Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda remains at large. He should also face arrest.
© 2009 Reuters
President Suggests He’s Willing to Apprehend General Wanted for War Crimes
(Goma) –President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo should immediately order the arrest of Gen. Bosco Ntaganda [4] and promptly transfer him to The Hague for a fair trial, Human Rights Watch said today. Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes. Human Rights Watch released a video [5] with witness accounts of Ntaganda’s alleged crimes.
In a public statement in eastern Congo [6] on April 11, 2012, Kabila indicated he was considering Ntaganda’s arrest. Kabila’s emergency visit to the region followed renewed insecurity in North and South Kivu after army soldiers loyal to Ntaganda attempted to mutiny. The statement signified an important change in the Congolese government’s policy toward Ntaganda, who was previously touted as needed for the country’s peace process.
“President Kabila has put Ntaganda’s arrest firmly on the agenda, which is a major step forward for justice in Congo,” said Anneke Van Woudenberg [7], senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Kabila’s words should promptly result in a lawfully conducted arrest that will ensure Ntaganda goes straight to The Hague and civilians aren’t harmed.”
The ICC [8] issued a sealed arrest warrant for Ntaganda in 2006 on charges of war crimes for recruiting and using child soldiers in active combat in 2002-2003 in the northeastern district of Ituri. At the time he was chief of military operations for the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), a Congolese militia group. The arrest warrant was unsealed in April 2008.
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