Jean-Pierre Bemba's War Crimes Conviction Overturned

Home , Joseph Kabila

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 1/93 EC T

ANNEX E

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 2/93 EC T

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. NEWS ARTICLES ...... 3

A. REPORTS CITING THE PROSECUTOR’S COMMENTS ON MR.

BEMBA’S ACQUITTAL ...... 3

1. The Guardian ...... 3

2. BBC News ...... 6

3. The New York Times ...... 9

4. DefenceWeb ...... 13

5. Top Congo...... 16

6. News24 ...... 18

7. Reuters ...... 21

8. Coalition for the International Criminal Court ...... 25

9. American Society of International Law ...... 31

10. Ivoire Soir.net ...... 32

11. DW ...... 34

12. AP news...... 38

13. Journalists For Justice ...... 43

14. National Post ...... 47

15. Yahoo! News ...... 50

B. OTHER NEGATIVE REPORTS ON MR. BEMBA’S ACQUITTAL ...... 54

1. Libération ...... 54

2. Le Monde ...... 57

3. Libre Afrique ...... 60

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 3/93 EC T

4. JusticeInfo.net ...... 62

II. TWITTER ...... 65

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 4/93 EC T

I. NEWS ARTICLES

A. REPORTS CITING THE PROSECUTOR’S COMMENTS ON MR. BEMBA’S ACQUITTAL

1. The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/jun/08/former-congo- leader-jean-pierre-bemba-wins-war-crimes-appeal-international-criminal-court

Jean-Pierre Bemba's war crimes conviction overturned

International criminal court also acquits former warlord of crimes against humanity

Fri 8 Jun 2018 17.03 BST Last modified on Fri 8 Jun 2018 23.25 BST

Jean-Pierre Bemba at his trial in The Hague two summers ago, when he was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment for crimes committed in Central African Republic in 2002-03. Photograph: Courtesy of ICC

The former Congolese vice-president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, has had his convictions for war crimes and crimes against humanity overturned.

The appeals chamber of the international criminal court in the Hague decided by a majority on Friday to acquit the former politician following an earlier hearing.

The 55-year-old warlord commanded a militia that committed mass murder, rape and pillage in neighbouring Central African Republic, the court ruled at the end of his original trial in 2016.

The verdicts were considered a legal landmark, since it was the first time the ICC had convicted a defendant of either rape or “command responsibility for the actions of their troops”. According to a legal principle established by other UN tribunals, a

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 5/93 EC T

commander can be found responsible for failing to take action to stop crimes he knows are being committed by subordinates.

There were cheers from Bemba’s supporters in the gallery when the appeal decision was announced by the five-judge panel, headed by judge Christine Van den Wyngaert.

Bemba had been found guilty of two counts of crimes against humanity (murder and rape) and three counts of war crimes (murder, rape, and pillaging) committed in CAR between October 2002 and March 2003. His troops had entered the country to prop up the president, Ange-Félix Patassé, who was eventually ousted.

He was subsequently sentenced to 18 years in prison. His appeal was against both the sentence and the verdicts.

Bemba, who fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo after losing a presidential poll, was arrested in Belgium in 2008 and transferred to the ICC’s detention centre in The Hague. His trial started in November 2010 and lasted four years. It heard from 77 witnesses.

His defence lawyers insisted he had no control over his 1,500 troops. “There is not a single documentary piece of evidence that shows any orders passing from Bemba and going to his troops in Central African Republic,” his lawyer Kate Gibson said in her closing argument at the original trial.

Bemba will remain in custody on account of another case in which he was convicted of offences against the administration of justice, the ICC said in a statement.

In a majority opinion supported by three of the five judges, the ICC appeals chamber said the trial court had “erroneously convicted Bemba for specific criminal acts that were outside the scope of the charges as confirmed”

The court added: “The trial chamber erred in its evaluation of Bemba’s motivation and the measures that he could have taken in light of the limitations he faced in investigating and prosecuting crimes as a remote commander sending troops to a foreign country.”

Two of the five judges, Sanji Mmasenono Monageng and Piotr Hofmański, issued a dissenting judgment upholding the convictions.

The ruling will be considered carefully by other UN war crimes tribunals which have faced similar disputes over legal definitions of the command responsibilities held by generals and senior politicians in charge of troops who commit mass rapes, murders and other offences.

Fiona McKay, a former ICC official now working for the Open Society Justice Initiative, said: “This was the first ICC case with a major focus on the use of rape as a weapon of war and testing the notion of command responsibility. The acquittal decision is a major blow to the ICC prosecutor’s office, given the vast resources that have been devoted to this case, which has lasted for more than 10 years.”

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 6/93 EC T

Rupert Skilbeck, director of thr UK based human rights group Redress, said: “This is a devastating outcome for the more than five thousand victims who participated in the trial and had waited 15 years to see justice done and to receive some form of redress for their suffering.

“Some victims contracted HIV after being gang-raped by MLC soldiers. Others were rejected by their families and ostracised by their communities, and many have been left to fend for themselves, without access to basic antiretroviral drugs, psychological or economic support.”

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said she regretted the “troubling” decision. “Today’s judgement does not deny that Mr Bemba’s troops committed the crimes which resulted in great suffering in the Central African Republic at their hands,” she said.

“The carnage and suffering caused by those crimes were very real, and they are recognised.

“From the outset of our investigations, my office has worked tirelessly, with the plight of the victims foremost on our minds and guided our actions, and will continue to do so.”

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 7/93 EC T

2. BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44418154

Jean-Pierre Bemba: Congo warlord's conviction overturned 8 June 2018

Jean-Pierre Bemba, pictured in 2016, had been sentenced to a total of 18 years in prison

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has overturned the conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity of former Democratic Republic of Congo Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba.

Bemba was found guilty in 2016 of crimes committed in the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) from 2002 to 2003.

