Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
ICC / KATANGA
STORY: ICC / KATANGA
TRT: 1.49
SOURCE: ICC
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH /NATS
DATELINE: 7 MARCH 2014, THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS
1. Various shots, court I session
2. SOUNDBITE (French), Judge Bruno Cotte, Presiding Judge, International Criminal Court:
“Finds Germain Katanga, guilty, within the meaning of article 25(3)(d) of the Statute, as an accessory to the crimes committed on 24 February 2003 of Murder as a crime against humanity under article 7(1)(a) of the Statute; Murder as a war crime under article 8(2)(c)(i) of the Statute; Attack against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking direct part in hostilities, as a war crime under article 8(2)(e)(i) of the Statute; Destroying the enemy’s property as a war crime under article 8(2)(e)(xii) of the Statute; and Pillaging as a war crime under article 8(2)(e)(v) of the Statute.”
3. Close up, Germain Katanga standing
4. Wide shot, judges leaving
5. Med shot, Katanga being taken out
The International Criminal Court (ICC), today (7 Mar) rendered Germain Katanga guilty on one count of crimes 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 Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Presiding Judge Bruno Cotte delivered a summary of the judgment. He explained that in light of the witness testimonies and the evidence presented before the Chamber, 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 Court found that 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.
The Chamber changed the characterisation of the mode of liability against Katanga, who had initially been charged as principal perpetrator to “the commission of a crime by a group of persons acting with a common purpose”.
Judges found that 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.
Katanga was however acquitted from the charges of crimes of rape and sexual slavery as well as the crime of using child soldiers, since the Chamber concluded that the evidence presented did not satisfy it beyond reasonable doubt of the accused’s responsibility for these crimes.
Katanga, also known as “Simba” (Lion) was arrested in Kinshasa in 2005 and went on trial four years ago accused on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder and rape.
His Forces for the Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI), from the Lendu and Ngiti ethnic groups, are suspected of having taken part in massacres of another ethnic group, the Hema.
Another FRPI militia commander, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui who indicted by the ICC together with Katanga was acquitted in 2012 after judges decided that the prosecutors had failed to prove Chui’s commanding role in the attack on Bogoro.
The Chamber also decided that Germain Katanga will continue to be detained pending sentencing.
Download
There is no media available to download.
