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War crimes hearing at the ICC
Source: Agencies |
January 13, 2009, Tuesday
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WAR crimes prosecutors accused former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba yesterday of using systematic rape to terrorize civilians during a bloody power struggle in neighboring Central African Republic.
Defense attorneys argued Bemba's troops were not under his command once they crossed the border, and that the prosecution failed to show that Bemba ordered his men to commit atrocities during the upheavals of 2002-03.
The two sides outlined their arguments at a pretrial hearing at the International Criminal Court meant to assess whether there is enough evidence to put Bemba on trial.
Deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda previewed testimony from one man who said he was sodomized in front of his family, then was forced to watch while his wife and children were abused.
"Bemba wanted to traumatize and terrorize the civilian population so they would not support the rebels," Bensouda said. "He chose rape as his method."
Bemba, founder of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, is accused of eight counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture and murder, during a five-month conflict that began in October 2002.
The charges stem from the 2002 request to Bemba by the then-president of Central African Republic, Ange-Felix Patasse, to help put down a coup led by his former army chief of staff Francois Bozize. The coup succeeded and Bozize, now president, asked the International Criminal Court in 2004 to investigate the actions of Bemba's militia.
Defense attorneys argued Bemba's troops were not under his command once they crossed the border, and that the prosecution failed to show that Bemba ordered his men to commit atrocities during the upheavals of 2002-03.
The two sides outlined their arguments at a pretrial hearing at the International Criminal Court meant to assess whether there is enough evidence to put Bemba on trial.
Deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda previewed testimony from one man who said he was sodomized in front of his family, then was forced to watch while his wife and children were abused.
"Bemba wanted to traumatize and terrorize the civilian population so they would not support the rebels," Bensouda said. "He chose rape as his method."
Bemba, founder of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, is accused of eight counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture and murder, during a five-month conflict that began in October 2002.
The charges stem from the 2002 request to Bemba by the then-president of Central African Republic, Ange-Felix Patasse, to help put down a coup led by his former army chief of staff Francois Bozize. The coup succeeded and Bozize, now president, asked the International Criminal Court in 2004 to investigate the actions of Bemba's militia.
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