He was accused of failing to prevent his rebels killing and raping.

But a judge has now said he cannot be held responsible for their actions.

Christine Van den Wijngaert also said the judges in the 2016 case had failed to take into account his attempts to stop the crimes once he was made aware they were taking place.

. Africa Live: For more on this and other stories from around the continent . Who is Jean-Pierre Bemba? . What is the International Criminal Court?

The decision to overturn the 18-year sentence was greeted with cheers from his supporters in the gallery.

But human rights group Amnesty International said it was a "huge blow" for the victims of a "horrifying campaign of rape and sexual violence", as it called on the authorities to redouble their efforts to prosecute those who had carried it out.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 8/93 EC T

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda described the ruling as "regrettable and troubling". Before Friday's decision, the ICC had issued verdicts in six cases, with nine people being convicted and one acquitted, according to its website.

More than 5,000 survivors took part in the proceedings against Bemba, said Amnesty's head of international justice, Solomon Sacco.

"For these brave individuals, as well as thousands of other victims in CAR, the pursuit of truth, justice and reparations will continue," he added.

Landmark

Bemba's conviction marked several milestones for the ICC. It was the first time the court had focused on rape as a weapon of war, and the first time a suspect had been convicted for crimes committed by others under his command.

The court heard how Bemba sent more than 1,000 fighters to CAR back in 2002 to help then President Ange Felix Patasse put down an attempted coup.

But his forces committed acts of extreme violence against civilians - crimes which the original judges said Bemba was made aware of but did nothing to stop.

However, appeal Judge Van den Wyngaert said the judges in the original case had "ignored significant testimonial evidence that Bemba's ability to investigate and punish crimes in CAR was limited".

Appeal judges also said he had been "erroneously" convicted for specific criminal acts.

Bemba, who has already spent almost a decade in jail, will not be immediately released from detention in The Hague after he lost a separate appeal against a conviction for bribing witnesses.

CAR, meanwhile, has remained in an almost constant state of turmoil. The International Committee of the Red Cross warned in January that half its population was in need of humanitarian aid, while the United Nations has had a peacekeeping force in the country since 2013.

A report by Human Rights Watch in October 2017 said fighters in its most recent conflict, which has been raging for more than five years, continued to use sexual violence to "terrorise women and children".

Elation for some, questions for others Anna Holligan, BBC News correspondent, The Hague

There were scenes of jubilation never before witnessed inside the International Criminal Court.

Jean-Pierre Bemba's legion of loyal friends and family dressed up for the occasion in vibrant shades of traditional attire.

Their elation was expressed with such vigour the judge called on court staff to restore order.

Some will say the verdict proves this court, often derided as a neo-colonial tool, is driven purely by truth and facts.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 9/93 EC T

But the acquittal is a blow for prosecutors. Jean-Pierre Bemba's conviction was one of their few victories and celebrated at the time as a warning to other leaders that they could be held liable for the actions of troops under their command, even when they're committing atrocities on foreign soil.

Human rights groups are already saying the prosecution must learn from its failures and do more to ensure their evidence can stand up in court.

Who is Jean-Pierre Bemba?

Bemba had good relations with some of Africa's leaders

. A well-connected businessman and the son of prominent Congolese businessman Bemba Saolona

. 1998: Helped by Uganda to form MLC rebel group in Democratic Republic of Congo

. 2003: Becomes vice-president under peace deal

. 2006: Loses run-off election to President Joseph Kabila but gets most votes in western DR Congo, including Kinshasa

. 2007: Flees to Belgium after clashes in Kinshasa

. 2008: Arrested in Brussels and handed over to ICC

. 2010: Trial begins

. 2016: Found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity

. 2018: Conviction overturned on appeal

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 10/93 EC T

3. The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/world/africa/bemba-overturn-international- court.html

International Court Throws Out War Crimes Conviction of Congolese Politician

Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former Congolese vice president, won his appeal for war crimes committed by a militia he had founded and financed.CreditJohn Wessels/Agence France- Presse — Getty Images

Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former Congolese vice president, won his appeal for war crimes committed by a militia he had founded and financed.CreditCreditJohn Wessels/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Marlise Simons June 9, 2018

PARIS — Appeals judges in an international court have thrown out the war-crimes conviction and 18-year prison sentence for Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former vice president of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was a blow to prosecutors, who had accused him of condoning the public rape of women and men, the killing of unarmed villagers and the pillaging of property.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 11/93 EC T

The ruling, announced on Friday at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, did not question that the atrocities occurred during a five-month rampage by a militia that Mr. Bemba founded and financed in 2002 to assist his ally, then the president of the neighboring Central African Republic.

But in a 3 to 2 vote, the court found that the trial judges had made a series of legal errors. As a “remote commander,” the court said, Mr. Bemba would have difficulty knowing what his 1,000-fighter militia was doing and adequately investigating and stopping any crimes.

The overturned conviction came as a shock to prosecutors and other court officials. The chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, called the acquittal “regrettable and troubling.” She noted that the judges had not denied that Mr. Bemba’s troops had committed atrocities “which resulted in great suffering in the Central African Republic.”

A large group of Mr. Bemba’s relatives and supporters burst into cheers in court when the verdict was read, and in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, his followers celebrated.

Arrested in Belgium in 2008, Mr. Bemba had been the highest-ranking politician to be convicted by the court. His 2016 conviction for war crimes and crimes against humanity was seen as a milestone, showing that politicians and military officials can be held liable even for irregular forces and mercenaries outside their homeland.

The trial judges had also included the use of rape as a weapon of war, a first for this court.

