A warlord faces justice at the ICC after six years on the run

 27 March 2013

 

On Tuesday 26 March, Bosco Ntaganda, a former rebel leader accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), appeared for the first time before the court. The appearance came a week after Ntaganda handed himself over to United States (US) embassy officials in Kigali, Rwanda and requested immediate transfer to the ICC. Through the cooperation of US and Rwandese authorities, Ntaganda was sent to the ICC on 22 March. While the reasons for his surrender are unclear, what is apparent is that Ntaganda has chosen to face justice at the ICC instead of continuing life as a fugitive.

The significance of this, for the ICC and international criminal justice in general, cannot be underestimated for a number of reasons. First, Ntaganda – after almost seven years on the run – is the first person for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant who has voluntarily surrendered himself to the court. Eleven others for whom arrest warrants have been issued for situations in the DRC, Côte d’Ivoire, Libya, Sudan and Uganda remain at large.

Second, the ICC received ready cooperation from the US and Rwanda. Both countries have not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC and thus have no direct obligations to the court. Despite this, their decisions to cooperate with the court and swiftly transfer Ntaganda to The Hague are indicative of support for international criminal justice.

Third, Ntaganda’s surrender comes at a time when the DRC is embroiled in ongoing conflict in the eastern provinces of the country. Ntaganda is said to have been integral in stoking the conflict in various ways from mid-1990 to date. However, it should be borne in mind that the crimes for which Ntaganda is presently charged relate to his activities in the eastern DRC region of Ituri (north of the war-torn Kivu provinces that border Rwanda) between 1 September 2002 and the end of September 2003.

For his alleged involvement in the Ituri conflict, Ntaganda – a Rwandan-born Congolese citizen – is charged with seven counts of war crimes, including the enlistment and conscription of children under the age of 15, the use of children under the age of 15 to participate actively in hostilities, murder, attacks against the civilian population, rape and sexual slavery, and pillaging; and three counts of the crimes against humanity of murder, rape and sexual slavery, and persecution. During the time these offences were supposedly committed, Ntaganda was allegedly serving as the Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo, or FPLC), the military arm of the Union of Congolese Patriots (Union des Patriotes Congolais, or UPC), a rebel movement in the eastern DRC. In this capacity, it is believed that Ntaganda reported directly to Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Lubanga Dyilo, currently in detention, made news in 2012 when he was the first person convicted by the ICC for the enlistment and use of children to actively participate in hostilities.

In addition to his involvement with the FPLC, Ntaganda – nicknamed ‘The Terminator’ – has over the years fought for several rebel groups. In the early 1990s, Ntaganda fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Army and from 2006 he was linked to the National Congress for the Defence of the People (Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple, or CNDP) led by Laurent Nkunda. Ntaganda is also one of the key figures allegedly behind the November 2008 Kiwanja massacre in which approximately 150 people were summarily executed in under two days.

Despite all this, Ntaganda was integrated into the Congolese army following the attempt at demilitarisation and reintegration of rebels from the CNDP, and the Congolese government made no effort to arrest and transfer him to the ICC. At the time of his surrender, Ntaganda had defected from the army and had been linked to another rebel movement, the M23, from early 2012. It is believed that the splitting of the M23 in February 2013 following infighting prompted Ntaganda to flee from the DRC to Rwanda.

Despite several promises (and having previously cooperated with the ICC), the Congolese government did not arrest Ntaganda. Interestingly, the DRC itself has over the years issued arrest warrants for Ntaganda for allegedly committing, among other offences, torture, murder, illegal detention and arbitrary arrest. These warrants of arrest and those issued by the ICC were not executed, which further frustrated those who wanted to bring Ntaganda to justice.

The failure by the Congolese government to arrest Ntaganda and transfer him to the ICC – as it had done with Lubanga Dyilo – highlighted one of the major challenges facing the court: that it does not have its own police force and so relies on support and cooperation from Rome Statute states parties to make arrests. Ntaganda’s decision to surrender himself to the court is significant because it shows that the ICC can secure indictees for trial if they voluntarily surrender, even to non-state parties that are not bound by the ICC’s statute.

There are three ways in which an ICC accused can come before the court. First, when a summons to appear is issued, the accused can voluntarily present him or herself to the ICC. Second, when an arrest warrant is issued, the authorities in a particular state can apprehend and surrender the accused to the ICC. Third, when an accused for whom an arrest warrant has been issued hands him or herself over to the court. Given that when arrest warrants are issued this is done precisely because it is doubtful that a suspect will voluntarily appear, the third option – which Ntaganda recently took – tends to be the least likely. More so for ICC cases, which tend to focus on people in positions of power because of the prosecutorial strategy of going after those most responsible for international crimes.

