Prosecutors Set Out Case Against Bemba

Prosecution lawyers this week presented International Criminal Court, ICC, judges with evidence that they say proves Jean-Pierre Bemba, former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, instructed his troops to rape, torture and murder civilians in Central African Republic, CAR.



Prosecutors say former CAR president Ange-Felix Patasse asked Bemba’s Mouvement de Libération du Congo, MLC, troops to deploy in neighbouring CAR to quell an uprising by then rebel leader, now president, Francois Bozize – and that between 2002 and 2003, Patasse and Bemba jointly perpetrated acts of violence against civilians to scare them off supporting Bozize’s rebels.



During the four-day hearing in The Hague, attended by crowds of Bemba supporters as well as his family, defence lawyer Karim Khan said that when Bemba answered Patasse’s call for assistance and deployed MLC troops in CAR, they automatically came under Patasse’s command.



“These troops were not acting at the direction of Bemba, but under the direction of another sovereign state,” said Khan, adding that Patasse provided food, uniforms, logistical support and instruction to the MLC.



Distancing the MLC leader from the alleged actions of his soldiers in the CAR, the defence stressed that the MLC was one of a handful of foreign groups brought in to support Patasse’s presidency, and that Bemba only went to visit his troops in CAR on a couple of occasions.



Pre-trial judges now have 60 days to assess whether there is enough credible evidence against Bemba to proceed to a full trial.



Prosecutors insist that Bemba and Patasse entered into a common plan - Bemba would help Patasse fight off Bozize, and Bemba would be able to shore up the strategically important border area between the CAR and DRC.



Prosecutors said far from being subordinate to Patasse, Bemba took decisions about the movement and actions of his troops, and that his field commanders reported to him and gained instruction on a daily basis.



Rape was used as a weapon to punish civilians for their perceived support of rebels, according to prosecutors.



They read the testimony of a community leader who is said to have been forced to lie on the ground and was sodomised for four hours by a gang of MLC soldiers in front of his wife and children. He is then said to have been made to watch his wife and daughters being raped, which prosecutors say constitutes torture.



“Evidence indicates that all the incidents of torture were perpetrated against CAR civilians, and are associated with an armed conflict. All victims were civilians, taking no part in hostilities. Bemba is criminally responsible. The… perpetrators carried out the crimes to further the plan between himself and Patasse,” said the prosecutors.



They added MLC soldiers humiliated civilians through gang rape, often in public, after slashing their clothes away with knives.



Prosecutors said civilians were raped by teams of MLC soldiers; in one case, a soldier held a woman down by standing on her arms, while she was forced to perform oral sex at the same time. They said all witnesses said there were guns nearby, or pointed at them, during the rape.



“Some family members were raped at the same time. One husband spoke out against a rape of his wife, and the soldiers said to shut up or they would rape him because he was also a woman,” said prosecutors.



They also outlined alleged rapes of severe brutality – in one case a breastfeeding baby is said to have been thrown to the ground and its mother raped until she lost consciousness.



Prosecutors say that after attacking civilians, MLC soldiers looted, demanded money, and threatened to kill civilians if they disobeyed.



Marie Edith Douzima-Lawson, a CAR lawyer representing victims, told the court that victims suffered barbarous acts of violence, such as having the barrels of guns placed inside their vaginas, and that they live with their trauma day and night.



“War crimes and crimes against humanity took place. Bemba never prohibited the commission of these crimes. Victims ask these charges to be confirmed – justice is essential to peace,” she said.



Another of Bemba’s defence lawyers, Aime Kilolo-Musamba, argued that the MLC had a code of military conduct and that soldiers were trained to respect human rights. He also said that the MLC received food allowances from Patasse so did not need to resort to pillaging, as the prosecutor suggested.



Prospert Yaka Maide, a journalist for Agence Centrafrique Presse in Bangui, told IWPR that people in CAR knew little of what was going on in The Hague.



“The press only devoted a few lines in their editions [and] the national radio only talked about it in flashes. The ICC bureau in Bangui transmitted the hearings via satellite but the quality is not very good. Only a few journalists, leaders of the civil society or victims are following the hearings,” said the journalist.



“Most victims live in provinces where communication means are scarce. There is only the national radio to inform them, thus they do not hear anything about the trial in The Hague.



“However, the general opinion is that there are a few people who should be in the Hague to shed light on the truth: Patasse, Jean-Jacques Demafouth (previously minister of defence), and also the actual president Francois Bozize. ”



Bemba is the only person indicted by the ICC for crimes in CAR, although prosecutors stress that their investigations are ongoing. Human rights groups expect more indictments will follow.



Katy Glassborow is an IWPR international justice reporter in The Hague. Melanie Gouby and CAR journalist Prospert Yaka Maide contributed to this report.