Ntaganda case: ICC Appeals Chamber upholds conviction and sentence
The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) issued Yesterday, March 30, 2021, its judgments confirming, by majority, the decision of Trial Chamber VI (“ Trial Chamber ”) of July 8, 2019, declaring Bosco Ntaganda guilty of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 2002-2003.
In addition, the Appeals Chamber unanimously upheld the Trial Chamber's decision of November 7, 2019, which sentenced Mr. Ntaganda to a total of 30 years in prison. The verdict and the sentence are now final. Mr. Ntaganda and the Prosecutor appealed against the verdict and Mr. Ntaganda appealed against the sentence judgment.
At yesterday's hearing, Judge Howard Morrison, presiding judge in these appeals, read a summary of the judgments in open court in the presence of Mr. Ntaganda. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the judgment was delivered in a partially virtual hearing, with participation either from the seat of the court or outside the court.
The Appeals Chamber found that Mr. Ntaganda had failed to demonstrate that his right to a fair trial had been violated and also found that in convicting Mr. Ntaganda the Trial Chamber had not exceeded the facts. and circumstances described in the charges. The Appeals Chamber also rejected his challenge to the Trial Chamber's finding that the crimes for which he had been found criminally responsible were part of an attack against a civilian population, pursuant to or in pursuit of an organization's policy.
It further rejected Mr. Ntaganda's challenge to the Trial Chamber's findings on indirect co-perpetration. The Appeals Chamber also found that the Trial Chamber had provided a reasonable assessment of the evidence regarding Mr. Ntaganda's knowledge and intention of the crimes of rape and sexual slavery of individuals under the age of 15 years of enlistment and conscription of children under the age of 15 and their use to actively engage them in hostilities, and in relation to the remaining crimes.
The Appeals Chamber also dismissed the Prosecutor's grounds of appeal concerning the interpretation of the term "attack" in article 8-2-e-iv of the Rome Statute. Regarding the appeal against the sentence, the Appeals Chamber rejected Mr. Ntaganda's challenge to the Trial Chamber's assessment of his level of involvement and knowledge of crimes, including the crime of sexual slavery. and rape of civilians. Likewise, Mr. Ntaganda's challenges to the Trial Chamber's assessment of the alleged aggravating circumstances (related to the crime of intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population) and mitigating circumstances (including suffering and the discrimination he suffered as a result of his experience of the Rwandan genocide) were also rejected.
In particular, with regard to the latter, the Appeals Chamber considered that Mr. Ntaganda's personal experience in the Rwandan genocide could not lessen his guilt given his criminal behavior and the gravity of the crimes for which he was sentenced. The Appeals Chamber in these appeals was composed of Presiding Judge Howard Morrison, Judge Piotr Hofmański, Judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa and Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji. Separate opinions have been appended to the judgments of the Appeals Chamber.
In their opinions, Justices Hofmański, Morrison, Eboe-Osuji and Bossa discuss the meaning of the term "attack" within the meaning of Article 8-2-e-iv of the Statute. In his opinion, Judge Morrison discusses indirect co-perpetration.
In her opinion, Judge Ibáñez examines the contextual elements of crimes against humanity, in particular the requirement of a policy of a State or of an organization to commit a widespread or systematic attack launched against any civilian population, and indirect co-perpetration as a mode of responsibility enshrined in article 25-3-a of the Statute. Finally, in his opinion, Judge Eboe-Osuji discusses the use of previously recorded statements, indirect co-perpetration and the legal interpretation of a state or organization to commit a widespread or systematic attack launched against any civilian population. Background: Mr. Ntaganda's trial opened on September 2, 2015. On July 8, 2019, ICC Trial Chamber VI found Bosco Ntaganda guilty of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in Ituri, DRC, in 2002-2003, namely, the following crimes against humanity: murder and attempted murder, rape, sexual slavery, persecution, forcible transfer of population and deportation; and the following war crimes: murder and attempted murder, intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, rape, sexual slavery, ordering the displacement of the civilian population, enlistment and conscription of children under 15 years and their use to involve them actively in hostilities, attacks against protected property, and destruction of property belonging to the adversary. On November 7, 2019, he was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison.
On March 8, 2021, Trial Chamber VI issued its victim reparations order against Mr. Ntaganda, which will be implemented through the Trust Fund for Victims.
Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor
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