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News about Bemba; Louise Arbour called to implement the Rome Statute

06 July 2007

Dear all,

Please find below news relating to the International Criminal Court's (ICC)
investigations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Our coverage of DRC news includes coverage of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour's call to implement the Rome Statute along with recent news about Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Please note that all translations from the French are unofficial and have been
prepared by CICC Secretariat staff.

Please also take note of the Coalition's policy on situations before the ICC
(below), which explicitly states that the CICC will NOT take a position on
potential or pending situations before the Court. The Coalition, however, will
continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC.

Regards,
Sasha Tenenbaum
CICC Information Services Coordinator
[email protected]
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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO:

I. LOUISE ARBOUR CALLS ON DRC TO IMPLEMENT ROME STATUTE

"DR Congo: UN's top rights official concerned at acquittals in military trial,"
UN News Centre, 4 July 2007,
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23139&Cr=DRC&Cr1=

"The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today voiced concern at
the recent decision by a military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
to acquit all defendants of killings, torture and other abuses that occurred
during an operation by the country's armed forces. 'I am concerned at the
court's conclusions that the events in Kilwa were the accidental results of
fighting, despite the presence at the trial of substantial eye-witness testimony
and material evidence pointing to the commission of serious and deliberate human
rights violations,' said Louise Arbour of the verdict reached in late June in
the DRC's Katanga Province.
...The High Commissioner called on the Congolese Parliament to adopt as a matter
of priority the bill implementing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court, which would provide the civilian courts with clear jurisdiction for
international crimes. She recalled that during her visit to the country in May,
the authorities had provided assurances of their commitment to the fight against
impunity. 'The victims of serious human rights violations demand concrete signs
of such commitment, in the form of truth and justice,' she declared. 'That is
only their right.'"

II. JEAN-PIERRE BEMBA UPDATE

i. "Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba promises to return soon to the country," by
Olivier Dioso (Le journal du citoyen), 3 July 2007,
http://www.digitalcongo.net/article/44005

"The news of the imminent return of the Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba comes just
days before his travel permit granted to him by the Office of the Senate expires
[Mr. Bemba left the country to go to Portugal in order to receive medical
treatment for a broken leg ]. Some members of the Alliance for the Presidential
majority (AMP) refuse to politicize the threats of the Prosecutor of the ICC;
Luis Moreno-Ocampo....for others, the ICC is only at the investigation phase. If
this international judicial body decides to implicate Bemba's soldiers, they
will appear before this institution. However, as said in an ICC communiqué, 'the
investigation does not target anyone in particular at this point and will be
guided exclusively by the evidence that comes to light.'"

ii. "The Bemba Dilemma," by Guy De Boeck (Congo Forum), 30 June 2007,
http://www.congoforum.be/fr/analysedetail.asp?subitem=&id=30505&analyse=selected

"Bemba is in fact facing a dilemma which is a little like choosing between the
plague and cholera... One of these threats is distant, but inevitable: it is the
investigation of ICC into atrocities committed in the Central African Republic.
The Congolese commentators have exaggerated the reach of the ICC, which at this
stage has opened an investigation. No one has arrested Bemba and he is far from
being judged. One has a hard time, however, understanding how he dodges
questions that are asked of him, without any awkward doubt. And questions still
much more awkward could await him, on this side, in connection with acts
committed in the Congo at which time he was head of the Movement for the
Liberation of Congo. If the ICC Prosecutor were to launch a warrant for his
arrest, Portugal would undoubtedly not hesitate to carry out it, that is stop
Bemba and hand him over. The only place where he will have a chance to escape
from this threat is...the Congo. "

III. OTHER DRC DEVELOPMENTS

i. "Ex-militia members in Ituri district to begin demobilizing next week," 3
July 2007, UN News Service,
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23129&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo

"The disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme for former members
of three militia groups in the volatile Ituri district of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC) will start next week, the United Nations
peacekeeping mission to the country (MONUC) has announced."

ii. "Congo: Consolidating the Peace," International Crisis Group Report, 5 July
2007, http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4933

In this latest ICG report on the DRC peace process, the ICC's investigations are
briefly mentioned as follows:

"At this stage, the (ICC) investigation is not directed at any particular
suspect but it is possible that former President Ange Felix Patassé and the
rebel leader at the time, Bemba, will be prosecuted for atrocity crimes. "

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CICC'S POLICY ON THE REFERRAL AND PROSECUTION OF SITUATIONS BEFORE THE ICC:

The Coalition for the ICC is not an organ of the Court. The CICC is an
independent NGO movement dedicated to the establishment of the
International Criminal Court as a fair, effective, and independent
international organization. The Coalition will continue to provide the most
up-to-date information about the ICC and to help coordinate global action to
effectively implement the Rome Statute of the ICC. The Coalition will also
endeavor to respond to basic queries and to raise awareness about the ICC's
trigger mechanisms and procedures, as they develop. The Coalition as a whole,
and its secretariat, do not endorse or promote specific investigations or
prosecutions or take a position on situations before the ICC. However,
individual CICC members may endorse referrals, provide legal and other support
on investigations, or develop partnerships with local and other organizations in
the course of their efforts.

Communications to the ICC can be sent to:
ICC P.O. Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands