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ICC President Song Visit; Lubanga Trial Update;Ntaganda; Other Developments

14 Dec 2009

Dear all,

Please find below information about recent developments related to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

This message includes information on ICC President Judge Song's recent visit to the DRC, the Lubanga trial as well as news articles related to the refusal of the DRC to arrest Bosco Ntaganda (against whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant for war crimes in 2008)and other developments. Statements on various DRC-related topics by Coalition members ASADHO, FIDH, HRW, PGA and REDRESS are included.

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 PRESIDENT VISITS DRC

Note: This document 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.

i. "ICC Press release: First visit of ICC President to the Democratic Republic of the Congo", ICC, Press Release, 9 December 2009, http://www.icc-cpi.int/menus/icc/press and media/press releases/first visit of icc president to the democratic republic of the congo?lan=en-GB

�The President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Judge Sang-Hyun Song, will begin tomorrow, 10 December, 2009, a visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where he will be meeting with senior government representatives, members of the local civil society, and affected communities in Ituri, until 15 December, 2009. This first visit of the ICC President to the DRC will provide an opportunity to strengthen the country�s co-operation and to enhance local awareness in order to fulfil the Court�s mandate in the DRC.

In the country�s capital, Kinshasa, President Song will meet with the Congolese Minister of Foreign Affairs, with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in the DRC and with members of the diplomatic community.

President Song will address the members of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) during its conference on Justice and peace in the Great Lakes � region and Central Africa. The focus of the conference will be on the impact of justice in the Great Lakes and Central Africa, including the DRC and on security and post-conflict recovery, with particular attention on the protection of women and children. He will also participate in an outreach event of the Court with Congolese academic and judicial communities.

The President will then travel to Bunia, the capital of the Ituri District, in eastern Congo, where he will meet the members of communities affected by the crimes currently under investigation before the ICC and with local authorities, members of local tribunals, local human rights organisations, and journalists.

His journey will conclude in the town of Fataki, 85 km north of Bunia, one of the sites of conflict in 2003, for a town-hall style meeting with the general public, including local authorities, religious and traditional leaders, teachers, women�s groups representatives and local media.

The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was referred to the Court by the Government of the DRC on 3 March, 2004. The case of The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui is the second case in the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after that of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, whose trial commenced on 26 January, 2009, before Trial Chamber I. A fourth warrant of arrest was issued by Pre-Trial Chamber I on 22 August, 2006, against Bosco Ntaganda, who remains at large.�

ii. "Le juge Sang-Hyun Song, président de la CPI, en mission en RDC" ("Judge Sang-Hyun Song, President of the ICC, on mission to the DRC"), Radio Okapi, 10 December 2009, http://www.radiookapi.net/index.php?i=53&a=25788 (in French)

�During his visit to the DRC, the Judge of the ICC will meet with senior government representatives, with members of the local civil society, and with victims of the communities affected by the conflict in Ituri. His agenda includes working sessions with the Congolese Minister of Foreign affairs, with the Head of the UN Mission in the DRC and with members of the diplomatic community. After Kinshasa, the ICC President will travel to Bunia, Ituri, to meet with local authorities, with members of local tribunals, with local human rights organizations, with journalists as well as with the members of communities affected by the crimes currently under investigation before the ICC. [�]�

Translation is informal and provided by CICC Secretariat.

iii. "RDC : Le président de la CPI à Kinshasa" (�DRC : The President of the ICC in Kinshasa�), Afrikarabia (blog of the French weekly Courrier International), 10 December 2009 http://afrikarabia2.blogs.courrierinternational.com/archive/2009/12/10/rdc-le-president-de-la-cpi-a-kinshasa.html (In French)

"For the first time the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Sang-Huyn Song, is in Kinshasa where he will stay until 15 December. He will meet with senior government representatives, members of the local civil society, and victims of the communities affected by the conflict in Ituri. The objective of the visit as announced by the ICC: strengthen the country�s co-operation and enhancing local awareness in order to fulfill the Court�s mandate in the DRC....His journey will conclude in the town of Fataki, 85 km North of Bunia, one of the sites of conflict in 2003, for a town-hall style meeting with the general public, including local authorities, religious and traditional leaders, teachers, women�s groups representatives and local media. [�]�

Translation is informal and provided by CICC Secretariat.

II. LUBANGA TRIAL UPDATE

i. �Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga will not be prosecuted for sexual violence,� Mariana Goetz (REDRESS) 8 December 2009, http://www.iccnow.org/blog/?langswitch_lang=en

�The International Criminal Court (ICC) handed down an Appeal Judgment this afternoon that effectively excludes crimes of sexual slavery and inhuman treatment from the on-going trial of rebel leader Thomas Lubanga, from Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Thomas Lubanga is on trial in The Hague for recruiting and actively using children under 15 years as soldiers in his rebel group, the UPC, during the conflict in North Eastern DRC in 2002-3. However, it is widespread knowledge that girls were also recruited and used by rebel groups, including the UPC, as soldiers as well as sex slaves or �wives�. �They have the added burden of cooking, cleaning and sex service on top of soldiering,� clarified one witness during the on-going trial.
Girls as young as 11 were kidnapped brought to camps and allocated to commanders who systematically and brutally abused them. �Commanders would get them pregnant, and these girls had to leave the camp and go to the village� explained another witness. Girl victims have testified in closed sessions due to their extreme vulnerability.
Through the ICC�s innovative procedure, which has allowed 97 former child soldiers to be represented in the Court process, victims� lawyers filed an application trying to have sexual slavery and inhuman treatment recognized as part of the case. This would begin to break the silence about the use of girls by rebel groups and it would also allow girls to benefit from reparation that the ICC and its pioneering Trust Fund for Victims might award if there is a conviction. If this trial is about the active use of children in hostilities, it must recognize the experience of girls. It is a shame the Prosecutor failed to include sexual violence charges from the outset. Nonetheless, there should be a mechanism to modify the scope of the prosecution if facts come to light during the trial, as they have here.�

III. BOSCO NTAGANDA CASE: THE DRC REITERATES ITS REFUSAL TO ARREST HIM

i. �Le gouvernement refuse toutes les recommandations visant à lutter contre l�impunité au sein de ses forces armées� (�The government rejects recommendations calling on it to fight impunity within the army�), FIDH, 9 December 2009, http://www.fidh.org/Le-gouvernement-refuse-toutes-les-recommandations (in French)

�During its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the Human Rights Council, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) committed to fight against impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence and to repeal any provision that would be discriminatory for women. However, the DRC rejected every recommendation calling on the government to fight against impunity within the army and to cooperate with the ICC by transferring Bosco Ntaganda to The Hague....�

Translation is informal and provided by CICC Secretariat.

ii. �DR Congo rejects calls for more commitment in fighting impunity,� Times Live, 8 December 2009, http://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/article224084.ece

�The report, which was adopted by the 47-state member council, [and contains]11 recommendations �did not enjoy the support of the Democratic Republic of Congo.�

[One recommendation]include[s] a call by the United States for Kinshasa to �significantly increase its commitment to fight impunity,� by suspending and prosecuting soldiers found to have comitted serious human rights abuses.

DR Congo also refused to �arrest and transfer to The Hague Bosco Ntaganda,� a former rebel chief wanted by the International Criminal Court.

...International bodies have called for his arrest since he defected to join the government in January and was brought along with other rebels into the general ranks of the Congolese army, bringing some stability to the restive eastern Congo.

In October, the DR Congo government said it was not in favour of arresting Ntaganda as it could weaken the fragile state of peace in the country.�

iii. "Congo must uphold its ICC Treaty Obligations", Mobilisation pour la Justice et la Paix au Congo (MJPC), Statement, 10 December 2009, http://mjpcongo.org/December102009.aspx

�MJPC strongly condemns the Government of Congo for continuing to refuse to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to arrest and extradite Ntaganda accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to Makuba Sekombo, Director of Community Affairs of MJPC, �The Congolese Government must comply with ICC decision as it cannot continue to ignore its obligation to arrest Ntaganda wanted by the ICC. It is extremely painful and disturbing to victims if the Congolese government continues to shy away from its obligations.�

�It is disappointing to note that the Congolese government actions have so far failed to move beyond mere rhetoric in holding accountable those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This creates the impression that the Congolese government is engaged in protecting impunity rather than combating it or eradicating it� , he added.

