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DRC: ICC Press Release on Katanga/Ngudjolo Case; Related News Coverage

03 Sept 2009

Dear Colleagues,

Please find below information about recent developments related to the
International Criminal Court's investigation in the Democratic Republic of
Congo.

This message includes an ICC press release announcing that the commencement of
the trial in the case of The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo
Chui has been postponed until 24 November 2009 (I); related and general news
coverage (II and III) and a posting from Lawyers without Borders' Geraldine
Devries on the Coalition's blog, "In Situ," about the Court's recent decision to
provide common legal representation for victims (IV).

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.

Best regards,
CICC Secretariat


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I. ICC PRESS RELEASE

The document below has been produced by the ICC. The Coalition for the ICC
distributes it as part of its mandate to inform member organizations and
individuals about ICC-related developments. The document does not reflect the
views of the CICC as a whole or its individual members.

"Commencement of the trial in the case of The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and
Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui postponed until 24 November 2009," ICC Press Release
(ICC-CPI-20090831-PR446), 31 August 2009,
http://www.icc-cpi.int/NetApp/App/MCMSTemplates/Content.aspx?FRAMELESS=false&NRN
ODEGUID={CBEE0591-C589-409A-9E84-EEDF7B93B544}&NRORIGINALURL=/NR/exeres/CBEE0591
-C589-409A-9E84-EEDF7B93B544.htm&NRCACHEHINT=Guest#

Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court issued a decision today, 31
August 2009, postponing the commencement of the trial in the case The Prosecutor
v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui until 24 November 2009. The Chamber
found that compelling reasons require that the date of 24 September 2009
initially set for the commencement of the trial be put back.


The Chamber announced that it would ensure an expeditious trial consonant with
the Rome Statute and the rules, and that the time the Prosecutor needs to
present his evidence is not unduly long. The Chamber underscored that several
recently raised issues must be adjudicated before the trial can begin:

• the changes required to the table submitted by the Prosecutor at the request
of the Chamber presenting all the evidence and the list of witnesses he intends
to call. The purpose of that document is is to provide a properly structured
presentation of prosecutorial evidence, particularly for the Defence;

• the need for the parties to reach agreement on evidentiary issues and for the
Chamber to rule on the Defence for Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui's request regarding the
admissibility and relevance of more than 290 pieces of evidence submitted by the
Prosecutor;

• the need for the Chamber to rule on the Defence for Germain Katanga's motion
of 30 June that his arrest and detention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
be declared unlawful and that the proceedings be stayed;

• the possible changes to the protective measures for witnesses called in this
case, in particular those also called in the Lubanga case who have been granted
protective measures by another Trial Chamber.

For these reasons, Trial Chamber II has decided to postpone the commencement of
the trial in the case of The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo
Chui and to convene a status conference on 30 September 2009 at 9:30 am (The
Hague local time).
To read the decision (in French), visit
http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/situations and cases/situations/situation%2
0icc 0104/related cases/icc 0104 0107/court records/chambers/trial c
hamber ii/01442?lan=fr-FR

II. RELATED NEWS COVERAGE

i."ICC postpones start of DRC militiamen's trial," AFP, 1 September 2009,
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jNyrD1JD3CGK5rOTw8HD8v3hDILg
"The trial of two Congolese militiamen charged with using child soldiers,
murder, rape and sexual slavery, was put off by two months on Monday to November
24 at the International Criminal Court.
`The chamber found that compelling reasons require that the date of 24 September
initially set for the commencement of the trial be put back,' the court said in
a statement.
This included time needed for redrafting a 1,165-page prosecution list of
evidence and witnesses, and for hearing a motion by one of the accused, Germain
Katanga, for his arrest to be declared unlawful and the trial to be stayed.
The court also has yet to rule on co-accused Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui's challenge
to more than 290 pieces of prosecution evidence, said the statement...."

