Former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba was on Monday found guilty of a ruthless campaign of widespread rapes and killings by his private army in the Central African Republic (CAR), in a landmark war crimes verdict.
It is the first case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to highlight both sexual violence as a weapon of war and a military commander’s overall responsibility for the actions of his troops, and was swiftly welcomed by rights groups.
The judges found Bemba guilty on all five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, saying he had retained “effective command and control” more than 1,500 men he sent in to the CAR to quell an attempted coup against then-CAR president Ange-Felix Patasse.
Photo: EPA
Bemba, dressed in a dark suit and red tie, listened tensely through headphones as presiding judge Sylvia Steiner read out the verdict in English.
Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda hailed the verdict as “historic” saying at the end of a marathon trial that the victims had been waiting a “long time” for justice.
Hollywood star and activist Angelina Jolie said in a statement it was “shocking” that the “landmark conviction” is a first at the ICC.
“I can only imagine the reaction of victims who in their hearts probably never thought that this day would come,” said Jolie, co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.
However, Bemba’s defense lawyer, Peter Haynes, said his client was “disappointed” by the judgement.
The 53-year-old Bemba, who has been behind bars since he was captured in 2008, is expected to appeal.
The judges dismissed Bemba’s defense that his Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) had come under the control of the CAR’s hierarchy when they crossed into the neighboring country in late October 2002.
Speaking slowly, Steiner read out a chilling list of rapes and atrocities, detailing how MLC forces had deliberately targeted civilians as part of a modus operandi as they sought to halt the coup bid against Patasse.
Men, women and children were all raped — in one case three generations of the same family were gang-raped by MLC soldiers who held them at gun point and forced relatives to watch.
Bemba was in constant communication with his forces, issued “direct operational orders” and “had knowledge” of what was happening on the ground, Steiner said, but he had not stopped the violence.
Once a feared rebel leader in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bemba “retained primary ... authority over the MLC troops” in the CAR, she said.
Bemba will be sentenced at a later date and could face up to 30 years in jail — or even a life sentence, if the court considers that it is “justified by the extreme gravity of the crime.”
“The paramount importance of this verdict cannot be overstated. It is a landmark along the road to justice for victims of crimes of sexual violence,” Central African League for Human Rights president Andre Olivier Manguereka said.
Amnesty International said the guilty verdict “sends a clear message that impunity for sexual violence as a tool of war will not be tolerated.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese