The International Criminal Court investigation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the Second Congo War and its aftermath, including the Ituri and Kivu conflicts. The war started in 1998 and despite a peace agreement between combatants in 2003, conflict continued in the eastern parts of the country for several years. In April 2004 the government of the DRC formally referred the situation in the Congo to the International Criminal Court, and in June 2004, prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, formally opened an investigation. To date, arrest warrants have been issued for: Thomas Lubanga Dyilo Germain Katanga Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui Bosco Ntaganda Callixte Mbarushimana Sylvestre Mudacumura.
Lubanga was imprisoned. Katanga was convicted, Chui was acquitted, and the pre-trial chamber declined to confirm the charges against Mbarushimana, currently a fugitive. Ntaganda turned himself in to the US Embassy in Kigali on 18 March 2013, requesting to be extradited to the ICC. Sylvestre Mudacumura is a suspect, still at large.
Historical background
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was a colony of Belgium between 1885 and 1960. Shortly after independence from Belgium, Mobutu Sese Seko seized power in a military coup d'état and installed himself as president. Under Mobutu's authoritarian rule, the country was known as Zaire. By 1996, conflict from the Rwandan genocide spilled over into Zaire and Hutu militias, including the Interahamwe, were using refugee camps in the Kivu region to attack Rwanda. Rwandan and Ugandan armed forces invaded Zaire to fight Hutu militias, and ultimately overthrew Mobutu, in what was to become the First Congo War. Rwandan and Ugandan forces were joined by Congolese politicians and militia leaders opposed to Mobutu's rule and these groups joined forces to become the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDL), led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila. In 1997, Mobutu fled Zaire and Kabila named himself president and changed the name of the country back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Following his victory, tensions soon rose between Kabila and the various factions of the AFDL who came to oppose his rule. Rwandan forces retreated to Goma on the Rwandan border and formed the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RDC) and in response Ugandan forces instigated the formation of Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC) under the command of Jean-Pierre Bemba. These two groups started the Second Congo War by attacking the army of Kabila's government. Kabila was assassinated by his bodyguard in 2001 and succeeded as president by his son, Joseph, who eventually negotiated peace talks to end the war. Although one of the tenets of the peace accords was that rebel forces would join the Congolese army, violence has continued to the present day, especially in the Kivu and Ituri regions.
Referral
In July 2003, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announced that he had received communications from individuals and non-governmental organisations regarding the situation in the Congo and that his office would closely follow developments there. In September of that year, Moreno Ocampo informed the Assembly of States Parties (the governing body of the ICC) that he was prepared to apply for authorisation to begin a formal investigation but that he believed a referral from the Congolese government would expedite the investigation. In April 2004 Joseph Kabila formally referred the situation in the DRC to the ICC prosecutor and Moreno Ocampo formally opened the investigation that June. The DRC investigation was the first formal investigation conducted by the International Criminal Court.
Charges
The ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute individuals who are accused of committing crimes defined under the Rome Statute (the treaty that established the Court) as either war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. The prosecutor charged six people with crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, Bosco Ntaganda, Callixte Mbarushimana, and Sylvestre Mudacumura.