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| Africa Subsaharan |
| Jean-Pierre Bemba Convicted at ICC of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity |
| 2016-03-22 |
| [NBCNEWS] A high-ranking Congolese politician was convicted unanimously Monday of war crimes and crimes against humanity in a landmark case at the Hague. The charges against Jean-Pierre Bemba — a former rebel leader and vice president in the Democratic Republic of Congo — related to rapes, murders and pillaging allegedly carried out by his fighters. Bemba was the highest-ranking official yet to be convicted by the court and showed no emotion as the unanimous verdict against him was read out Monday at the Hague. His marathon trial — which began in November 2010 — was the ICC's first to focus on crimes committed in Central African Republic (CAR) and the first to recognize rape as as war crime. Bemba faced three war-crimes charges and two counts of crimes against humanity — for allegedly commanding the MLC militia which raped, murdered and pillaged between 2002 and 2003 in neighboring CAR's civil war. The trial focused on the question of "command responsibility" — i.e. whether Bemba should be held legally liable for alleged crimes committed by fighters under his control. It also was the first case to focus so heavily on rape as a war crime, according to the Open Society Foundations. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 ...Big deal. He will live out his life in surprising comfort. You want to deter war crimes? Take 'em out back to the Portable Adobe Wall(TM) within ten minutes of sentencing. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2016-03-22 18:26 |
| #1 "Forget it, Jake, it's |
| Posted by: Frank G 2016-03-22 10:56 |