At last, the ICC nets its first prey

Thomas Lubanga - back then as the rebel commander (Global Post 

Mobhare Matinyi, Washington DC. The Citizen, Thursday, 15 March 2012 21:22This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Finally, after ten years of existence and much criticism from African leaders against its modus operandi and perceived bias, the International Criminal Court (ICC) got its first prey in the net, an African from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Monsieur Le Commandant Thomas Lubanga, 51.

On Wednesday morning, the ICC convicted Lubanga on counts of war crimes, including the use of children as soldiers, bodyguards and sex slaves. He is the first ever suspect to be convicted by The Hague-based ICC, considered the most-complained-about international court.

This much-awaited news comes merely two weeks after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese Defence Minister, Abdul Raheem Mohammed Hussein, as part of an investigation into war crimes allegedly committed in the Darfur region. Khartoum is not expected to honour the warrant.

Lubanga was the commander-in-chief of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), between 1999 and 2003, when armed conflicts shook the northeastern part of the DRC. Lubanga’s UPC was a rebel military wing of the Patriotic Force for the Liberation of the Congo (FPLC).

The internationally renowned Human Rights Watch (HRW) estimates that at least 60,000 people were killed during the conflict between Lubanga’s ethnic Hema people and the Lendu people in the gold-rich Ituri area of the DRC. The UPC under Lubanga is alleged to have committed evils such as torture, rape, mutilation, murder and even massacres.

Sir Adrian Fulford, a Brit who was the presiding judge, said in a statement: "The chamber reached its decision unanimously that the prosecution has proved Thomas Lubanga guilty of crimes of conscription and enlisting children under the age of 15 and used them to participate in hostilities."

After spending seven years in a relatively luxurious cell, Lubanga is now faced with life imprisonment but reserves his right to appeal the sentence. Luckily for him though, a death penalty is not on the table. Any guess about his defence? Yes, he was only a political leader, not a bloody commander.

Undoubtedly, this is a landmark verdict that deserves applause but without forgetting that several of the Congolese and Rwandan rebels who committed unthinkable atrocities against the Congolese are either roaming around or hiding somewhere on this planet. The question of a “just” justice may arise soon.

In fact, going by what an Al Jazeera correspondent, Haru Mutasa, said on Wednesday, Lubanga still enjoys support in some parts of the DRC where the ICC is held with contempt - as is the case in many parts of Africa. Consequently, his verdict could unleash fresh fighting in the DRC resulting in more atrocities. Hopefully, things won’t go this far.

Surprisingly, Lubanga’s alleged deputy commander, Bosco Ntaganda “the Terminator”, a Tutsi who fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in the 1990s, is still evading justice almost six years after the ICC issued his arrest warrant. Worse still, according to the HRW, Ntaganda, is currently serving as a Congolese army general in Goma, living in a house that is only 100 yards from the Rwandan border. How? That’s the million dollar question.

Actually, of numerous rebels who fought in the Eastern Congo, only two are undergoing prosecutions at the ICC, that is, the commander of the Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI), Germain Katanga “Simba,” who surrendered himself to the ICC in 2007 and his collaborator, Mathieu Ngudjolo “Chui,” who led the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) before his arrest in the DRC in 2008. No more!

Interestingly, there is another Congolese who is facing the fire at the ICC, Jean-Pierre Bemba, allegedly the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC). The man, who strongly challenged President Joseph Kabila in the Congolese presidential election in 2006, was arrested in Belgium in 2008 for purportedly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Central African Republic.

One lucky rebel is a Hutu Callixte Mbarushimana, an alleged executive secretary of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda – Abacunguzi Combatant Forces (FDLR-FCA), who was arrested in France but later set free by the ICC. He faced serious charges supposedly committed in the DRC but on December 16, 2011, the ICC declined to confirm the charges against him, thus, releasing the Rwandan.   

But on Lubanga’s verdict, one question remains: Will it water down the negative perception of Africans on the ICC or make it worse? Remember though, the ICC is still hunting down a number of Ugandan rebels and Sudanese leaders while prosecuting Kenyan citizens as well as waiting to commence a trial for the former Ivorian president, Laurent Gbagbo, in June 2012.

Frankly, following the ICC demonstration of its effectiveness, the world ought to watch with trepidation as African leaders could be tempted to use the ICC to get rid of their opponents even on false allegations! Yes, watch out, this is Africa!