Ntaganda`s appearance in the dock at the ICC on 26 March sends a strong message to perpetrators of international crimes that they too may face justice one day – whether they are delivered to court after arrest or because circumstances push them to voluntarily surrender. While this is only the beginning of the proceedings against Ntaganda, it is a highlight at a time when the ICC continues to struggle with securing the arrest of individuals like Ugandan Joseph Kony of the Lord’s Resistance Army and President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan.


Ottilia Anna Maunganidze, Researcher, Transnational Threats and International Crime Division, ISS Pretoria

Original posting: http://www.issafrica.org/iss_today.php?ID=1615 

When elephants fight

The thing about power - as has been said many a time - is that it corrupts... the love of power (over and above that of money) for me is the root of all evil. It is in and of itself an all consuming desire to conquer not only one's own world, but the worlds of other... power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. To date millions of people have died in fights for power.. many more will die today... and if we sit back and say "Aaah! But that is the way of the world" many more will die tomorrow and the day after and the day after that...

Today, I write with a heavy heart... once an optimist, man has shown me a side so dark my optimism has been tainted... I find myself believing more and more each day that at the core of many men is an evil so cancerous it threatens to ruin humanity... an evil so all consuming it will mark the end of us all..

I am happy to be alive, my day has not yet come.. but many did not live to see today.. they were killed.. killed by their kin, killed by their kith, killed by their kind.. not by the beasts that lurk in the savanna, but by others like them... hacked by machetes, shot down by AK47s.. Some are alive in body, but dead in spirit. They do not see the world as they did yesterday, they cannot.. stripped of their dignity, a deep hatred thrives where love used to blossom... they are victims of an inhumane world.. a world that does not hear their cries or see their tears.. a world that you and I call ourselves citizens of..

Once an optimist, my rose tinted glasses have been stained by images of mangled bodies and lifeless carcasses... Once an optimist, I see evil in the eyes of many.. I wonder if love can ever live there.. Once an optimist, I realise that my dreams for the world may not become a reality in my lifetime... Once an optimist, I try to celebrate the lives of those who die everyday, but I cannot... I did not know them.. they are faceless.. How can I celebrate their lives, when all I can do is mourn? Once an optimist, I sit here and realise that optimism is a luxury that many cannot afford...

Today I write as innocent people continue to be massacred across the globe - most in the name of politics... My heart bleeds for all the civilians who have been killed as collateral damage in unjust wars...

But as I write, the elephants continue to fight and the ground continues to suffer... as I write someone somewhere has just been gunned down... and as I write, someone somewhere doesn't care :-(

An open letter to those of whom we do not speak...

Dear Despots,



Thanks to you, I decided to stay home as the world revelled on the 31st of December 2010... Yes, a rather crap year was in its last hours (The memory of the 2010 FIFA World Cup only a blur of bad debt by then), but I couldn't celebrate... It's not that I didn't particularly want to. It just felt like I had reached my pit-stop, that I should take a breather before I embarked on what I hoped would be an amazing 2011.. Yes, the idealist in me not-so-secretly hoped that 2011 would be the year that the ever elusive world peace became a reality.. I needed my rest. No partying for me.



You might be wondering what this all has to do with you.. It's not like you care much for the plight of the ordinary person anyway... Not least one whose passion is the one thing you love most to destroy: human rights... Well, that's just it! My not-so-dear Despots.. This letter is to you..



On 31 December 2010, as many a middle-class spawn partied up a mini storm, explosions tore through Nigeria, 60 women were brutally raped by members of the military and militia in the Eastern DRC, Cote d'Ivoire teetered on the brink of collapse... As many a person partied up a mini storm on December 31st 2010, thousands across the world caught their last breath... killed, tortured, maimed... Some died physically, most died emotionally and spiritually. Their dignity stripped off them leaving them bare... As many partied up a mini storm on December 31st 2010, the world began to burn... You, the arsonists, drank your overpriced champagne and plotted your future as many lamented their present...



On 1 January 2011, the sun arose and with it a tempestuous new dawn... Ben Ali of Tunisia was toppled, Hosni Mubarak soon followed... The people had had enough... they were tired of typing out their sentiments and living at the mercy of greedy despots... they - like phoenixes risen from the ashes - got up and stayed up until their desires were met... Or were they? Tunisia and Egypt remain unstable... the rest of the region is catching fire... burning fervently and so close to the devil's cauldron... Born of violence many shall die of violence.. so the adage goes...



I have decided to stain my satellite view of Africa with red ink... it symbolises the blood that continues to be let in our people's struggle for their right to be human.. It marks the pain and suffering that no one should ever go through. The raw and gaping wounds that you have caused. It marks your legacy dear despots..



As the sun rose on 1 January 2011 I wondered: Will this decade usher in a new dawn? Will we rid ourselves of the choke-hold of our "leaders"... The sun has not set... When you're gone, dear despots... we may rest... and maybe I too will party up a mini storm on the eve of 2012... One can only dream *sigh*



Yours insincerely,



Sick & Tired

The knife cuts both ways

I have been on a writing hiatus and have particularly not said much insofar as Zimbabwean politics is concerned... but following the death of the Prime Minister Tsvangirai's wife on Friday 06 March, I have been drawn into the fold.