MJPC urges the Government of Congo to uphold its commitment to the rule of law by undertaking its obligations under the Rome Statute seriously....�

iv. "U.N. Told Not to Join Congo Army in Operation," Jefrrey Gettleman (The New York Times), 9 December 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/world/africa/10congo.html?_r=2

�United Nations peacekeeping officials were explicitly warned months ago by their legal advisers not to participate in combat operations with the Congolese Army if there were a risk that Congolese soldiers might abuse human rights....

According to United Nations documents provided to The New York Times, the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs wrote to the head of the peacekeeping department in April and said that peacekeepers �cannot participate in any form of joint operation� with the Congolese Army, �if there are substantial grounds for believing there to be a real risk of them violating international humanitarian law.�

....A few months later, Congolese government soldiers, who had been supplied with ammunition and food by United Nations peacekeepers, killed hundreds of civilians, gang-raped girls and even cut the heads off some young men, according to human rights groups. Many United Nations officials seemed to fear this could happen and the documents from the legal affairs office reveal the level of internal debate �" and discomfort �" about working hand in hand with the Congolese Army, which over the years has been widely blamed for looting, raping and killing the very population it is responsible for protecting.

�We knew this was a risky operation,� said Alain Le Roy, under secretary general for peacekeeping operations, in an interview Wednesday. But, he added, �We have no other option�....

United Nations officials in New York are now debating what to do next. The mandate for the Congo peacekeeping mission, one of the world�s biggest with 19,000 soldiers, expires in a few weeks and the Security Council is expected to renew it, albeit with stricter conditions on army cooperation....

...The legal department also specifically warned peacekeeping officials not to participate in any combat maneuvers led by Jean Bosco Ntaganda, a Congolese commander wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes charges.

Mr. Bosco, a former rebel widely known as the Terminator, and thousands of other former rebels have recently been absorbed into the Congolese Army in a shaky power-sharing deal. Under it, longstanding Congolese commanders are nominally in charge, but the former rebels control their own territory and even impose their own taxes. One analyst described the situation as �an insurgency in army clothing.�

Though the Congolese government had assured the United Nations peacekeepers that Mr. Bosco was not part of the recent military operations, a United Nations panel of experts unearthed documents showing the Mr. Bosco was the deputy commander of the recent operations and thus the peacekeepers were working with a wanted fugitive.

Congo�s president, Joseph Kabila, has said that going after Mr. Bosco could provoke more bloodshed and that right now, for Congo, peace is more important than justice.�

IV. OTHER DEVELOPMENTSt

i. "International day of human rights: the Asadho calls the government to respect its commitments in the field", Radio Okapi, 10 December 2009, http://www.radiookapi.net/index.php?i=53&l=0&c=0&a=25789&da=&hi=0&of=6&s=&m=2&k=0&r=all&sc=0&id_a=0&ar=0&br=qst (in French)

�On 10 December, the UN celebrates the 61st Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In the DRC, the Asadho (African Association for Human Rights) makes the most of it to call the Congolese government to respect its commitments in relation to the promotion of citizens� fundamental rights and freedoms, says radiookapi.net.

Asadho draws a bleak picture of the human rights situation [in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]. According to the vice-president of the NGO, Georges Kapiamba, everything is wrong. He says that although the Constitution of the country is full of good ideas, the Declaration of human rights went unheeded in the DRC. He thus calls the government to show good will instead of just making speeches. The Asadho mentions several cases of human rights violation recorded this year in the DRC. [�]

Yet the Congolese minister of human rights, Mr. Upio Kakura, says the DRC is committed to promoting and defending human rights and fundamental freedoms: �We say and affirm it: there exists a policy against impunity. Just have a look at the number of judicial decisions issued both by military courts and civil justice and you will see that we are moving forward,� he said before underlining the fact that the DRC is a sovereign state [�]�

