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DRC, Part I: REDRESS, Vision GRAM, CCTJ Releases on Third Arrest; Interview w/ DRC National Coordinator, Christian Hemedi

20 Feb 2008

Dear Colleagues,

Please find below Part I of a two-part digest with information on
recent developments related to the International Criminal Court's
investigation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This news digest contains press release from REDRESS, Vision GRAM
International and the Congolese Coalition for Transitional Justice
(CCTJ), urging for more work to be done in other provinces on the
part of the ICC as well as an interview with Christian Hamedi of the
National Coalition in DRC (CN-CPI) by the Congolese newspaper Le
Potentiel on the arrest of Mathieu Ngudjolo.

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.

I. NGO PRESS RELEASES ON THIRD DRC ARREST

i. "ICC Prosecutor leaves unfinished business in Ituri,"
REDRESS press release, 13 FEBRUARY 2008,
http://coalitionfortheicc.org/documents/REDRESS_press_release_on_Ngudjolo_eng.pdf

"With the third DRC war crimes suspect now at the International
Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, the ICC Prosecutor has signaled
that his work in Ituri is done. According to the Prosecutor, the
arrest of Mathieu Ngudjolo now closes the first phase of
investigations in the DRC. He is now turning his attention to the
ongoing atrocities in the Kivus, just south of Ituri.
REDRESS is concerned that the Prosecutor is moving on to other parts
of the country without fully investigating a significant portion of
the crimes in Ituri. `There is unfinished business in Ituri, which is
causing tension on the ground,' said Mariana Goetz, REDRESS' ICC
Program Adviser. `Things have not been resolved. Only three days ago
some fighting re-erupted in Ituri. The Lendu community, from which
Mathieu Ngudjolo and Germain Katanga are from, feel resentful and
angry. Because they are Bantu and are associated with Rwanda's Hutu,
they are always targeted. However the Hema, affiliated to the Tutsi
get away lightly,' says Eloi Uwodhi of LIPADHO, Ligue Pour la Paix et
les Droits de l'Homme. (League for Peace and Human Rights)

There is resentment that Thomas Lubanga and the UPC militia that he
led are getting away too lightly. Arrested by the ICC in March 2006,
Lubanga is said to be responsible for widespread killings and
countless incidents of sexual violence. Yet, Lubanga has only been
charged with recruiting and using child soldiers. Now both Ngudjolo
(arrested last week) and Germain Katanga (arrested October 2007), from
the opposing FNI and FHRI groups are charged with a list of offences,
including murder, sexual slavery, inhuman or cruel treatment, attacks
against civilians, and pillaging.

According to the Prosecutor's investigation strategy, cases will
reflect `the gravest incidents and the main types of victimisation.'
However, the charges against Lubanga are so narrow in comparison to
the others accused that there is a perception of imbalance on the
ground. REDRESS and other civil society groups have called on the
Prosecutor to expand its investigation into crimes committed by
Lubanga and his UPC militia. The news that the Prosecutor is closing
the Ituri chapter appears inconsistent with his strategy and poses a
risk to victims on the ground.

REDRESS calls upon the Prosecutor to continue his investigations in
Ituri, ensuring coverage of a representative range of crimes,
including killings, sexual violence and torture. REDRESS is encouraged
by the Prosecutor's intention to investigate crimes in other parts of
DRC, but believes this should not be at the expense of the Ituri
investigation."

ii. Press Release from Vision GRAM-International: Group Conducting
Actions Against Marginalization, 11 February 2008,
http://coalitionfortheicc.org/documents/Vision_GRAM_release_11_02_08.pdf

"Vision GRAM-International applauds the arrest and transfer of
Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui to the International Criminal Court which has
generated much renewed hope among the population… Mathieu Ngudjolo
Chui …played an essential role in the planning and the implementation
of an indiscriminate attack on the village of Bogoro, in Ituri… on or
around 24 February 2003.