While Mr. Bemba was imprisoned in The Hague, investigators made considerable efforts to track down his reported fortune in case damages were awarded to the victims. The court froze several Bemba family bank accounts in Belgium and Cape Verde, along with some properties. But investigators said they also ran into a wall of shell companies that they could not get through.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 12/93 EC T

Supporters of Mr. Bemba in Kinshasa celebrated after hearing news of his acquittal. Mr. Bemba, once the leader of Congo’s opposition, is expected to return to politics.CreditJohn Wessels/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The appeals judges seemed to have wrestled with the case, with all writing separate opinions. The presiding judge, Christine Van den Wijngaert of Belgium, reading out the summary, said the trial judges had “ignored significant evidence that Mr. Bemba’s ability to investigate and punish crimes” by the fighters of his Movement for the Liberation of Congo was limited. The appeals judges said the trial judges had made other errors in attributing crimes to him that had not been formally charged.

But the two dissenting judges wrote that the majority had used the wrong standards for review and that its findings were, therefore, deeply flawed.

Mr. Bemba, once the leader of Congo’s opposition, is expected to return to politics once released. But it was not yet clear when he could return home.

In a separate case, he was convicted of coaching and bribing witnesses to give false testimony during his trial and is waiting for a decision on that sentence. Two of his defense lawyers and two of his associates were also found guilty. Prosecutors used telephone taps, email intercepts and records of money transfers as evidence.

The sentence for witness tampering, however, is not likely to exceed the time already served by Mr. Bemba. He has been jailed in The Hague for 10 years.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 13/93 EC T

Details of how the coaching of witnesses and bribery took place remained confidential because most of the witnesses at the bribery trial had testified behind closed doors.

But the ruling offered a few examples: In one instance, a lawyer called a witness on the eve of his testimony with instructions, but also cautioned the witness, “No one called you; no one from the defense called you.” Lawyers also told witnesses to lie about payments they had received, the summary said.

Some of the witnesses who had never been in the military were issued ranks and insignia, according to the summary, and some were promised a new life in Europe.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 14/93 EC T

4. DefenceWeb https://www.defenceweb.co.za/joint/diplomacy-a-peace/bemba-acquitted-of-war- crimes/

Home Joint Diplomacy & Peace Bemba acquitted of war crimes Diplomacy & Peace Bemba acquitted of war crimes

The International Criminal Court (ICC) overturned the war crimes conviction of former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, a blow to prosecutors that could impact politics in his home country.

Bemba was one of four people convicted by the permanent war crimes court in its 16 years of operation and the highest ranking among them. He was convicted of murder, rape and pillage for actions by fighters he sent to Central African Republic to back CAR’s then-president Ange-Felix Patasse.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 15/93 EC T

Judge Christine Van den Wijngaert said Bemba, once the leader of Congo’s main opposition party, could not be held responsible for crimes carried out by troops under his control in CAR in 2002-2003.

Dismissing his 18-year-sentence, she said trial judges failed to consider his efforts to stop crimes committed by his Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) once he became aware of them and how difficult it would have been for him to control troops’ actions from a distance. “Mr Bemba cannot be held criminally responsible for crimes committed by MLC troops during the Central African Republic operation,” she said, reading the ruling of a five- judge appeal panel. Bemba’s efforts to stop the crimes “extinguished his responsibility in full”, she said.

His acquittal will have implications in Congo, where he remains a popular figure in the west of the country. His MLC party is one of the largest opposition movements to President Joseph Kabila, due to step down after an election scheduled for December.

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called the decision “regrettable and troubling.”

She noted the judges did not deny Bemba’s troops committed atrocities “which resulted in great suffering in the Central African Republic.” “The carnage and suffering caused by those crimes are real and recognised,” she told journalists.

Fiona McKay of the Open Society Justice Initiative said the decision was a “major blow” to Bensouda’s office “given the vast resources devoted to this case, which has lasted for more than 10 years.” “This was the first ICC case with a major focus on the use of rape as a weapon of war”, she said.

Bemba’s case was seen as cementing the precedent that political and military officials may be held liable for the actions of troops under their command.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 16/93 EC T

He was not released immediately on Friday despite his acquittal because he has also been convicted of witness tampering and an appeals judgment in that case is still pending.

The court called a status conference in his case for June 12, which Bemba’s lawyer called “unacceptable”, given the maximum sentence Bemba could receive on that charge is five years and he has already spent 10 years in detention.

He said Bemba would probably go to Belgium to meet his family there before returning to Congo after he is released.

Bemba, the son of a businessman, became rich during years of close association with former Congolese leader Mobutu Sese Seko. He entered government with Kabila in 2003 as part of a power-sharing deal that ended years of civil war.

According to a nationwide public opinion survey by New York University’s Congo Research Group in March, despite being absent for a decade, Bemba would finish third in a hypothetical presidential race behind two other opposition leaders with 10% of the vote.

Karine Bonneau of the International Federation for Human Rights said the decision was devastating for an estimated 5,000 victims of troops under Bemba who were awaiting the ruling.

The message “to warlords seems to be: when you’re not at the scene, let your troops commit the worst crimes and abominations, then say you had nothing to do with it, and we won’t condemn you.”

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 17/93 EC T

5. Top Congo https://topcongoinfo.com/site2/2018/06/14/les-dessous-de-lacquittement-de-jean- pierre-bemba/

Les dessous de l’acquittement de Jean-Pierre Bemba

5 mois ago admin

Dans une déclaration, Fatou Bensouda relève les points qui ont permis au président du MLC d’obtenir un acquittement inattendu après une condamnation à 18 ans de prison en première instance. « Un écart inexplicable de la jurisprudence » Fatou Bensouda regrette que « la majorité des juges de la chambre d’appel s’est écartée du modèle traditionnellement suivi en appel quant à l’examen des erreurs de fait ».

