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ICC Press Release: ICC Opens Third DRC Case

07 Feb 2008

Dear all,

Please find below a Press Release issued by the International Criminal Court
(ICC) announcing that Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, a Congolese national and alleged
former leader of the National integrationist Front (FNI) and currently a Colonel
in the National Army of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
[Forces armées de la RDC/ Armed Forces of the DRC ] (FARDC), has been arrested
and transferred to the ICC. This is the third arrest warrant unsealed and
executed within the context of the DRC situation. The Advisory also announces
that Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui will be arriving today at the ICC detention center in
The Hague.

An ICC press conference will be held today at 3 pm at the ICC Premises. You may
access the ICC Media Advisory and the Arrest Warrant on the ICC Website at
http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/329.html

These documents have been produced by the ICC. The CICC Secretariat distributes
them as part of its mandate to keep member organizations and individuals
informed about developments related to the ICC. The documents do not reflect the
views of the CICC as a whole or its individual members.

Warm Regards,
Oriane
___________________________________
Oriane Maillet
Communications Officer
Coalition for the International Criminal Court
Anna Paulownastraat 103
2518 BC The Hague
Tel: 31 (0) 70-3111082
Fax: 31 (0) 70-3640259
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.coalitionfortheicc.org

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ICC PRESS RELEASE
Third detainee for the International Criminal Court: Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui
The Hague, 7 February 2008

ICC-CPI-20080207-PR284-ENG

Situation: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Case: The Prosecutor v. Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui

Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, a Congolese national and alleged former leader of the
National integrationist Front (FNI) and currently a Colonel in the National Army
of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo [Forces armées de la
RDC/ Armed Forces of the DRC ] (FARDC), was arrested yesterday by the Congolese
authorities and transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC). He will
be arriving today to the Detention Centre of the Court, in The Hague. Mathieu
Ngudjolo Chui is alleged to have committed crimes against humanity and war
crimes as set out in articles 7 and 8 of the Statute, committed in the territory
of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since July 2002.

On 6 July 2007, Pre-Trial Chamber I issued a sealed warrant of arrest for
Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui after having examined the request and evidence submitted
by the Prosecutor. The warrant was unsealed on 7 February 2008.

The date of Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui's first appearance will be announced in due
course.

Factual allegations
The Pre-Trial Chamber I found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that
Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, as the highest ranking FNI commander, played an essential
role in designing and implementing an indiscriminate attack against the village
of Bogoro, in the territory of Ituri, on or around 24 February 2003.

The Chamber also found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that during
and after the attack on the village of Bogoro against civilians, primarily of
Hema ethnicity, with the active participation of children under the age of
fifteen years, several criminal acts were committed: the murder of about 200
civilians; causing serious bodily harm to civilians; arresting, threatening with
weapons and imprisoning civilians in a room filled with corpses; pillaging;
sexual enslavement of several women and girls.

The Chamber further found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that a
common plan to carry out an attack on Bogoro was agreed upon by Ngudjolo Chui
and other senior FNI and FRPI (Force de résistance patriotique en Ituri/
Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri) military commanders, and that the criminal
acts committed during and after the attack were part of the common plan or,
were, at the very least, a probable and accepted consequence of the
implementation of the said common plan.

Again, according to the Chamber, there were reasonable grounds to believe that
the attack on the village of Bogoro took place in the context of an armed
conflict in the territory of Ituri, and that the attack was jointly launched by
the FNI and the FRPI as part of a systematic or widespread attack directed
against the civilian population of certain parts of the territory of Ituri,
primarily of Hema ethnicity, between January and at least March 2003.

