Congolese 'Terminator' gives evidence at his war crimes trial
Wednesday June 14 2017
Congolese former rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda. FILE PHOTO | AFP
Congolese ex-rebel commander Bosco Ntaganda will give evidence Wednesday as his trial resumes at the International Criminal Court.
The man once dubbed "The Terminator" will take the stand almost two years after the court case began.
He is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo.
The prosecution says that between 2002 and 2003, his rebel forces rampaged through the country's s gold-rich Ituri Province, murdering and raping civilians.
"Mr Ntaganda will describe everything he did in the conflict. Step-by-step and day-by-day and give a full description," his lawyer Stephane Bourgon said.
"What Mr Ntaganda wishes to establish by testifying is to explain exactly who he is and to ensure that people perceive him as a human being. He wants to speak personally with the judges," Bourgon said on Monday.
In 2015, he pleaded not guilty to 13 charges of war crimes - including the conscription of child soldiers under the age of 15 - and five counts of crimes against humanity.
Fighting in Ituri has left some 60,000 dead since 1999 according to rights groups, in a conflict exacerbated by the wealth of regional resources including gold and other minerals used in electronic products.
Ntaganda has been charged with ordering hundreds of deaths through savage ethnic attacks by the FPLC, which was then the armed wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots.
Harrowing witness testimony
During the prosecution's case, which took 64 days to complete, a witness told the tribunal in The Hague of seeing "tied-up bodies" left in their underwear, "their heads crushed."
Ntaganda "was one of the most important commanders" involved in the savage ethnic attacks carried out by the FPLC, ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said at the opening of the trial in September 2015.
The eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been mired for two decades in ethnically-charged wars, as rebels battle for control of mineral resources.
The unrest spiralled to encompass armies from at least six African nations, claiming an estimated three million lives in one of the world's most deadly recent conflicts.
At the start of his trial Ntaganda, known for his trademark pencil moustache, and his penchant for cowboy hats and fine dining, told the judges he rejected being called "The Terminator".
READ: Congo rebel says he was a soldier, not 'Terminator’
His defence team plans to call 109 witnesses and 4 experts. This is one of the reasons the trial is expected to go on for several months.
If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.
The ICC issued two arrest warrants against Ntaganda who evaded capture until unexpectedly walking into the US embassy in Kigali in 2013 and turning himself in.
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-Reporting by BBC and AFP