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 18/93 EC T

Alors qu’elle devait s’en remettre à l’appréciation des éléments de preuve effectuée par la chambre de première instance, « à moins que la partie à l’origine du recours ne démontre » qu’ils n’étaient pas pertinents, Fatou Bensouda constate que « la majorité des juges » les a écartés, adoptant plutôt une démarche « qui donne à penser que, lorsque la chambre d’appel est en mesure de déceler des conclusions qui peuvent être raisonnablement remises en cause, elle doit les infirmer ». Pour la procureur, cela « revient, semble-t-il, à confondre le niveau de la preuve ». Fatou Bensouda trouve « fort malheureux cet écart important et inexplicable de la jurisprudence de la Cour…, et l’emploi de nouveaux critères incertains et non vérifiés ». Les « mauvais signaux » de la CPI Il sera désormais, selon elle, plus difficile pour l’accusation d’effectuer des « poursuites dans d’autres affaires portant sur de vastes campagnes de persécution, particulièrement lorsque l’accusé n’est pas directement l’auteur des crimes ». Sans remettre en question l’effectivité de l’acquittement de Jean-Pierre Bemba, dont le caractère est définitif, Fatou Bensouda précise que c’est toutefois un mauvais signe envoyé au monde par la CPI « à un moment où il est vital de signaler clairement que de telles atrocités ne doivent pas rester impunies ». Car « il est clair que des crimes graves ont été commis en RCA par les forces de M. Bemba… », souligne celle qui poursuivait Jean-Pierre Bemba a la cpi. Et que l’arrêt rendu le confirme, « nous ressentons la même déception à l’égard de cette décision et des conséquences qu’elle aura, avant tout, pour les victimes ». Ceux qui ont acquitté Bemba Fatou Bensouda relève que la chambre d’appel « n’a pas été en mesure de trancher à l’unanimité », de ses 5 juges. Trois juges, dont le juge président, la belge Christine Van den Wyngaert, ont voté l’acquittement. La procureur Bensouda précise que parmi ces 3 juges, le nigérian Chile Eboe-Osuji « s’est prononcé en faveur d’un nouveau procès ». Les deux juges qui se sont opposés à l’acquittement, sont Sanji Mmasenono Monageng (Botswana) et Piotr Hofmański (Pologne).

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 19/93 EC T

6. News24 https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/bemba-tainted-evidence-row-flares-into- open-at-icc-20180704

Bemba 'tainted evidence' row flares into open at ICC

2018-07-05 14:29

Former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba (File, AFP)

A bitter dispute at the world's only permanent war crimes court over Congolese politician Jean-Pierre Bemba flared back into the open on Wednesday, as prosecutors alleged his surprise acquittal was based on tainted evidence.

Earlier this month, a starkly divided five-judge bench of the International Criminal Court overturned Bemba's 2016 conviction and 18-year jail term imposed for five counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But prosecutor Kweku Vanderpuye told judges in a separate corruption and bribery case involving Bemba and his cohorts that "you can't underestimate the degree of corrosion that was in the record before the appeals court".

"At the end of the day, the appeal achieved the very objective of the common criminal plan in which these defendants participated, which was Bemba's acquittal."

Wednesday's hearing was called after the appeals court in the corruption case ordered judges to re- determine the sentence imposed on Bemba, 55, and two others.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 20/93 EC T

The appeals court confirmed in March that they were guilty of bribing, corrupting and coaching 14 defence witnesses in his main trial.

But the appeals judges ruled the original sentences imposed for corruption of between two-and-a half years and six months were too low and sent the case back to the lower court for re-sentencing.

Vanderpuye called for a maximum five years to be imposed on Bemba, his lawyer Aime Kilolo and his legal case manager Jean-Jacques Mangenda.

"Anything other than this in our view is patently untenable. Rather than stem impunity it would only promote it," he argued.

'No justice for victims' Neither Bemba, once a rebel leader who became vice president of the vast central African country, nor his co-accused were present in the court on Wednesday.

After his June 8 acquittal in the main war crimes case, Bemba was provisionally freed by the ICC pending sentencing in the corruption case and has returned to Belgium where he was arrested in 2008 and handed over to the ICC.

The ICC opened its doors in 2002 as a court of last resort which seeks to bring to justice those behind the world's worst atrocities where domestic tribunals cannot or will not act.

In the court's toughest sentence to date, Bemba had initially been found guilty by the judges of the atrocities committed by his private army, the Congolese Liberation Movement, under his command.

They committed a series of rapes, murders and pillaging after being sent into neighbouring Central African Republic to put down a coup from 2002-03.

Turning to the some 5 000 victims, Vanderpuye said they had sought justice at the ICC. "They didn't get it."

The sentencing in the corruption case was "a reprieve for this court, and an opportunity for the chamber to set things right, once and for all."

But defence lawyers angrily accused the prosecution of playing "to the peanut gallery" by raising its disagreements over Bemba's acquittal at the hearing.

Acquittal is 'final' The prosecution had no "authority to revisit factual findings issued by the appeals chamber," said Bemba's lawyer Melinda Taylor, insisting the June 8 verdict was final.

"The prosecution has appointed itself judge, jury and executioner of the main case acquittal, and that's not how this court works," she added.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 21/93 EC T

Such moves "undermine the authority of the court, and it undermines the public perception of Mr Bemba's innocence."

The judges are expected to conclude the one-day hearing and then consider their sentence in private to be issued in the coming months.

Chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had reacted angrily to Bemba's acquittal, saying the appeals judges based their decisions on "uncertain and untested standards" in concluding he could not be held to account for the crimes committed by his troops.

It earned her a public rap from the court's president judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, who insisted: "When judges acquit or convict, it is because those core principles direct them to do so."

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 22/93 EC T

7. Reuters https://www.reuters.com/article/us-warcrimes-congo-bemba/congolese-ex-vice- president-bemba-acquitted-of-war-crimes-on-appeal-idUSKCN1J42GN

Congolese ex-Vice President Bemba acquitted of war crimes on appeal

Stephanie van den Berg, Amedee Mwarabu 5 M I N R E A D

THE HAGUE/KINSHASA (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court on Friday overturned the war crimes conviction of former Democratic Republic of Congo Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, a huge blow to prosecutors that could also dramatically shake up politics in his home country.

