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legedly-led-drop-crimes
Bemba’s CAR Visit Allegedly Led to Drop in Crimes
ICC trial hears how abuses by Congolese troops diminished after the accused spok
e to them.
By Wairagala Wakabi - International Justice - ICC
ACR Issue 287,
31 Jan 11
Two prosecution witnesses this week testified that the number of atrocities carr
ied out by troops in the Central African Republic, CAR, decreased after a visit
by former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba.
Bemba is on trial at the International Criminal Court, ICC, over his alleged fai
lure to control his troops which prosecutors say carried out massive rape, killi
ngs and plunder during 2002 and 2003. He has denied all five charges against him
.
The two witnesses who testified this week both spoke of how Bemba visited Bangui
, the capital of CAR, in November 2002 and addressed both his soldiers and local
residents. They stated that residents informed Bemba of alleged atrocities by h
is Movement for the Liberation of Congo, MLC, troops.
The MLC troops were in CAR at the invitation of the country’s then president Ange-
Félix Patassé, who sought their assistance to put down an attempted coup. At the tim
e, the MLC was a rebel group fighting the Congolese government.
Both witnesses also recounted how, before Bemba’s visit, they were raped by soldie
rs who they said belonged to the MLC, the group which the accused founded and co
mmanded.
Witness 23 said he was sodomised by three soldiers in front of his wives and chi
ldren. The soldiers then raped his wives and children, he said. For her part, Wi
tness 81 stated that she was raped by four soldiers one week after she gave birt
h.
Witness 81 recalled that Bemba addressed a rally at a school in a suburb of Bang
ui. She said Bemba had told the people to defend themselves if they were attacke
d by MLC soldiers.
“After Bemba’s visit, did the abuse and crimes committed by the Banyamulenge [Congol
ese soldiers] stop?” asked Marie-Edith Douzima-Lawson, one of the legal representa
tives of victims participating in the trial.
The witness replied, “It stopped.”
When Douzima-Lawson asked if the crimes had stopped completely, Witness 81 answe
red, “In our neighbourhood, it stopped. Because the people, when they tried to do
anything, the people would come out with machetes and other weapons so they no l
onger bothered them.”
Earlier, Witness 23 had stated that crimes committed by MLC soldiers against CAR
civilians also diminished after Bemba’s visit.
He said Bemba flew by helicopter to a school yard, then used a CAR presidential
car to travel to the military headquarters of his troops. The witness added that
Bemba then addressed his soldiers at a maternity clinic.
The witness said that at the gathering, which was also attended by the local civ
ilian population, Bemba - who was dressed in military fatigues – spoke to his troo
ps in the Congolese language Lingala. He then addressed the local population in
French, the witness added.
“Do you know what Bemba told his troops?” prosecution lawyer Thomas Bifwoli asked.
“No, I don’t understand Lingala. If he spoke to them in French, I could have underst
ood [something],” the witness answered.
“But I do know that after speaking to his troops, the abuse and violence diminishe
d. I can tell you that, but as for the contents of his speech, I have nothing to
tell you.”
According to this witness, offences committed by the Congolese soldiers did not
completely cease after the MLC leader’s visit. He said the crimes that continued t
o be committed included snatching valuables from civilians who ventured outside
their houses in the evenings, as well as some other incidences of violence and a
buse.
Witness 23 also explained how people in his neighbourhood selected a representat
ive to present their complaints to Bemba.
“On that day, we selected a person to act as a delegate and he was from the same n
eighbourhood. He was to represent us and went to the meeting to mention our comp
laints to him… We selected this person to speak about cases of theft, of rape, abo
ut the killings that had taken place, the numerous acts of abuse that had taken
place, beatings too.”
Asked if Bemba said anything after the neighbourhood delegate presented the comp
laints, the witness replied, “He said that he would take care of the matter. He wa
s going to assemble his men and speak to them to resolve the situation. That is
what he told us to reassure us.”
Giving testimony the following day, the witness described how a commander in Bem
ba’s militia said that Patassé ordered soldiers to kill young boys. He said the kill
ings were to be carried out in areas where Patassé believed the population support
ed General Francois Bozizé, who was attempting to overthrow his government. It was
Patassé who invited Bemba’s MLC troops into the country to help him beat back the c
oup attempt.
The witness said an MLC corporal, who was one of the commanders of the militia,
was the one who talked of Patassé’s alleged order to kill young boys.
“He said that the president had given the order to come to kill the boys of two ye
ars and up because it was there that the rebels were installed and from there, t
hey were carrying out incursions,” he said, adding that the MLC corporal went on t
o say that, because they had not found rebels in the area, troops became angry a
nd started committing atrocities against civilians.
Bozizé is the current president of the CAR, having deposed Patassé in 2003.
Defence lawyer Nkwebe Liriss then claimed that at the time Bemba’s troops entered
CAR, there were several groups fighting on Patassé’s side. He said among these were
the presidential guard, the regular army, and the United Presidential Security,
USP. There were also Libyans who fought on Patassé’s side, he said.
Liriss added that a Patassé aide, Abdoulaye Miskine, ran another militia group out
side the army, while the Movement for the Liberation of the Central African Peop
le, MLPC - the political party led by Patassé - also included a number of men who
were not part of the regular army. The defence argues that any of these groups c
ould have committed the crimes attributed to Bemba’s soldiers.
Witness 23 had told the trial, presided over by Judge Sylvia Steiner, that the M
LC fighters arrived in the Bangui suburb of PK12 on November 7, 2002, just after
Bozizé’s troops had withdrawn from the area.
However, Liriss countered that a military source who was personally involved in
the conflict had told him that the MLC could not have captured the neighbourhood
of PK12 on November 13, less than two weeks after their entry into the country.
The trial continues this week when the prosecution calls its eighth witness.
Wairagala Wakabi is an IWPR reporter.