According to his arrest document, there are reasonable grounds to
believe that, during and after the attack on Bogoro village which was
principally directed against ethnic Hema civilians, with the active
participation of children under the ages of 15 years old, the
following criminal acts were committed: murder of around 200
civilians, serious damage to the physical integrity of civilians;
arrest, threatening with weapons and confinement of civilians in a
room full of corpses; pillaging; sexual enslavement of several women
and girls.

This arrest comes …on the eve of the launching of the "Red Hand"
campaign which begins on 12 February 2008, day of commemoration of the
additional protocol regarding the involvement of children under 18
years in armed conflict. This day underlines the important role that the Court is currently playing in the international community's efforts to put an end to impunity for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Vision GRAM-International congratulates the authorities in DR Congo
for the role they played in this arrest and transfer to the
International Criminal Court. It is a remarkable step that shows their
willingness to get involved in the struggle against impunity.

`Instead of rewarding brutal warlords such as Cobra Matata and Peter
Karim by granting them golden military positions, the Congolese
authorities should follow the ICC's example and judge them for war
crimes in the context of diligent and fair trials,' to support the
remarks of Human Rights Watch's Singh's.

…Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui is one of the former heads of militias active
in Ituri in the Eastern Province who rejoined the ranks of the
Congolese army to begin their training in the company of other former
militia heads: Peter Karim from FNI, Cobra Matata from FRPI. He was a
top military cadre within the armed group of Lendu ethnicity known by
the name National Integrationist Front (FNI), having occupied for a
while in 2003 the highest position, that of chief of staff. The
government has accused Ngudjolo of war crimes for a massacre
perpetrated by FNI troops in May 2003 in the town of Tchomia and
Ngudjolo was transferred from Bunia to Makala prison in Kinshasa, from
which he escaped before a judgment could be delivered. In 2005, after
the fall of certain top military and political cadres of the FNI,
Ngudjolo contributed to the creation of a new armed group by
assembling strength originating from former militias. This new group
made itself known under the name Revolutionary Movement of Congo
(MRC). In the middle of 2006, Ngudjolo signed an agreement with the
Congolese government on disarmament and the integration of his forces
into the national army. On 2 October 2006, a ministerial decree
promoted him to the official rank of colonel within the Congolese army
and he was charged with the investigation of the army's operations in
Ituri.

Vision GRAM-International …calls on the [Congolese] authorities to
continue to support the International Criminal Court and to work in
concert with it for justice to catch up to those who commit this kind
of heinous crime, wherever they are found.

Vision GRAM- International continues to support the initiatives of the
International Criminal Court in the fight against impunity while
hoping that the international prosecutors continue to attend to the
files of other warlords still active in the DR Congo and other civil
and military administrators accused of committing atrocities.

To view the original version of this release in French, please visit:
http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/documents/Communique_de_presse_Vision_GRAM_sur_Mathieu_Ngudjolo_fr.pdf

Translation is unofficial and provided by the CICC Secretariat.

iii. "Declaration No. 002/2008: Congolese Coalition for Transitional
Justice for the Arrest of Other Criminals by the International
Criminal Court," Raphael Wakenge (National Coordinator), 16 February
2008 (link not available)

"The Congolese Coalition for Transitional Justice (CCJT) is concerned
with the march toward the establishment of the rule of law in our
country, as it comes about through the fight against impunity, which
is increasingly becoming a living reality in DR Congo.

In fact, it heartily salutes the materialization of proceedings at
location of other criminals who are guilty of serious crimes in DR
Congo by the International Criminal Court. In this sense the arrest in
Kinshasa and the transfer to The Hague in the Netherlands on 6
February 2008 of Mr. Mathieu NGUDJOLO CHUI, former commander of the
Nationalist Integrationist Front (FNI) militia, while he was still in
training at the Group of Superior Military Schools of Kinshasa,
constitutes a key element to be encouraged in this process.

