In Ituri, victims of atrocities committed in the context of the 2002-2003 violence, which claimed an estimated 50,000 lives, and the civil society organisations that represent them have been calling out for a full accounting for crimes committed, emphasizing their right to both understand the particular individual and institutional drivers of the conflict and for…
At the International Criminal Court, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui are charged with the particularly bloody joint attack on the village of Bogoro in February 2003. The facts of this attack are particularly disturbing: at least 200 civilians are estimated to have been killed, civilian women were raped and held as sexual slaves, and…
The October 8, 2010 decision by the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was awaited with apprehension by victims of international crimes in Ituri, politicians, and others. While the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) declared that they were eagerly awaiting Lubanga’s return, many victims feared the potential security consequences. The Ligue pour la…
Last week, Congolese President Joseph Kabila arrived in Ituri as part of a tour of the eastern part of the country, which has also touched the Kivus and Katanga. His visit promised a number of development projects for Ituri, but not everyone was impressed. To some, the visit was dismissed as so much campaigning ahead…
For watchers of the International Criminal Court (ICC), there has been a flurry of recent activity around the suspension of the proceedings against Thomas Lubanga. The Office of the Prosecutor is appealing and spectators are eagerly awaiting the decision from the appeals chamber. At the same time, there has been talk about the failure of…
So, last Sunday we had a football match in preparation of the Review Conference of the Rome Statute that is still ongoing here in Uganda. Dubbed as a stocktaking exercise of the last 12 years that the International Criminal Court has been in existence, the football match was bound to have some tickling moments. As…
Campaign calls on Security Council Members to Press Sudan to Cooperate (New York, The Hague, June 4, 2009) – United Nations Security Council members should convey strong support for the International Criminal Court’s efforts to bring justice to the victims of atrocities in Darfur, Justice for Darfur, a network of African, Arab and international human rights…
On February 6, 2008, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui became the third war crimes suspect to be transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. His arrest marks another milestone in ongoing efforts to address the impunity which facilitated the widespread commission of atrocities during the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Since 1998, the…