Translation is informal and provided by CICC Secretariat.

ii. "Global Parliamentary Network Calls for Full Support of the International Criminal Court and the Fight against Impunity in the Great Lakes and Central African regions", Parliamentarians for Global Actions, 10 December 2009, http://iccnow.org/documents/PGA_p.r_Great_Lakes_Central_Africa_10dec2009.pdf

�The quest for justice and reparation of victims of armed conflicts in the Central African region will be addressed today in Kinshasa, in the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), when Judge H.-J. Song, President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), will open the �International Parliamentary Conference on Justice and Peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes Region� organised by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA).

Members of Parliaments (MPs) from the Senate and Chamber of Deputies of the DRC, from the parliamentary assemblies of the Eastern Province (Ituri), the Kivus and Maniema, as well from Burundi, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Kenya and Uganda, will discuss with their colleagues from Switzerland and Belgium, and with experts from international and non-governmental organisations the main challenges to advance the fight against impunity and the protection of victims� rights as key-tools to ensure that durable peace is supported by the civilian populations, which have been directly affected by armed conflict and widespread atrocities.

The conference receives the strong support of the multi-partisan group of PGA in the DRC Congress, and it will be opened by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and closed by the President of the Senate. The DRC Government will be represented by the Minister of Justice, the Minister of the Interiors and Security and the Minister of Gender and Children, thus signaling a renewed political will of the DRC to fully cooperate with the Court and improve the means and methods to fight impunity at the domestic level.

Under the agenda-time �justice for peace�, key international players such as the European Union (EU) �" represented by the European Commission Delegation and the Special Representative for the Great Lakes region�s office �" and the United States �" represented by the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp �" will unite their voice at the conference, calling for the prompt execution of pending arrest warrants issued by the ICC and the reinforcement of National criminal justice systems.

While this event starts on International Human Rights Day, 10 December, it will continue until 12 December with a final session on the need for effective and comprehensive implementing legislation of the Rome Statute of the ICC at the National level in all countries of the region, starting with the DRC and Uganda, where draft legislation is under consideration in the relevant parliamentary Committees. Several obstacles must be overcome to ensure that this draft legislation will be in full compliance with the Rome Statute requirements and, at the same time, their adoption will occur within the shortest possible time-frame.

Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) will continue to work with its Members in the region and the rest of the world to give effect to the conclusions of this conference on justice and peace, in line with the objective of PGA to contribute to the universality and effectiveness of the Rome Statute system, which is aimed at fighting impunity, preventing the repetition of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression, as well as promoting the full respect of the human rights of victims and other individuals who are at risk of victimization.�

iii. �UN: Act to End Atrocities in Eastern Congo : Security Council Should Urgently Deploy a Civilian Protection Expert Group,�HRW, 13 December 2009, http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/12/un-act-end-atrocities-eastern-congo

�The United Nations Security Council should urgently act to protect civilians in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo from further atrocities by government and rebel forces and ensure peacekeepers are not implicated in abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report published today.

The 183-page report, ��You Will Be Punished': Attacks on Civilians in Eastern Congo,� documents in detail the deliberate killing of more than 1,400 civilians between January and September 2009 during two successive Congolese army operations against a Rwandan Hutu militia, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

The report is based on 23 Human Rights Watch fact-finding missions this year and interviews with over 600 victims, witnesses, and family members.

[To view the full-text report, visit http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/MYAI-7YQ4T7/$File/full_report.pdf ]

�Continued killing and rape by all sides in eastern Congo shows that the UN Security Council needs a new approach to protect civilians,� said Anneke Van Woudenberg, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. �The Security Council should send a group of experts to Congo to kick-start a serious civilian protection plan.�

Human Rights Watch recommended the immediate creation and deployment of a civilian protection expert group that would put forward specific measures to improve strategies to protect civilians in eastern Congo. Alan Doss, special representative of the secretary-general in Congo, will address the Security Council on December 16. The Security Council is scheduled to vote on a renewal of the mandate of MONUC, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, on December 21.��

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