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DRC: Sexual Violence in Eastern Congo; Worsening Security Situation in North Kivu; Op-ed

21 Dec 2007

Dear all,

Please find below information on recent developments related to the International Criminal Court's investigation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the deteriorating security situation in North Kivu.

This digest includes an IWPR article on the culture of sexual violence in the eastern Congo in which ICC official Beatrice Le Frapper Du Hellen underlines that the case against Katanga makes it clear that "sexual violence is prosecuted by the ICC;" a Radio Netherlands Worldwide program on sexual violence in the DRC with Fiona McKay, head of the Victims Participation and Reparation Section at the ICC, as guest; accounts of the worsening security situation in North Kivu; and an op-ed from a Congolese writer on the integration of three ex-Congolese militia leaders from Ituri into the ranks of the Congolese army.

Please 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 and current situations before the Court or situations under analysis. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC.

With regards,

Sasha Tenenbaum
CICC Communications

[email protected]

I. SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN CONGO A 'WEAPON OF WAR'

i. "Rape a 'Weapon of War' in Eastern Congo," Lisa Clifford and Charles Ntiricya (IWPR), 19 December 2007, www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=341511&apc_state=henfacr341564

"...An epidemic of brutal sexual violence is plaguing the eastern Congo where women... are being raped with impunity by all sides in the conflict between a renegade general, rival militias and the Congolese army.

'Sexual violence is being perpetrated by all armed groups,' said Anneke Van Woudenberg, Congo researcher at Human Rights Watch. 'It is clear that women are completely unprotected at the moment. No one can claim they are unaware that rape is being used as a weapon of war in eastern Congo.'

...Another major problem is lack of access to the legal system. There are courts in the North Kivu towns of Goma, Butembo and Beni, but most women are attacked in rural areas, miles from the nearest police station, court house or lawyer.

...In a recent report, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women said the scale and brutality of the sexual violence in the Congo amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Individual acts of rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilisation and any other form of sexual violence constituting a grave breach or serious violation of the Geneva Conventions can be prosecuted as war crimes, if they occur during either international or internal armed conflict.

That could be where the ICC comes in. With the Congolese legal system in chaos, it will likely be the Hague-based court that will hold to account some of those accused of sexual violence in North Kivu and elsewhere in the country.

...the ICC said recently that it is gathering information on crimes committed by all sides there including rape, forced displacement, killings and enlisting child soldiers.

Beatrice Le Frapper Du Hellen, the head of the ICC division working with governments to secure cooperation, told IWPR that the court is aware of the culture of sexual violence in the eastern Congo, which she described as 'massive, massive shocking brutality'. 'It is being used absolutely routinely with such brutality, even against very young children, that there has to be an objective in such brutality,' she said. ... 'With our case against Katanga we have said very clearly that sexual violence is prosecuted by the ICC,' said Le Frapper. 'If anybody though that sexual violence is a crime that isn't going to be prosecuted, look at Katanga, look at the Central African Republic, look at Joseph Kony, look at Harun.'

ii. "Justice or reparations?," Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 14 December 2007

www.radionetherlands.nl/features/amsterdamforum/071214af

"...In the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sexual violence is being used as a weapon of war. The DRC is believed to have the highest number of war rapes currently in the world.

Fiona McKay: the head of the Victims Participation and Reparation Section at the International Criminal Court: 'The ICC has a very particular role. It is never going to prosecute the foot soldiers, the people who directly carry out the rapes or other crimes. The ICC's role is to work alongside national judicial systems and to encourage them. We only step in when the national systems are really unable, or unwilling to deal with these serious crimes. The ICC will only ever go after those bearing the greatest responsibility for the crimes, not the small fish.' "

iii. "DR Congo: UN Mission Says Recruitment of Child Soldiers is Surging," UN News Service, 14 December 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25076&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo

"Hundreds of under-age boys and girls are being forcibly recruited by rival armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and sent to the front lines of the escalating conflict in North Kivu province in the far east of the country, the UN mission reported today.

The mission, known as MONUC, has identified the Congrès National pour la Défense du Peuple (CNDP), the group led by the renegade General Laurent Nkunda, and the Front Démocratique de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) as the two main groups responsible for the forced recruitment of children into armed conflict.

...Many of the estimated 8,500 former child soldiers who have been rescued by the UN and other humanitarian organizations since 2004 have been re-recruited in the last few months or used as sex slaves, according to the mission.

MONUC pledged in a press statement released today in Kinshasa to redouble its efforts to protect children and prevent their forced recruitment into the armed groups, and it issued a call to those groups to immediately end the practice.

