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Congo-Kinshasa: Talks Open in Nairobi
The New Times (Kigali) 7 November 2008
Posted to the web 7 November 2008 Kennedy Ndahiro
Nairobi At least 12 Heads of State are expected today in the Kenyan Capital, Nairobi, for yet another round of talks to resolve the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The talks come in the wake of renewed fighting in the Northern Kivu province between government forces (FRDC) and rebels of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) led by General Laurent Nkunda. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting. President Paul Kagame Wednesday confirmed that he would attend the talks hosted by Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, who also holds the chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes region (ICGLR). The Presidents of DRC, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, South Africa, Congo-Brazzaville, Central African Republic (CAR), Angola and Sudan are also scheduled to take part in the talks. The UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon as well as the Jean Ping, Secretary General will also be in attendance. Both Ki Moon and Ping arrived in Nairobi Friday. This is the second time that the international community meets on the issue of insecurity in eastern DRC. The last meeting, held in November 2007, resulted in the Nairobi Communiqué in which the DRC, in conjunction with the UN, were supposed to disarm a Rwandan militia, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), who it is said is the main cause of insecurity in eastern DRC. The agreement, as well as several previous others were never implemented by the DRC government. The FDLR are remnants of the former Rwandan army ex-Far and Interahamwe militia who spearheaded the 1994 Genocide of Tutsis which claimed the lives of over one million people.
Congo-Kinshasa: Bemba in Hands of International Justice
Hirondelle News Agency (Lausanne)
7 July 2008
Posted to the web 9 July 2008
The Hague
Last week, Jean Pierre Bemba, leader of the opposition in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after being arrested six weeks ago by Belgian police within the framework of an international arrest warrant.
From Saint Gilles prison, in Brussels, the leader of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo was sent to the penitentiary of Scheveningen, in the suburbs of The Hague. He joined the former President of Liberia Charles Taylor, on trial at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), which is extraordinarily holding this trial in The Hague, and three officials from militias from eastern DRC, Thomas Lubanga, Germain Katanga, and Mathieu Ngudjolo.
The ICC wants to try him for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by his men in the Central African Republic at the end of 2002 and 2003. He sent his militia there to support the former President Ange Félix Patassé. The charges against him should be confirmed on 4 November. He will then be formally indicted.
One of his lawyers, Aimé Kilolo, interviewed by the Hirondelle Agency explained that "for the moment, it is fine; he is satisfied with the conditions which have been offered to him". His wife and his two children should be able to visit him soon.
During his first appearance before the judges of the preliminary chamber in The Hague, on 4 July, Jean-Pierre Bemba simply declined his identity, pointing out his status of senator from Congo. But before the International Criminal Court, elected officials do not have any form of immunity.
Already, during his arrest by Belgian police on 24 May, Jean-Pierre Bemba had claimed his status, without any success. His lawyers, Eduard van der Spoel, of the bar of Rotterdam, and Aimé Kilolo, of the bar of Brussels and Lumumbashi, announced their intention to ask for the release of their Congolese client and challenged the validity of his arrest.
For the first time, the prosecutor set up a "tracking team", a team charged with following the actions of the leader of the Congolese opposition. Following his defeat at the presidential elections, then at the battle which took place in Kinshasa, Jean-Pierre Bemba went to Portugal in April 2007, from where he had gone, inter alia, to Belgium and France.
A billionaire, Jean Pierre Bemba will have to form his defence team - constituted for the moment of two permanent lawyers - and to be made aware of the evidence collected by the office of the prosecutor during its investigation.
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