. Cooperation by Rwanda and Congo, which did not oppose the
transfer, helped facilitate the proceedings.

Ntaganda’s transfer
to the ICC may bring to a close a chapter of particularly horrific abuses
committed by Ntaganda and his troops, which Human Rights Watch has documented
in detail over the past 10 years. The ICC initially charged Ntaganda with
the war crimes of recruiting, enlisting, and using children under 15 while a
commander for the armed group Union of Congolese Patriots (Union des
Patriotes Congolais, UPC) during the Ituri conflict in 2002 and
2003.

Ntaganda then joined another armed group, the National Congress for
the Defense of the People (Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple,
CNDP), and continued to lead troops who committed grave abuses
in the Kivu provinces of eastern Congo. In 2009, as part of a peace agreement,
he was integrated into the Congolese armed forces as a general. Between 2009 and
2012, government troops under his command were implicated in further war
crimes in the Kivus, as well as assassinations,
arbitrary arrests, and disappearances of those who opposed Ntaganda or spoke
out against his abuses.

In April 2012, Ntaganda and other officers
mutinied from the Congolese army and created yet another rebel group, the M23.
The M23 has received significant support from Rwandan military officials since
its inception, Human Rights Watch research found, as did the UPC and the CNDP in
previous years. Since 2012, M23 combatants have committed numerous war
crimes, including killings, rape, and recruitment of
children.

Ntaganda’s co-accused in the ICC’s initial case, Thomas
Lubanga, the president of the UPC, was the first person whom the ICC tried and
convicted, in March 2012. In July 2012 the ICC issued a second warrant against
Ntaganda for additional war crimes and crimes against humanity also allegedly
committed in Ituri in 2002 and 2003, including murder, rape and sexual slavery,
persecution, and pillaging.

The addition of these charges expanded
upon the previously narrow set of crimes pursued against Lubanga, offering many
more victims the chance to see justice done, Human Rights Watch
said.

“The prosecution of Ntaganda at the ICC will be a stark warning to
other rights abusers and represents a great step toward accountability for some
of the African continent’s worst atrocities of recent years,” Mattioli-Zeltner
said. “However, in prosecuting crimes committed in Ituri, it shouldn’t be
forgotten that years of abuses in the Kivus remain unpunished.”

Until
now, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor has focused its investigations on warlords
operating in eastern Congo, Human Rights Watch said. These included Lubanga and
Ntaganda as well as their opponents in the Ituri conflict, Germain Katanga and
Mathieu Ngudjolo. The ICC acquitted Ngudjolo in December
2012. The court has also issued a warrant for Sylvestre Mudacumura, the
military leader of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a
largely Rwandan Hutu rebel group, some of whose members participated in the
Rwandan genocide. Mudacumura remains at large.

Past research by
Human Rights Watch and other organizations found that senior political and
military officials in Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda provided support to abusive
militias operating in Ituri and the Kivu provinces. Human Rights Watch has
repeatedly urged the ICC prosecutor’s office to investigate the role of these
high-level officials in crimes committed by national armed forces and armed
groups active in eastern Congo.

With Ntaganda in The Hague, the
ICC Office of the Prosecutor should consider opening a new phase in its
investigations of war crimes in Congo, Human Rights Watch said. The prosecutor,
who is investigating crimes in eight countries, will need additional support
from the ICC member countries to obtain the necessary cooperation and funding to
undertake this work.

“Rather than wind up operations in Congo, the ICC
prosecutor should take her work to a higher level and open a new chapter for
justice,” Mattioli-Zeltner said. “If the ICC is going to help break the
repetitive cycle of abuses in Congo, it needs to move beyond local warlords and
prosecute the senior officials standing behind them.”

Recently, in
two proceedings, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor has suffered setbacks. The
acquittal of Ngudjolo and the collapse of one of its cases against a former
senior Kenyan official have led to questions about the prosecution’s ability to
carry out its difficult mandate. Ten years after the court’s founding treaty
entered into force, the ICC, even with performance problems, represents the best
hope victims have in many countries when grave international crimes are
committed, Human Rights Watch said. The court’s leadership team – including a
new chief prosecutor and a new registrar inaugurated within the past year –
should draw on experience to date and make needed reforms to deliver effective
and meaningful justice.

For a video feature on Bosco Ntaganda, please
visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LSaR0u1nf3g

For
more Human Rights Watch reporting on Ntaganda, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/topic/international-justice/bosco-ntaganda

For
more Human Rights Watch reporting on the trial of Ntaganda’s co-accused,
Lubanga, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/topic/international-justice/lubanga-trial

For
more information, please contact:
In Stuttgart,
Géraldine Mattioli-Zeltner (English, French): +49-151-4650-8928; or mattiog@hrw.org
In
Washington, DC, Ida Sawyer (English, French): +1-917-213-0939; or
+243-99-86-75-565; or sawyeri@hrw.org
In
New York, Param-Preet Singh (English): +1-212-216-1281; or +1-917-586-1140
(mobile); or singhp@hrw.org
In
New York, Philippe Bolopion (French, English): +1-212-216-1276; or
+1-917-734-3201 (mobile); or bolopion@hrw.org
In
Paris, Jean-Marie Fardeau (French, English, Portuguese): +33-1-43-59-55-31; or
+33-6-45-85-24-87 (mobile); or fardeaj@hrw.org