October 2002 is a date that the people of the Central African Republic (CAR) will never forget. It was a time when the civilian population of CAR faced the most monstrous atrocities by the troops of Jean-Pierre Bemba, the former Vice-President of The Democratic Republic of Congo. The International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague has charged Bemba with three war crimes and two counts of crime against humanity for rape, murder and pillage committed by his troops in CAR. This is the first time in the ICC where a trial is held against a high-ranking political leader charged with indirect responsibility for the alleged crimes committed by his troops.
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| Jean-Pierre Bemba |
He has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer, Nkwebe Liriss feels that the trial is biased and the court will never reach a verdict. Liriss is not alone in his stand. The Congolese community in Brussels believes that their hero is falsely indicted and is a victim of a “political conspiracy”. Bemba is seen as a leader by this community-- the man who stood up to Joseph Kabila, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, seen as a totalitarian dictator among them. The supporters of Bemba feel that the international community is deluded by Kabila and his political devotees.
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| The ICC trial at The Hague |
Bemba was the son of a rich businessman who was closely associated with the former President of Congo, Mobutu Sese Seko. Laurent Desire Kabila, a rebel leader and father of the current President, Joseph Kabila overthrew Mobutu and changed the name of the country from Zaire to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In response to this situation, Bemba started the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) to overthrow Kabila. During 1998-2003, Congo was a war zone, where Bemba controlled the equatorial region and the border with CAR. Around the same time, Ange-Felix Patasse, the former President of CAR sought assistance from Bemba to quell the coup started by General Francois Bozize.
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| Ange-Felix Patasse |
After interceding in CAR and the end of the war in Congo, Bemba won the post for Vice-President. However, he was defeated by Joseph Kabila in the second round of Presidential elections in 2006. Now out of power, Bemba was told to disband his militia and recruit his own troops into the regular national army. He refused to accept this order because he wanted the troops for his own protection. The consequence of this refusal was devastating, as clashes erupted in Kinshasa on March 2007 between the army and Bemba’s militia. Over this period of two months, three hundred people were killed. The Government accused Bemba for maintaining a private militia, thereby moving the courts against him. He managed to escape in an armoured UN vehicle on the night of 11 April, 2007. Bemba fled to Portugal on the pretext of medical treatment. Upon reaching Belgium he was arrested on May 2008 and kept in a detention centre till the beginning of his trial at the ICC.
The crimes of violence in CAR were brought to the attention of the ICC by an investigative report of the International Federation of Human Rights on February, 2003. As an effect of this report, the ICC conducted its own investigation on May 2007, the result of which led to the arrest of Bemba, who had escaped to Belgium.
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| Joseph Kabila |
Horrendous details of the acts of violence against the people of CAR were described by the first witness at the ICC. He mentioned a nine year old girl who was raped in front of her mother. “Because the little girl was still…fresh, they did not take the mother, they preferred the little girl, they raped her in front of her mother in the house,” he said. This is one of the most shocking incidents out of the many that will be told by the 759 witnesses at the ICC trial. The sexual crimes violated the dignity of women, children and even men. The social stigma and shame brought upon these people is irreparable, as the cowardly and weak perpetrators walk away scot-free.
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| Mobutu Sese Seko |
Besides sexual crimes, there were other instances where people were robbed by the troops at the streets and were beaten if they did not have anything valuable. The troops plundered villages, barging into houses raping women and little girls, and stealing valuable items. The abomination that these victims feel can be vented only by justice and impartial judgment to convict Bemba, the man responsible for these crimes.
The UN Security Council has condemned sexual crimes related to conflict. It has demanded that women should be included in decision making processes during peace negotiations. Therefore, this is the first case before the ICC where a female trial attorney by the name of Petra Knewer is prosecuting the case. Along with her, there are three female judges who will adjudicate the trial focusing on gender crimes.
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But if CAR’s former President, Patisse requested Bemba for assistance then he too must be made responsible and accused as one of the culprits. Patisse must have known about the outrageous crimes done against his own people. Then why did he not dare to end the tyranny? Why was Bemba not preventing the gratification that his troops were indulging in? Why did he not punish them? These are the questions that dwell in the readers’ mind, which form a mere dependant backdrop to the silent yet undying hopes that the victims of the coup thrive upon.
Congo: Bemba faces trial for mass rape, murder
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