FILE PHOTO: Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo is seen in a court room of the ICC to hear the delivery of the judgment on charges including corruptly influencing witnesses by giving them money and instructions to provide false testimony and false evidence, in the Hague, the Netherlands, March 21, 2016. REUTERS/JERRY LAMPEN/Pool/File Photo

Bemba was one of only four people convicted by the permanent war crimes court in its 16 years of operation, and the highest ranking among them. He had been convicted of murder, rape and pillage for actions by fighters he sent to Central African Republic to back CAR’s then-president Ange-Felix Patasse.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 23/93 EC T

A crowd of hundreds of supporters cheered outside Bemba’s party headquarters in the Congo capital Kinshasa, shouting “Our president is free!” and “Jean Pierre Bemba is our candidate!”

Judge Christine Van den Wijngaert said Bemba, once the leader of Congo’s main opposition party, could not be held responsible for crimes carried out by troops under his control in CAR in 2002-2003.

Dismissing his 18-year-sentence, she said trial judges had failed to consider his efforts to stop crimes committed by his Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) once he became aware of them, and how difficult it would have been for him to control the troops’ actions from a distance.

“Mr Bemba cannot be held criminally responsible for the crimes committed by MLC troops during the Central African Republic operation,” she said, reading the ruling of a 5-judge appeal panel. Bemba’s efforts to stop the crimes “extinguished his responsibility in full”.

“OUR CANDIDATE”

His acquittal could revive a moribund opposition in Congo, where President Joseph Kabila, still in power after his mandate ran out in Dec 2016, looks likely to seek a third term on a legal technicality or by changing the constitution.

Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende said on Friday that Bemba had the right to return home if released.

Bemba ran against Kabila in 2006 elections that went to a run-off between them before Kabila won.

According to a nationwide public opinion survey by New York University’s Congo Research Group in March, despite being absent

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 24/93 EC T

for a decade Bemba would finish third in a hypothetical presidential race behind two other opposition leaders

ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called the appeal decision “regrettable and troubling”. She noted that judges did not deny Bemba’s troops had committed atrocities “which resulted in great suffering in the Central African Republic.”

“The carnage and suffering caused by those crimes are very real and they are recognized,” she told journalists.

Fiona McKay of the Open Society Justice Initiative said the decision was a “major blow” to Bensouda’s office “given the vast resources that have been devoted to this case, which has lasted for more than 10 years.”

“This was the first ICC case with a major focus on the use of rape as a weapon of war”, she said.

Bemba’s case had been seen as cementing the precedent that officials may be held liable for the actions of troops under their command.

He was not released immediately on Friday because he has also been convicted of witness tampering, and an appeals judgment in that case is still pending. The court called a status conference in his case for June 12, which Bemba’s lawyer called “unacceptable” given that the maximum sentence on that charge is five years and Bemba has already been jailed for 10.

He said Bemba would probably go to Belgium to meet with his family there before returning to Congo after he is released.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 25/93 EC T

Karine Bonneau of the International Federation for Human Rights said the decision was devastating for an estimated 5,000 victims of troops under Bemba who were awaiting the ruling.

The message “to warlords seems to be: when you’re not at the scene, let your troops commit the worst crimes and worst abominations, then say you had nothing to do with it, and we won’t condemn you.”

Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg, Toby Sterling and Bart Meijer; Additional reporting by Benoit Nyemba in Kinshasa and Tim Cocks and Aaron Ross in Dakar; Editing by Peter Graff

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 26/93 EC T

8. Coalition for the International Criminal Court

http://www.coalitionfortheicc.org/news/20180613/jeanpierre-bemba-gombo- acquitted-icc-appeals-chamber

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo acquitted by ICC Appeals Chamber

©The Guardian

13 JUNE 2018 Editors Regions: Africa Related countries

 Central African Republic (I and II)  Democratic Republic of Congo Cases: Jean-Pierre Bemba (Bemba I)Jean-Pierre Bemba et. al. (Bemba II) Topics Administration of justice

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 27/93 EC T

Sexual and gender based crimes War crimes Crimes against humanity Acquitted The Hague – On 8 June, the Appeals Chamber (Chamber) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided, in a majority decision, to acquit Mr. Jean- Pierre Bemba Gombo of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The judgement reversed the decision handed down on 21 March 2016 by Trial Chamber III, which had found Bemba – commander-in-chief of the rebel group Mouvement de Libération du Congo (MLC) and former vice- president of the Democratic Republic of Congo – guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity against civilians committed by troops under his control during an unsuccessful MLC operation to suppress a 2002 coup d’état in the Central African Republic (CAR).

The Appeals Chamber concluded, by a majority of 3 judges, that Trial Chamber III had erroneously convicted Mr. Bemba for specific criminal acts that were outside the scope of the case, concluding that the conviction must be overturned as Mr. Bemba could not be held criminally liable for the crimes committed within the scope of the present case. The majority also stated that Trial Chamber III had made serious errors in its assessment of whether Mr. Bemba took “all necessary and reasonable measures to prevent, repress, or punish the commission by his subordinates of the other crimes within the scope of the case.” The majority judged that Mr. Bemba had faced limitations in investigating and prosecuting crimes as a remote commander sending troops to a foreign country.

The original “command responsibility” trial had focused largely on whether Mr. Bemba possessed the authority but failed to properly prevent, repress, investigate, and prosecute crimes he should have known were being committed. In the then-unanimous decision of 21 March 2016, Trial Chamber III judges had found Mr. Bemba responsible for murder and rape, both as crimes against humanity and war crimes, and for pillaging as a war crime. At the time of the acquittal, Mr. Bemba had been serving an 18-year sentence as a result of that original decision.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 28/93 EC T

Mr. Bruno Hyacinthe Gbiegba, Deputy Coordinator of the Central African Republic national coalition for the ICC, stated, “If today, the ICC cannot apply the Rome Statute against hierarchical superiors, it will eventually pronounce no sentences; since it was instituted for this category of officials. If the ICC does not condemn the superiors for the crimes committed by their subordinates, what recourse can there be for the victims against their tormentors?” Mr. Gbiegba continued, “This iniquitous decision will only serve as an encouragement to warlords who direct remote military operations.”

Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng and Judge Piotr Hofmański issued a joint dissenting opinion, disagreeing with the findings of the majority, and stating that they would have confirmed the conviction. Judge Van den Wyngaert and Judge Howard Morrison issued a separate opinion in order to address additional issues that have arisen in the context of this appeal and that were not addressed in the judgment. A separate opinion by Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji is forthcoming.

Mr. Eugène Bakama Bope, President of the Club of Friends of Law of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, stated, “We take note of this Appeals Chamber decision. However, Mr. Bemba's acquittal does not erase the serious crimes committed by MLC troops in the Central African Republic. Unfortunately, those victims will not receive justice until the guilty parties – i.e. those who had effective control over Bemba's troops – are brought before the Court.”

“This is a devastating outcome for the more than five thousand victims who participated in the trial and had waited 15 years to see justice done and to receive some form of redress for their suffering,” stated Rupert Skilbeck, director of REDRESS.“The verdict does not alter the fact that thousands still live with the trauma and physical effects of the MLC’s crimes. Some victims contracted HIV after being gang-raped by MLC soldiers. Others were rejected by their families and ostracized by their communities, and many have been left to fend for themselves, without access to basic antiretroviral drugs, psychological or economic support,” Mr. Skilbeck continued.

In response to the decision, on 13 June, the Prosecutor of the ICC, Ms. Fatou Bensouda, stated, “It is unfortunate that this "significant and unexplained departure" from the Court's previous jurisprudence, as the dissenting judges described it, and its replacement with new, uncertain and untested standards, has taken place in the most serious case of sexual and gender-based violence decided upon by this Court to date, more so at a time when there is an acute need to send a clear signal globally that such abhorrent crimes must not go unpunished.” Bensouda continued, “The long

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 29/93 EC T

journey for justice in the Bemba case is a testament to the unwavering courage and determination of the victims of CAR to fight against impunity. The Bemba case will always represent an important recognition of the crimes of rape, murder and pillaging suffered by victims in CAR at the hands of Mouvement de Libération du Congo troops that were effectively under the authority and control of Mr Bemba who had knowledge of the crimes during the 2002 to 2003 CAR conflict. The Bemba Appeals Judgment confirms this.”

“During this year marking the 20th anniversary of the Rome Statute, it is very disappointing to note that, as of today, there has not been a single successful conviction for sexual and gender-based crimes”, said Melinda Reed, Executive Director of the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice. “Starting with the failure to include sexual and gender-based crimes in the charges against Lubanga in 2006, to the subsequent acquittals of Ngudjolo and Katanga for these types of crimes, and now Bemba’s acquittal, the stark reality is that the Court has not been able to deliver formal justice to victims of conflict-related sexual violence. Additionally, thousands of victims who had hopes of justice and reparations stemming from Bemba’s conviction in 2016 have reason to be greatly disappointed by this outcome”, stated Ms. Reed.

“The Appeals Chamber decision overturned the only conviction for rape as a war crime and as a crime against humanity in the history of the ICC. Hundreds in the Central African Republic were victim of mass rape during the period 2002-2003. Future cases at both the national and international level must ensure that these insidious crimes are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted, and rightly recognized as weapons of war,” said Kirsten Meersschaert, Director of Programs with the Coalition for the ICC.

The acquittal means that an expected decision on reparations to victims and affected communities has been rendered moot. Karine Bonneau, Head of FIDH’s International Justice Desk, stated, "A few months ago, we released a report on the survivors of the Bemba troops, estimated at more than 5000 victims. The survivors we met were anxiously awaiting reparations for the horrors they had suffered. Today, judges have just stolen their last hopes for compensation and are sending them back to their loneliness and precariousness.”

In response, on 13 June, the Trust Fund for Victims decided to accelerate the launch of a program under its assistance mandate, to provide physical and psychological rehabilitation, as well as material support, for the benefit of victims and their families in the situation of the Central African Republic. In a statement announcing this decision, the Fund underlined its assurance to “the victims in the Bemba case and other victims who have

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 30/93 EC T

suffered harm in the CAR I situation: You are not forgotten. The harms you have suffered are recognized and urgently call for a meaningful response.” The Fund’s resources for such assistance activities rely entirely on voluntary contributions, from states, institutional, and individual donors.

Appeals judges also called for a status conference on a separate case – The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido – concerning offences against the administration of justice, to take place on 12 June. The status conference was called to consider the matter of Mr. Bemba’s continued detention on account of the conviction in that case, and in light of his acquittal in the other case.

Immediately following the status conference, Judges in Trial Chamber VII ordered Mr. Bemba’s interim release. In its decision, the Chamber concluded that the legal requirements for Mr. Bemba’s continued detention were not met as he had already served more than 80% of the maximum possible sentence. Mr. Bemba’s interim release is conditional: he must refrain from making public statements on the case; not change his address without prior notice; not contact any witness in this case; fully comply with all orders issued in this case; and surrender himself immediately to the relevant authorities if required by the Trial Chamber.

Trial Chamber VII also requested Belgium to allow Mr. Bemba to stay in Belgium, where his family lives, following his provisional release. Belgian authorities agreed to this request, demonstrating support to international criminal courts.

On 14 June, Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, President of the Court, issued a short statement related to the Bemba decision.

