Congolese ‘Terminator’ war crimes case to wrap up at ICC
THE HAGUE: International judges will hear closing arguments yesterday in the case against former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, accused of war crimes including using child soldiers and sex slaves in his rebel army.
Once known as ‘The Terminator’, Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in a brutal civil conflict in the DR Congo’s volatile east more than 15 years ago.
The Rwandan-born Ntaganda in September 2015 pleaded not guilty to the charges at the start of his trial before the International Criminal Court.
Prosecutors at the Hague-based tribunal say his rebel army in 2002 and 2003 conducted a reign of terror in the vast central African country’s northeast Ituri region, unleashing horrific abuses on local inhabitants.
N tag and a was central to planning operations for his Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), using child soldiers and coercing women into sexual slavery while attacking civilians on ethnic grounds, prosecutors say. The charismatic commander, a feared ex-general with a penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, gave the orders and provided logistics and weapons to his troops, the prosecution say.
At least 800 people were killed by the FPLC as it battled rival militias for control of the mineralrich area.
Prosecutors single out Ntaganda for allegedly leading a November 2002 attack on the gold mining town of Mongbwalu that lasted six days and left 200 villagers dead.
Ntaganda, aged around 44, during his trial balked at the ‘Terminator’ nickname and told judges he was a ‘soldier, not a criminal’.
“I never attacked civilians, on the contrary, your honours, I protected them,” he said.
The first-ever suspect to voluntarily surrender to the ICC, Ntaganda walked into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and asked to be sent to the court.
Ntaganda is a founding member of the M23 rebel group, which was eventually defeated by Congolese government forces five years ago.