Prosecutor Vs Katanga

Prosecutor v.
Katanga; the issue on military necessity
Accused
Germain Katanga is a former leader of the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI), an armed group in
the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) before the Congolese authorities
surrendered him to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to stand trial on six counts of war crimes and
three counts of crimes against humanity. International Criminal Court (2 July 2007). "Warrant of arrest
for Germain Katanga" (PDF 202 KB). Retrieved 10 March 2014.
Background
Bogoro is a village in Ituri Province, in the north-east of the DRC. Between 1999 and 2003, Ituri was the
scene of a violent conflict between the Lendu, Ngiti and Hema ethnic groups. The Hema-dominated Union
of Congolese Patriots (UPC) seized control of Bunia, the district capital, in August 2002. International
Criminal Court (7 February 2008). International Criminal Court (7 February 2008). "Combined Factsheet:
Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui" (PDF)
Bogoro was a strategically important town on the road between Bunia and the border with Uganda,with
a UPC military camp in the middle of the town. The attack aimed to drive the UPC from Bogoro, but it also
appeared to be a "reprisal operation against the Hema civilian population". It was part of a plan by Lendu
and Ngiti rebels to attack predominantly Hema villages in preparation for an assault on Bunia. United
Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2004). Special report on the events
in Ituri, January 2002-December 2003, pp. 22-23. S/2004/573.
Attack on Bogoro
The assault on Bogoro, which occurred on February 24, 2003, was an attack on the village of Bogoro in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) and the Front
for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri (FRPI). The attackers allegedly went on an "indiscriminate killing spree",
killing at least 200 civilians, imprisoning survivors in a room filled with corpses, and sexually enslaving
women and girls. Two rebel leaders, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, have been charged by
the International Criminal Court with war crimes and crimes against humanity over their alleged role in
planning the attack. International Criminal Court (2 July 2007)."Warrant of arrest for Germain Katanga"
(PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-25. (202 KB).
On 24 February 2003, hundreds of FNI and FRPI fighters — including children under the age of fifteen —
attacked Bogoro with machetes, spears, arrows, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, rocket launchers
and firearms. They circled the village and "converged towards the centre on a killing spree", killing at least
200 civilians, imprisoning survivors in a room filled with corpses, and sexually enslaving women and girls.
Some residents of the village were killed by setting their houses on fire, others were hacked to death with
machetes. The UN reported that 173 of the victims were under the age of 18.
UPC leader Thomas Lubanga claimed that 400 people were killed and 500 were missing after the attack.
"The civilian population was very, very coldly massacred," he said.
The attack succeeded in pushing UPC forces out of Bogoro within a few hours and, ten days later, the
Lendu and Ngiti drove the UPC from Bunia.
United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2004). Special report on
the events in Ituri, January 2002-December 2003, pp. 22-23. S/2004/573.
International Criminal Court (2 July 2007). "Warrant of arrest for Germain Katanga" (PDF). Archived from
the original (PDF) on 2007-10-25. (202 KB).
"Combined Factsheet: Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Germain Katanga and Mathieu
Ngudjolo Chui" (PDF).
CHARGES
On 7 March 2014, Trial Chamber II of the ICC ruling in the majority, with Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert
dissenting, rendered its judgment in the case The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga.
Trial Chamber II found German Katanga guilty, as an accessory, within the meaning of article 25(3)(d) of
the Rome Statute, of one count of crime against humanity (murder) and four counts of war crimes
(murder, attacking a civilian population, destruction of property and pillaging) committed on 24 February
2003 during the attack on the village of Bogoro, in the Ituri district of the DRC.
The Chamber found that it had been established beyond reasonable doubt that Germain Katanga had
made a significant contribution to the commission of the crimes by the Ngiti militia, which was acting with
a common purpose, by assisting its members to plan the operation against Bogoro.
The Chamber found that Germain Katanga acted in the knowledge of the criminal common plan devised
by the militia to target the predominantly Hema population of Bogoro. The crimes of murder, attacking
civilians, destroying property and pillaging were part of the common plan.
The Chamber found that Mr Katanga was the intermediary of choice between the weapons and
ammunition suppliers and those who physically committed the crimes using those munitions in Bogoro.
He contributed to reinforcing the strike capability of the Ngiti militia who carried out the crimes
committed in Bogoro on 24 February 2003. He also contributed, by virtue of his position in Aveba – the
only place in the collectivité with an airport which could accommodate aircraft transporting weapons – to
equipping the militia and enabling it to operate in an organised and efficient manner.
His involvement allowed the militia to avail itself of logistical means which it did not possess enabling it
to secure military superiority over its adversary.
https://www.icc-cpi.int/CaseInformationSheets/katangaEng.pdf

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Prosecutor v.

Katanga; the issue on military necessity

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