The trial of former Congolese rebel leader Roger Lumbala over atrocities committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo's bloody eastern conflict more than two decades ago opened in Paris Wednesday
Roger Lumbala Tshitenga, 67, is accused of complicity in crimes against humanity for his role during the 1998-2003 Second Congo War, which saw more than a half-dozen African nations drawn into the globe's deadliest conflict since World War II.
He was arrested in France, where he owned a flat, under the principle of universal jurisdiction in December 2020 and has been held in a Paris prison since. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Human rights groups have hailed his trial as an opportunity to deter further abuses in the eastern DRC, where a Rwanda-backed militia's 2025 advance has fanned the flames of the fighting plaguing the mineral-rich region for more than three decades.
“Survivors of these crimes have waited for over two decades for justice. This historic trial is an opportunity to send a clear signal that those suspected of criminal responsibility of mass atrocities in the DRC are mistaken if they believe they can hide in other countries away from scrutiny,” according to Vongai Chikwanda, of Amnesty International.
Impunity
Investigating magistrates describe Lumbala as a warlord who let fighters from his Uganda-backed rebel movement, the Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists (RCD-N), pillage, execute, rape and mutilate with impunity.
UN investigators also accuse his paramilitaries of targeting ethnic pygmies.
Lumbala, who later ran for president in 2006 and served as a minister before being sacked for corruption, insists he was merely a politician with no soldiers or volunteers under his control. He is almost certain to contest the competence of the French justice system to try him.
Dozens of victims are expected to testify in the more than a month's worth of hearings before the judge is set to hand down their verdict on December 19. But there are doubts over whether all will be able to make the trip to the French capital.
The NGOs TRIAL International, the Clooney Foundation for Justice, the Minority Rights Group, Justice Plus and PAP-RDC, which supports pygmy peoples, hailed the proceedings as "a crucial opportunity to deliver justice for survivors".
(with newswires)