The counts
The warrant of arrest for Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui lists nine counts on the basis
of his individual criminal responsibility (articles 25(3)(a) or 25(3)(b)) of the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court) including:

three counts of crimes against humanity: murder - article 7(1)(a), inhumane acts
- article 7(1)(k), and sexual slavery - article 7(1)(g);
six counts of war crimes: wilful killing - article 8(2)(a)(i) or 8(2)(c)(i),
inhuman treatment - article 8(2)(a)(ii) or cruel treatment - article 8(2)(c)(i),
using children under the age of fifteen years to participate actively in
hostilities - article 8(2)(b)(xxvi) or article 8(2)(e)(vii), sexual slavery -
article 8(2)(b)(xxii) or article 8(2)(e)(vi), intentionally directing attacks
against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians not
taking direct part in hostilities - article 8(2)(b)(i) or 8(2)(e)(i), pillaging
a town or place even when taken by assault - article 8(2)(b)(xvi) or article
8(2)(e)(v)).
Statement of the Registrar
The Registrar of the Court, Bruno Cathala, welcomed the decision of a State
Party to the Rome Statute to execute an ICC decision. "Once again, the Congolese
authorities have actively co-operated with the Court in the spirit of the
Statute, and have enforced a judicial decision by arresting Mathieu Ngudjolo
Chui and surrendering him to the Court", said the Registrar.

Background information
Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui is the third person in the custody of the ICC. On 17
October 2007, the Congolese authorities surrendered and transferred Germain
Katanga, a Congolese national and alleged commander of the FRPI, to the
International Criminal Court. He is currently charged as a co-perpetrator of the
crimes committed allegedly during the joint FNI and FRPI attack on the village
of Bogoro on or around 24 February 2003.

On 17 March 2006, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a Congolese national and alleged founder
and leader of the Union des patriotes Congolais [Union of Congolese Patriots]
(UPC), was transferred to the ICC.

The Prosecutor of the Court initiated investigations in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo in June 2004 after the Congolese Government referred the situation
in the country to the Court.

The situation in the DRC is one of four situations currently under investigation
by the Office of the Prosecutor.

The other three situations are: the situation in Uganda, in respect of which
four arrest warrants have been issued, on 8 July 2005, for leaders of the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA); the situation in Darfur, Sudan, in respect of which
arrest warrants have been issued, on 27 April 2007, for Ahmad Muhammad Harun,
former Minister of State for the Interior and currently Minister of State for
Humanitarian Affairs in the Government of the Sudan, and Ali Muhammad Ali
Abd-Al-Rahman (Ali Kushayb), a leader of the Militia/Janjaweed; and the
situation in the Central African Republic where an investigation is ongoing.

Warrant of arrest for Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui


ICC-01/04-02/07 - French
http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/ICC-01-04-02-07-1.pdf
English http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/ICC-01-04-02-07-1-tENG.pdf
ICC-01/04-02/07-Anx1 - Annex: French
http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/ICC-01-04-02-07-1-Anx.pdf

Decision to unseal the warrant of arrest against Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui
ICC-01/04-02/07 - English
http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/ICC-01-04-02-07-10_En.pdf

The course of action and procedure following the arrest and surrender of a
suspect to the Court
ICC-PIDS-PRI-1/07 - English
http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/Course_of_action_en.pdf
French http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/Course_of_action_fr.pdf

ICC Detention Centre
ICC-PIDS-PRI-02/07 - English
http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/defence/ICC-DetentionCentre_en.pdf
French http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/defence/ICC-DetentionCentre_fr.pdf

Practical information
Press Conference

The Deputy Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda and the Senior Legal Advisor of the
Registry, Phakiso Mochochoko, will hold a press briefing at the ICC premises in
The Hague on 7th February 2008 at 3:00 p.m.

Confirmation of attendance is not required.

The web-cast of the press conference in English and French will be available
live through the ICC website:

English: http://livestream.xs4all.nl/icc1.asx

French: http://livestream.xs4all.nl/icc2.asx

Technical information on the broadcast via satellite will follow.


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For further information please contact Ms Sonia Robla, Head of Public
Information and Documentation Section at +31 (0)70 515-8089 or at +31 (0)6 46 44
87 26; email: [email protected]

DRC: Paul Madidi, Field Public Information and Outreach Coordinator at +243 99
801 1403 or email: [email protected]


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