This arrest, which occured after those of Thomas LUBANGA and Germain
KATANGA brings the number of Congolese prosecuted by the International
Criminal Court since its creation to three. In addition, it is
intervening exactly seven months to the day since the arrest warrant
had been issued against him by the Pre-Trial Chamber 1, on 6 July
2007. Among the grounds for the arrest of Ngudjolo are the widespread
attack on the village of Bogoro, the reduction into sexual slavery of
several women and girls and the murder of around 200 civilians.

For more than one observer, it is a matter of understanding why this
arrest was carried out the day after the close of the Conference on
Peace, Security and Development, 15 days after the signing of the Act
of Engagement between the armed groups of North and South Kivu in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.

At the current stage of the proceedings conducted by the ICC in DR
Congo, it is imperative that the public opinion realize that this is
the third case that has been identified and acted on regarding crimes
committed in Ituri in the Eastern Province. Some criminals in other
provinces of the country such as the Kivus are not yet, for the most
part, worried.

The CCJT continues to encourage the work of the Court in the field and
at The Hague for the struggle against impunity. It expresses the wish
that strong efforts be made to give the opportunity to participate in
the trial to victims so that the lanterns of the Court may be
illuminated and that they may be consulted on the subject of
reparations to be allocated to them as compensation.

The CCJT invites the Court to spread its activities to crimes
committed in the other provinces of the DRC in order to meet the
expectations expressed during the Conference on Peace, Security and
the Development of North and South Kivu.

Finally, the CCJT encourages any visit of the international community
to reassure itself and to strengthen monitoring of the Act of
Engagement and the resolutions of the above-mentioned Conference. "

Translation is unofficial and provided by the CICC Secretariat.

II. CN-CPI MEMBER CHRISTIAN HEMEDI COMMENTS

"Five Questions for Christian Hemedi," (Le Potentiel), 19 February 2008, http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200802190385.html(in French)

"By ratifying the Rome Statute, the DRC subscribed to the general
obligation of cooperating with the ICC. The cooperation agreement
signed between DRC and the ICC in 2005 stipulates that Congolese
justice must follow requests for cooperation that emanate from the
ICC. The procedure for surrendering and transporting Mathieu Ngudjolo
to The Hague did not violate the terms of this agreement.

…Mathieu Ngudjolo was the subject of proceedings before the Tribunal
de Grande Instance of Bunia... for the murder of a businessman. For
reasons of public safety, the Supreme Court of Justice ordered to send
the case before the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Kinshasa/Gombe.
Once transferred to Kinshasa, he eventually was freed without any
judgment being made. Therefore there is no need to apply the `non bis
in idem' principle (being prosecuted for the same crimes); the
proceedings initiated by the ICC (war crimes and crimes against
humanity) are distinct from the grievances for which Mr. Ngudjolo was
apprehended by the Congolese justice system (common law crimes).

…After ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced the closure of the
first phase of his investigation in DRC in Ituri district after the
transfer of Mathieu Ngudjolo to the ICC, he had to turn his attention
to the actions of the armed groups still active in the provinces of
North and South Kivu. One important innovation to note is the will of
the ICC to also engage in proceedings against persons who may have
assured financial and/or logistical support to these armed groups. It
is therefore clear that all those who were called on to commit mass
crimes since July 2002 may be approached by the ICC in the following
days, months and perhaps years.

... The Act of Engagement signed in Goma in January 2008 between all
parties at the Conference on Peace, Security and the Development of
North and South Kivu does grant amnesty for armed groups regarding
acts of war from June 2003 to the date of the adoption of the amnesty
law. However this text excludes war crimes, crimes against humanity
and genocide from the overall amnesties granted. As a result, any
person likely to benefit from this amnesty may still become the object
of proceedings as much as by the Congolese justice system as the ICC
by virtue of the principle of unenforceability of internal amnesty
procedures or of privilege of jurisdiction in the case of committing
an international crime…"

To view the original version of this interview in French, please
visit:http://www.lepotentiel.com/afficher_article.php?id_article=59767&id_edition=4251

Translation is unofficial and provided by the CICC Secretariat.

**********************************
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