Additional resources, Situation in the Central African Republic, The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo

 Case Information Sheet: https://www.icc- cpi.int/car/bemba/Documents/BembaEng.pdf  Full Judgment on the appeal of Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo against Trial Chamber III’s “Judgment pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute”: https://www.icc-cpi.int/CourtRecords/CR2018_02984.PDF  Summary of the Appeal Judgement: https://www.icc- cpi.int/itemsDocuments/180608-bemba-judgment-summary.pdf  Dissenting Opinion of Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng and Judge Piotr Hofmański: https://www.icc-cpi.int/RelatedRecords/CR2018_02987.PDF

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 31/93 EC T

 Separate Opinion of Judge Van den Wyngaert and Judge Morrison: https://www.icc-cpi.int/RelatedRecords/CR2018_02989.PDF  ICC Questions and Answers on the Appeals Judgment in the Bemba case: https://www.icc-cpi.int/itemsDocuments/180608-bemba-qa_Eng.pdf  ICC Bemba Case Audio-visual program, "Ask the Court": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoqXAcsi_c8&feature=youtu.be  ICC Photographs of the hearing: https://www.flickr.com/photos/icc- cpi/sets/72157652364795253

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 32/93 EC T

9. American Society of International Law https://www.asil.org/ILIB/icc-appeals-chamber-acquits-jean-pierre-bemba-june-8-

2018

Home/ ILIB/ ICC Appeals Chamber Acquits Jean-Pierre Bemba (June 8, 2018) International Law in Brief ICC Appeals Chamber Acquits Jean-Pierre Bemba (June 8, 2018) By: Caitlin Behles | June 27, 2018 - 4:55pm

On June 8, 2018, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Appeals Chamber decided to acquit Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo from the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The decision reverses Trial Chamber III’s decision of March 21, 2016, which had concluded that Bemba was criminally responsible for the crimes against humanity of murder and rape and the war crimes of murder, rape and pillaging committed by the Mouvement de libération du Congo troops in the Central African Republic. The Appeals Chamber held that Trial Chamber III had erred in the judgment in two respects: It erroneously convicted Bemba for acts outside the scope of the confirmed charges; and when considering whether Bemba took measures to prevent subordinates from committing crimes, the Trial Chamber erred in its evaluation of Bemba’s motives and the potential steps he could have taken in response to such crimes. The Appeals Chamber also noted a discrepancy between the crimes within the case’s scope and the Trial Chamber’s assessment of the steps Bemba should have taken. Bemba will remain in detention due to his conviction in another case for offenses against the administration of justice, pending a decision in that case by Trial Chamber VII. ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda expressed her disappointment over the judgment in a statement, reiterating the words of the dissenting judges that this was a “significant and unexplained departure” from the Court's previous jurisprudence and expressing concern that this took place “in the most serious case of sexual and gender-based violence decided upon by this Court to date, more so at a time when there is an acute need to send a clear signal globally that such abhorrent crimes must not go unpunished.”

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 33/93 EC T

10. Ivoire Soir.net https://www.ivoiresoir.net/fatou-bensouda-trouve-la-decision-de-lacquittement-de- bemba-facheuse-et-preoccupante/

Fatou Bensouda trouve la décision de l’acquittement de Bemba « fâcheuse et préoccupante »

Par IvoireSoir - 8 juin 2018

Voici la réaction Fatou Bensouda, Procureur de la CPI, suite à la décision rendue aujourd’hui par la Chambre d’appel de la CPI, acquittant Jean-Pierre BembaGombo

Mon Bureau prend note de l’arrêt rendu aujourd’hui par la Chambre d’appel de la CPI, à la majorité de ses membres, et bien qu’il doive respecter la décision rendue et qu’il la respecte, il la trouve fâcheuse et préoccupante.

Lire aussi : CPI, vers l’acquittement de Gbagbo et Blé Goudé ? Voici l’éclairage de Me Seri…

Un communiqué de presse la semaine prochaine

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 34/93 EC T

Je ne peux que déplorer le fait que cet « écart important et inexplicable » de la jurisprudence de la Cour, tel que décrit par les juges dissidents, apparaisse dans la plus grave affaire de violences sexuelles et à caractère sexiste sur laquelle la Cour ait dû se prononcer à ce jour.

J’ai l’intention de publier un communiqué de presse la semaine prochaine une fois que nous aurons analysé l’intégralité de l’arrêt en cause.

Lire aussi : Procès Gbagbo Blé Goudé : La CPI lance un ultimatum à Me Altit et…

Ma première réaction est de dire que des crimes graves ont été commis en République centrafricaine par les forces de M. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, et mes pensées vont à présent vers les victimes de ces crimes atroces et leurs familles. L’arrêt rendu aujourd’hui ne réfute pas le fait que les troupes de M. Bemba ont commis des crimes qui ont causé de grandes souffrances en République centrafricaine. Le carnage provoqué par ces crimes et les souffrances engendrées étaient bien réels et ne sont aucunement remis en cause.

M. Bemba restera sous la garde de la Cour

Depuis le tout début de nos enquêtes, mon Bureau a travaillé sans relâche, en pensant avant tout au sort des victimes qui n’a cessé de guider notre action, et continuera de le faire.

M. Bemba restera sous la garde de la Cour jusqu’à ce que soit fixée la peine qu’il doit purger dans l’affaire incidente relative aux atteintes à l’administration de la justice.

Vous comprendrez que je ne peux pas vous en dire plus pour le moment, puisque nous devons passer en revue et analyser avec soin le raisonnement juridique de la Chambre d’appel. J’espère que ces informations vous aideront à rendre compte de la situation.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 35/93 EC T

11. DW https://www.dw.com/en/congo-jean-pierre-bembas-icc-acquittal-may-bode-ill-for- courts-future/a-44141323

NEWS Congo: Jean-Pierre Bemba's ICC acquittal may bode ill for court's future

The court ruling has critics pondering the future of the ICC and how, if at all, military leaders can be held to account. The timing is sure to throw a wrench into Congo's presidential election, due in December.

