Germain Katanga
Germain Katanga | |
---|---|
crimes against humanity |
Germain Katanga (French pronunciation:
On 7 March 2014, Katanga was convicted by the ICC on five counts of
Early life and family
Katanga was born on 28 April 1978 in
Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri
In early 2003, he emerged as the senior commander of the
On December 11, 2004, Katanga was one of six former militia leaders appointed as
He was arrested by the Congolese authorities in early March 2005
International Criminal Court proceedings
On 2 July 2007, a Pre-Trial Chamber of the
On 17 October 2007, the Congolese authorities surrendered him to the ICC[3] and he was flown to the ICC's detention centre in The Hague. Katanga was the second person surrendered to the ICC since its establishment in 2002.[14]
In February 2008, another suspect, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, was surrendered to the ICC to face charges in relation to the Bogoro attack;[15] he and Katanga were to be tried jointly.[16] The hearing to confirm the charges against them began on 27 June 2008.[17] and ended on 11 July 2008. On 26 September 2008, Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed some of the charges against Katanga and Ngudjolo and committed them for trial before a Trial Chamber of the Court.
The trial began on 24 November 2009.[18]
ICC verdict
On March 7, 2014, by a 2-to-1 decision, the ICC convicted Germain Katanga on five counts of
The Bogoro massacre resulted in approximately 200 villagers being killed, and many women being raped and forced into sexual slavery. Katanga was originally charged as an "indirect co-perpetrator" for the crimes related to the Bogoro massacre but was only convicted of being an accessory to these crimes. This change in the charge was made by the Court during the trial. Judge
Katanga's co-accused, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, was acquitted of similar charges in December 2012 because of the lack of evidence for his role in the massacre.[19][22] Although Katanga and Chui were originally charged together, the ICC split their trials in November 2012 to allow the prosecutors to collect more evidence regarding Katanga's involvement.[23]
The Katanga trial verdict produced mixed reactions. Some human rights activists in the DRC expressed satisfaction with the verdict as bringing a measure of closure to the victims and their families, with one activist quoted as saying: "For those who lost their possessions, their mothers, their homes, this judgment provides some relief. Today people here see some satisfaction. In the end, everyone must answer for his actions."[5] A lawyer for the victims in the case stated: "In their heart, many victims want to believe that, somehow, this judgment will contribute to peace and reconciliation".[24] Some women's groups criticized the ICC for acquitting Katanga of rape and sexual slavery charges, claiming that the court appeared to demand higher level of proof for the sexual crimes than for other crimes.[25] Phil Clark, a London-based expert on the ICC, criticized the ICC prosecutors for not devoting sufficient resources to the case: "The ICC has been doing its investigations on the cheap. It's been using a really small group of investigators who haven’t spent an enormous amount of time in Congo. The prosecution has cut corners, they’ve used local Congolese intermediaries to do a lot of their dirty work. And as a result of that these cases haven’t been systematically built."[19]
The
On 23 May 2014, Katanga was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment. The time he spent in detention at the ICC – between 2007 and 2014 – was deducted from the sentence. On 19 December 2015, Katanga was transferred to a prison in the DRC, where he is scheduled to serve the balance of his sentence.[citation needed]
See also
References and notes
- ^ a b c d e f International Criminal Court (2 July 2007). "Warrant of arrest for Germain Katanga" (PDF 202 KB). Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ^ a b c d e International Criminal Court (19 October 2007). Statement by Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, during the press conference regarding the arrest of Germain Katanga Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 21 October 2007.
- ^ a b International Criminal Court (18 October 2007). Second arrest: Germain Katanga transferred into the custody of the ICC Archived 2007-06-23 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 21 October 2007.
- ^ Article Title
- ^ a b c d Germain Katanga: Guilty of war crimes, the brutal warlord who terrorized the Democratic Republic of Congo, The Independent, 07 March, 2014. Accessed 08 March, 2014
- ^ Irish Times, 08 March, 2014. Accessed 08 march, 2014
- ^ a b Human Rights Watch (14 January 2005). D.R. Congo: Army Should Not Appoint War Criminals. Retrieved on 21 October 2007.
- ^ Agence France-Presse (21 October 2007). Congolese warlord to appear before ICC Monday Archived 2011-05-20 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 21 October 2007.
- ^ "Germain Katanga & Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui at the International Criminal Court". International Justice Monitor. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
- ^ Public: Annex 5 (PDF) (Report). International Criminal Court. September 2, 2015.
- ^ a b Corder, Mike (22 October 2007). Congolese War Crimes Suspect at Hague. The Associated Press. Retrieved on 13 November 2007. Archived October 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Trial Watch (9 November 2007). Germain Katanga Archived 2008-09-07 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 13 November 2007.
- ^ Security Council Committee established pursuant to Resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo (7 November 2007). "List of individuals and entities subject to the measures imposed by paragraphs 13 and 15 of Security Council Resolution 1596 (2005)" (PDF). (52.3 KB). Retrieved on 23 November 2007.
- ^ Reuters (19 October 2007). ICC seeks arrests after surrender of Congo suspect. Retrieved on 21 October 2007.
- ^ International Criminal Court (7 February 2008). Third detainee for the International Criminal Court: Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui Archived June 23, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 9 February 2008.
- ^ International Criminal Court (10 March 2008). "Decision on the Joinder of the Cases against Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui" (PDF).[permanent dead link] (527 KB). Retrieved on 10 March 2008.
- ^ International Criminal Court (27 June 2008), ICC Cases an opportunity for communities in Ituri to come together and move forward Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on 17 July 2008,
- ^ "Germain Katanga | Coalition for the International Criminal Court". www.coalitionfortheicc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-29.
- ^ a b c d International Criminal Court Convicts Congolese Warlord, Voice of America, March 7, 2014. Accessed March 8, 2014
- ^ a b Germain Katanga guilty of murder and pillage in Congo massacre, The Guardian, 07 March, 2014. Accessed 08 March, 2014
- ISBN 978-1-009-20877-2
- ^ DR Congo warlord Germain Katanga found guilty at ICC, BBC News, 07 March, 2014. Accessed 08 March, 2014
- ^ ICC tribunal finds Katanga complicit in war crimes in Congo, Deutsche Welle, 07 March, 2014. Accessed 08 March, 2014
- ^ DRC: Katanga's ICC Conviction is One Small Step towards Justice Archived 2014-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, Think Africa Press, March 7, 2014. Accessed March 8, 2014
- New York Times, March 7, 2014. Accessed March 8, 2014
- ^ Secretary General welcomes International Criminal Court verdict convicting rebel leader for atrocities in Democratic Republic of Congo, United Nations, March 7, 2014.
- SSRN 2370700
Further reading
- Claverie, Élisabeth (2018). "Les combattants, les fétiches et le prétoire: Le procès de Germain Katanga devant la Cour pénale internationale". Cahiers d'études africaines (231–232): 699–735. .
External links
- The Prosecutor v Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui — public court records relating to the ICC trial