I.C.C. Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo argued this week that releasing former Democratic Republic of Congo Vice-President Jean Pierre Bemba before his trial at the Hague would be an “Error in Law“. In fact, Ocampo argued, the only significant change that had occurred since the last decision to keep Bemba in detention and now was the issuance of the decision confirming the charges against Bemba by the court which in any instance should increase his risk of flight. Bemba was granted interim release on August 14th by the I.C.C. but has yet to find a host country that will accept him
Jean Pierre Bemba is being tried for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity at the I.C.C. for alleged offenses occurring between 2002-2003 in the Central African Republic. At the time, Bemba was in exile from his native D.R. Congo and commanded a force of ‘Banyamulenge’, or Congolese ethnic Tutsis, in a fight against rebel forces in C.A.R. Bemba’s forces in C.A.R. are witnessed as to committing widespread rape and murder against the northern C.A.R. population.
According to Amnesty International:
“Girls as young as eight years old and women as old as 60 were raped, according to human rights and humanitarian organizations that dealt with rape victims in late 2002 and early 2003. Many were attacked in their homes, while fleeing the combat zones or at roadblocks. They were raped in front of their husbands, children or parents. Some women and children died as a result. Some relatives, including husbands, who attempted to prevent the attacks are reported to have been threatened. assaulted or killed. In some cases children were forced to have sex with their mothers, sisters or other female relatives.”
Bemba returned to the D.R.C. after he was unsuccessful defending his ally Bozize in C.A.R. against rebel forces. While back in D.R.C. his forces committed atrocities even while he became one of four Vice Presidents in a power-sharing government. The M.L.C., or “Mouvement de Libération du Congo”, of which Bemba was Commander in Chief, apart from the signature mass killings and using rape as a weapon, went a step further according to local accounts and allegedly committed acts of cannibalism and forced cannibalism in the Ituri forest in the D.R.C. Bemba has vehemently denied all charges against him despite mounting evidence.
One interesting point of law in the Bemba case will be the decision on Crimes Against Humanity. The I.C.C. ruled that there was sufficient evidence to try Bemba on this charge but that:
The Prosecutor must demonstrate that the attack was such that it cannot be characterised as having been directed against only a limited and randomly selected group of individuals.” However, the Prosecutor need not prove that the entire population of the geographical area, when the attack is taking place, was being targeted.
So if it was a limited group of individuals, OR a randomly selected group of individuals, it would not be sufficient to constitute Crimes Against Humanity. It is hard to imagine a scenario where a randomly selected group of individuals were targeted in a population and it not causing a level of fear and terror tantamount to that of targeting every individual member at once. It could be argued that indeed it would cause more fear and terror. Alas, Bemba’s defense is that his forces were going door to door outing suspected rebels. Fortunately this defense will only go as far as the first handful of accounts of innocent families raped and murdered in their own homes and courtyards.
Bemba’s trial is expected to commence in early to mid 2010.