The warning comes amid mounting UN concern about the overall humanitarian situation inside North Kivu, where tens of thousands of people are on the move again after some of the worst fighting since the DRC civil war formally ended in 2003.

...The security situation is so difficult that UN High Commissioner for Refugees teams and other relief workers are unable to reach many areas of North Kivu, which borders Rwanda and Uganda. More than 4,500 MONUC troops have been deployed to help ensure the defence of Goma, the capital, and the key town of Saké....."

II. UN VOICES CONCERN OVER ARMED ATTACKS AGAINST HUMANITARIAN STAFF

i. "DR Congo: UN Voices Concern at Attacks Against Humanitarian Organizations," UN News Service, 19 December 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25138&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo#

"OCHA today voiced serious concern over attacks by armed groups involving humanitarian vehicles and staff in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where fighting and spiralling lawlessness has displaced hundreds of thousands of people over the past year.

'We are requesting the Government and all armed groups present in this zone to take all necessary measures urgently to improve security and facilitate access for humanitarian organizations on the ground,' OCHA said in a statement.

...Three international organizations have already announced that they will suspend their operations from tomorrow for 48 hours 'to re-evaluate the security situation and to make the parties to the conflict realize the risks related to a withdrawal of humanitarian presence in the event of a more serious incident,' OCHA said...."

ii. "Avanzan los guerrilleros de Nkunda en el Norte Kivu" FIDES, 13 December 2007 http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=12408&lan=spa

"The humanitarian situation is worsening every day in North Kivu, East of Democratic Republic of Congo, where the rebels lead by Laurent Nkunda obliged the government to step back and had taken control of Mushake an Karube, 40 kilometers Northeast of Goma.

'...We think that the objective of Nkunda is to negotiate his exile and impunity before the International Criminal Court,' said an unidentified missionary....'

III. DRC MINISTER OF JUSTICE AFFIRMS WILL TO COOPERATION WITH ICC

"Human Rights; Minister for Justice Reaffirms His Engagement to Human Rights," Eoin Young, Africa News, 11 December 2007, www.allafrica.com/stories/200712111019.html

"...The Minister for Justice, also, reaffirmed the 'firm will' of the government to repress the perpetrators of this violence as well in the field of national and international legislation, and handing them over, if necessary, 'to the International Criminal Court'...."

IV. OP-ED: NO AMNESTY WITHIN MILITARY RANKS

"Comment: The Need for Peace and Justice," Eugène Bakama Bope, Institute for War and Peace reporting, 14 Dec. 2007, www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=341433&apc_state=henh

"Three former Congolese militia leaders [Karim, Matata, Ngudjolo]from Ituri have joined the ranks of the Congolese army.

....Officials from the United Nations Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo, known by its acronym MONUC, said the arrival of the trio in the capital along with several of their top commanders marked 'a big step towards the consolidation of peace' in a district marked by violence for more than eight years.

But some in the Congo are concerned that men whose militia groups have been accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity are being integrated into the national army, the FARDC.

The question worth asking then is whether this will promote peace in Ituri or is a reward for crimes committed when justice would be a more appropriate solution?

Ituri's armed groups have committed grave crimes in the region and two militia leaders are currently facing trial before the International Criminal Court, ICC.

...Crimes committed during the Ituri war were excluded from a presidential decree granting an amnesty for acts of war and political offences committed during the Congo-wide conflict from 1998-2003. The amnesty also quite rightly excluded war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

However, with the arrival of Karim and the others in Kinshasa, the government has discussed expanding the amnesty to include Ituri.

The amnesty should not be extended to crimes committed more recently in the east as these are international crimes, and there is no amnesty for crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the Rome Statute. The amnesty law explicitly excluded international crimes and, in addition, it cannot have any effect on crimes committed after it was created in 2003.

There has also been talk of granting an amnesty to renegade Congolese general Laurent Nkunda, who is currently battling the army in the eastern North Kivu province.

...The ICC said recently it is looking into crimes committed by all the warring parties in North Kivu, including Nkunda's troops. They include acts of sexual violence, forced displacements and killings, charges which Nkunda denies.

It is doubtful the Congolese government will be able to negotiate an amnesty for Nkunda, and if it does, the ICC will not be bound by this agreement if it decides to prosecute Nkunda for the grave crimes allegedly committed in the Congo.

...That some former rebels have been taken to The Hague while others are wooed with positions in the army has caused much controversy in the Congo.

...We must keep in mind that there is no real peace without justice and no justice without truth. Peace and justice should be considered as complementary objectives and not contradictory ones.

...The Congolese's people's blood should not be considered as a stepping stone to achieve power. It is important to go from a culture of impunity to a culture of accountability."

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