The International Criminal Court has sentenced former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba to 18 years in prison for leading a campaign of rape and murder in neighboring Central African Republic.
ICC judge Sylvia Steiner of Brazil said Bemba failed to exercise control over his private army which, in 2002 and 2003, carried out "sadistic" rapes, murders and pillaging of "particular cruelty."
In March, Bemba became the first person to be convicted by the court of war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was the first time the ICC issued a conviction for rape as a war crime and a crime against humanity. Other international courts, such as the United Nations tribunals in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, have done so.
Bemba was also the first to be held directly responsible for his subordinates' crimes.
Bemba's Movement for the Liberation of Congo, or MLC, entered CAR to assist forces of then-CAR president Ange-Felix Patasse to fight a rebel movement.
Judge Steiner, who also read the verdict in March, said evidence clearly showed that MLC fighters deliberately targeted civilians across CAR and that victims included women, children and the elderly.
via Voice of America http://ift.tt/28MwR7w
No comments:
Post a Comment