Now, FTR I do not condone the deaths of many - caused by the cholera outbreak, hunger and alleged political violence - or the fact that our country is suffering from hyper-hyper inflation (currently pegged at 231 million percent - who knew that was possible?!)... and we're not even at war! I, however, cannot deny that President Mugabe - from a pan-Africanist, revolutionary struggle, rights to land perspective - has a point.. but for the purposes of this article I shall not delve into the complex intricacies of land reform, land tenure rights and land ownership rights... google is your friend in that regard..

The purpose of my note is not to play devil's advocate, but to clear the air and to help people have a more objective outlook on the situation in my beloved motherland.
While, Zimbabwe has been ready for "change" for nearly a decade now, I don't think a politically immature former weaver is our redemption. You are free to criticize me on this, but first hear me out...

On Friday 06 March 2009 at around 16.00 (Local Harare time), Mrs Susan Tsvangirai and her husband were involved in a car accident caused by a collision with a USAID truck that had veered into the wrong lane. Both the US and the UK have expressed their deepest sympathies and have declared the incident an accident. WAIT one bloody African minute... so when it's a US/UK truck that collides into a government official's car it's an accident, but all other high-profile road deaths were orchestrated by ZANU PF? Seriously now..

But that's not even the point of my article... the point is that the Government of national unity (GNU - read "ZANU PF led government") has been condemned by the media and lay arm-chair critics for not providing the "second most important man in Zimbabwe" sufficient protection. I too would have argued this had Tsvangirai himself not rejected a GNU motorcade and state-sponsored security personnel, alleging that he is not "comfortable" with the GNU yet and that he fears that the security forces are still under Mugabe's control... So, while the death of ANYONE is saddening and is a reminder of just how easily life can be taken from us, Tsvangirai is not entirely blameless here. He had the option of greater protection, but instead opted for a 3car motorcade (with cars not designed for security purposes). For one, Barack Obama will tell you that when you suddenly become "important" you need the most protection you can get.

Let's not topple the already fragile GNU by alleging conspiracies... sometimes accidents do actually happen... and if it indeed wasn't an accident, I think people should be considering that the truck was a USAID truck, driven by an employee of USAID and not an axe-brandishing war-veteran. However, Given the speculations, it is clear that a credible, independent investigation into the car accident is needed. The results of this investigation will help settle the matter expeditiously... and then we can get to the business of reconstructing Zimbabwe.

Remember... knives cut both ways...

That said... can the change promised start already...

On death

For the first time in near to a decade I went to church willingly yesterday... I went to the church that my recently late lecturer frequented until his death... as I sat in my claustrophobic pew I thought to myself how the church was filled with a congregation of strangers... people who did not know my lecturer and some who probably didn't want to... not only that but these strangers bowed their heads and sang sad hymns in "memory" of him. As I sat there, I wondered in whose memory they were singing. I wondered too what the purpose of life is… are we here to await the death knell to chime our name and can we resist when the sound begins to deafen us?

As the preacher ranted on about casting nets and catching fish I couldn’t help but notice what seemed to be a tear upon the cheek of one grey geriatric woman. I thought (for you will notice, I think a lot) for whom this woman could possibly be crying… If not for my late lecturer, then surely it must be for another… indeed the woman could have been crying for herself. For let us not deny that at 80something in Sub-Saharan Africa no day passes without one wondering when the Grim Reaper shall awake from his slumber and do his bidding.

People tend to shy away from talk about death and those of us who do are regarded as being morbidly inclined and often told to shut up or knock on wood… and so we often shut up. It’s not that I don’t fear death. In fact death is the one thing I fear the most… so much so that sometimes I lie awake late at night in my bed (or sit at my desk) and breathe deeply in appreciation of the life that still exists within me. I lie awake because I can’t help but think that I have done so little with my life, and that which I have done has probably left many a heart broken and hopes dashed. Is it selfish of me to want “strangers” to cry in my memory for in some way I wish to touch their lives? Is it selfish of me to want to be remembered for the good that I know I can do and not the bad I know I’ve done?

If you have read this far and are wondering why I don’t just take a sleeping tablet already… worry not, there’s a point to all this. Or maybe not whichever way you wish to look at it. The purpose being, I hope that those who read this may seek to better themselves, to live their lives to the fullest and appreciate that your goodness reigns eternal even in death. And so when I lay my head to rest, I hope once again that I wake up better than yesterday’s Ottilia… for now, I am not yet born.

>>>>>I write this in memory of the late ever illustrious Dr Solomon Nkiwane… for whom I do not mourn, for I feel my salty tears will only tarnish his memory. A man who dedicated his life to serving others and enriching many intellectually and spiritually cannot be mourned. His legacy cannot allow that. <<<<