By Hannah Stewart
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Bosco Ntaganda, a Congolese warlord known as “the Terminator” who evaded arrest on war crimes charges for seven years, denied guilt when he appeared for the first time at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday.
Ntaganda shocked the international community when he entered the U.S. Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda last week, removed his disguise, and asked to be sent to the ICC. Within days he was put on a plane to The Hague.
Ntaganda allegedly led rebels who terrorized eastern Congo in brutal fighting from 2002 to 2003. Moreover, he is accused of various war crimes over a fifteen-year period of fighting in Rwandan-backed rebellions in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The litany of charges includes ten counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, accusing him of conscripting and using child soldiers, using rape as a weapon of war, keeping women as sex slaves, and massacring at least 800 people in 2002 and 2003.
Dressed in an ill-fitting dark blue suit, blue shirt, and tie – attire most likely provided by the court – Ntaganda appeared uneasy in the courtroom on Tuesday. He hunched forward and kept his eyes downcast as the hearing began.
Judge Ekatarina Trendafilova asked Ntaganda to state his profession. He responded simply: “I was a soldier in the Congo.”
After a court official read out the charges against him, Ntaganda confirmed his name, stated his age of thirty-nine and said, “I was informed of these crimes, but I plead not guilty.”
Judge Trendafilova interrupted Ntaganda, stating that the purpose of the hearing was inform Ntaganda of the pending charges and to inform him of his rights.
The judge said that on September 23 the ICC will hold a hearing to assess the strength of prosecutors’ evidence. After that hearing, the judges will decide whether the case should go to trial.
While many of the Court’s suspects, including Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, remain at large and beyond its reach, Ntaganda’s arrival was especially welcome to prosecutors and activists.
International commentators remain hopeful that Ntaganda’s appearance before the ICC after years of impunity will lead to justice for victims of war crimes perpetrated in the DRC. Geraldine Mattioli-Zeltner of Human Rights Watch said, “Ntaganda’s detention in The Hague shows that no one is above the law.”
For more information, please see:
BBC – DR Congo: Bosco Ntaganda Appears Before ICC – 26 March 2013
The Huffington Post – Bosco Ntaganda Pleads Not Guilty to War Crime Charges Before ICC – 26 March 2013
The New York Times – War Crimes Suspect Tells the Court He Was Just “a Soldier” – 26 March 2013
The Telegraph – Bosco Ntaganda in the ICC: Profile of the Terminator – 26 March 2013