ii. "Hague court delays trial of Congolese warlords," Reuters, 1 September 2009,
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-42134020090901
"The International Criminal Court has postponed the trial of two accused
Congolese warlords for two months, saying a variety of procedural and technical
matters necessitated the delay.
The ICC said in a statement late Monday night the trials of Germain Katanga and
Mathieu Ngudjolo will now start in The Hague on Nov. 24, instead of Sept. 24 as
planned.
The court had set the September date in late March.
...Prosecutors have said there is evidence that more than 200 children, women,
old people and civilian men were killed and women were sexually enslaved in
camps and repeatedly raped.
Among reasons for the delay to the trial, the ICC cited pending agreements on
issues related to evidence and a motion from Katanga to declare his arrest
unlawful."
See also these related news articles (in French):

a. "Cour pÈnale internationale : Germain Katanga et Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui
comparaÓtront le 24 novembre 2009,"CÈlestin Lutete (Digital Congo), 1 September
2009, http://www.digitalcongo.net/article/60702

b. ´ Affaire procureur de la CPI contre Germain Katanga et Ngudjolo :report du
dÈbat de fond ‡ Novembre, ª1 September 2009,
http://www.radiookapi.net/index.php?i=53&l=0&c=0&a=24508&da=&hi=0&of=6&s=&m=2&k=
0&r=all&sc=0&id_a=0&ar=0&br=qst

III. GENERAL NEWS REPORTS

i. "Bogoro Victims Finally Laid to Rest", Jacques Kahorha, 13 August 2009,"
http://allafrica.com/stories/200908130766.html

Villagers in Bogoro, in the north-eastern province of Ituri in the Democratic
Republic of Congo, DRC, have been told that they can finally bury the remains of
those who died in the 2003 massacre in the town, since they are unlikely to be
needed in upcoming war crimes trials.

`The court has no more investigations,' said Luis Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of
the International Criminal Court, ICC, during a visit to the region on July 10.

Bogoro suffered appalling atrocities in February 2003, when militiamen killed
and raped civilians, leaving some imprisoned in a room filled with corpses.

Villagers had presumed that the ICC would need the remains of the victims as
evidence in order to bring the perpetrators of the crimes to justice. But the
ICC says that it never instructed the villagers not to bury their dead.

Two rebel leaders – Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo – have so far been
charged in connection with the attacks and are due to go on trial before the ICC
in The Hague on September 24. Each faces six counts of war crimes and three
counts of crimes against humanity. Charges include murder, sexual slavery, the
use of child soldiers and inhumane acts.

…The ICC says Katanga is alleged to have led the FRPI, while Ngudjolo is said to
have once headed the FNI. Rival militia leader Thomas Lubanga, whose trial
before the ICC began on January 26, is the former head of the UPC.

…Using bones to provide forensic evidence in war crimes trial is not new. In
1999, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia dispatched a
team of forensic investigators to Kosovo to uncover mass graves and to determine
if there had been a pattern during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.

`Fractures on the bones can provide evidence about when the killing took place,
and the nature of the wounds inflicted,' said one forensic expert who preferred
to remain anonymous.

`If the fractures are all of the same type, and can be dated to the same time
period, this could point to widespread killing. If different groups of bones
contain different dates, this may suggest that massacres have occurred on a
number of occasions.'


ii. "The ICC, the Bemba Case, Omar Al-Bashir, Bosco Ntanganda….explained," by
Jean- Pierre Nkutu (Le Phare), 31 August 2009,
http://www.lepharerdc.com/www/index_view.php?storyID=10136&rubriqueID=9 (in
French)

"At an informational event organized jointly by Rodhecic and the ICC field
office in Kinshasa on 28 August 2009, participants were enlighted about the
realities facing the ICC. Paul Madidi, Field Public Information and Outreach
Coordinator for the ICC, brought clarity to recent developments with regard to
the Sudanese President, Germain Katanga, Matthieu Ngudjolo, Bosco Ntanganda and
the turn of events in the Jean-Pierre Bemba case...."

Translation is informal and provided by CICC Secretariat.

IV. BLOG ON DECISION ON VICTIM REPRESENTATION IN KATANGA/NGUDJOLO CASE

"ICC: A few remarks on the common legal representation of victims in the
Katanga/Ngudjolo case" by Geraldine Devries, In Situ: Blog of the Coalition for
the ICC, 11 August 2009, http://coalitionfortheicc.org/blog/?cat=20&langswitch_lang=en
"On 22 July 2009, Trial Chamber II defined the modalities of the common legal
representation of victims in the Katanga/Ngudjolo case. The Chamber has divided
victims into two groups: the first group includes all victims except for child
soldiers, and the second group includes the latter. Judges have decided that the
victims will be represented by one common legal representative (who will choose
an assistant) except for the child soldiers who will appoint a separate
counsel...."

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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 endeavour 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