Friday's acquittal of former Democratic Republic of Congo Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, by the appellate division of the International Criminal Court (ICC), dealt a significant blow to human rights advocates and those seeking to turn sexual violence into a war crime.

In a 3-2 ruling the divided court overturned Bemba's five-count conviction, which was unanimously handed down in 2016.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 36/93 EC T

The original conviction included two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes for a gruesome campaign of rape, murder and pillaging by his troops, known as the Movement for the Liberation of Congo.

Bemba sent his forces into the neighboring Central African Republic (CAR) to aid President Ange-Felix Patasse, who was battling a series of coup attempts in 2002 and 2003. He was eventually overthrown in 2003.

"We find it regrettable and troubling," Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said of the reversal.

"And I can only regret that this 'significant and unexplained departure' from the court's previous jurisprudence, as the dissenting judges described it, has taken place in the most serious case of sexual and gender-based violence that has been decided upon by this court to date."

Still, she sought to claim something of a pyrrhic victory by noting that the judges did not deny Bemba's troops had committed atrocities "which resulted in great suffering in the Central African Republic."

"The carnage and suffering caused by those crimes are very real and they are recognized," she told journalists.

Peter Haynes, Bemba's lawyer, welcomed the court's ruling.

"It's not some acquittal on a technicality," he said. "They went to the very heart of a commander's culpability, namely his responsibility to ensure that when put in the knowledge of crimes he takes steps to investigate them and punish them."

Bemba, 55, was the most senior suspect convicted by the ICC, and his original 18-year sentence was the longest ever handed down in the court's history.

The appeals court ruled that the trial court "erred in its evaluation of Mr. Bemba's motivation and the measures that he could have taken in light of the limitations he faced in investigating and prosecuting crimes as a remote commander sending troops to a foreign country."

The judges also concluded that Bemba was wrongly convicted for crimes that were not even included in the charges against him.

The two dissenting judges rejected the acquittals, citing "an incorrect standard of appellate review."

Future of the court

Human rights advocates were scathing in their condemnation of the court's ruling.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 37/93 EC T

Solomon Sacco, the head of Amnesty International's international justice team, said, "The decision will be felt as a huge blow for the many victims of the 'war against women' waged in the Central African Republic through a horrifying campaign of rape and sexual violence."

He said that "5,229 survivors of Bemba's atrocities" participated in the ICC proceedings.

"For these brave individuals, as well as thousands of other victims in CAR, the pursuit of truth, justice and reparations will continue."

Undoubtedly, but the ruling left some advocates wondering where the court goes from here.

Karine Bonneau of the International Federation for Human Rights was among those who slammed the court's decision.

"Twenty years after its creation, has the ICC just scuttled itself?" she said in a statement. "Delivering this judgment, it seems to say to the warlords: 'As long as you are not on the scene, let your troops commit the worst crimes and the worst abominations, say that you have nothing to do with that and we will not condemn you.'"

Fiona McKay of the Open Society Justice Initiative called the court's ruling a "major blow" to the prosecutor's office "given the vast resources that have been devoted to this case, which has lasted more than 10 years."

"This was the first ICC case with a major focus on the use of rape as a weapon of war," she added.

Rights' advocates had hoped that Bemba's case would cement the precedent that political and military leaders could be held liable for the actions of troops under their command.

Elise Keppler, associate director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch in New York, told DW that the prosecutor brought a solid case against Bemba but questioned why all the proverbial eggs were put in one basket.

"The larger issue here was, why was there only one prosecution for all the cases that occurred in 2002 and 2003," she said. "It's hard to imagine one case could deliver justice."

The ICC currently has similar investigations ongoing in 10 different countries, according to Keppler. She said prosecutors will have a better chance of achieving justice if they "bring more cases that are representative of the underlying crimes."

Impact on Congo

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 38/93 EC T

Bemba remains in custody, however, because he still has a separate conviction related to witness tampering. A hearing on that charge is expected in the coming days. But Haynes called his client's continued detention outrageous, given that Bemba has already served more time than the maximum sentence for tampering.

Still, Bemba's release appears inevitable, and it comes six months before a presidential election is due in his home country. That raises questions about what impact his likely return to Congo could have on the country's politics.

Despite Bemba being absent from the country for the past 10 years, a recent public opinion poll found he would finish third with 10 percent of the vote, behind two other opposition leaders.

Friday's court ruling was broadcast live in Congo and was widely watched in Kinshasa, the capital. Bemba's supporters erupted in cheers as the verdict was handed down, AFP reported.

The son of a businessman, Bemba amassed considerable wealth during the military dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, whose 30-year rule ended shortly before his death in 1997.

Bemba then entered the government of Joseph Kabila in 2003, as part of a power- sharing agreement that ended a prolonged civil war.

Kabila was supposed to give up the presidency at the end of 2016 but he has clung to power, repeatedly putting off elections. He is not supposed to run for another term of office but his intentions remain unclear.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 39/93 EC T

12. AP news https://apnews.com/dccea3babfed4e08a478efa9e93c1ebf

ICC overturns ex-Congo VP Bemba’s war crime convictions

By MIKE CORDERJune 9, 2018

1 of 2

FILE - In this June 21, 2016 file photo, former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba enters the courtroom of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. International Criminal Court appeals judges overturned Friday, June 8, 2018 the convictions of former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba for atrocities committed by his forces in Central African Republic. The reversal delivered a serious blow to ICC prosecutors by scrapping all the convictions in the court’s first trial to focus

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 40/93 EC T

largely on sexual violence and on command responsibility - the legal principle that a commanding officer can be held responsible for crimes committed by his or her troops or for failing to prevent or punish the crimes. (Michael Kooren, Pool via AP, File)

2 of 2

FILE - In this Monday, March 21, 2016, file photo former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba looks up when sitting in the court room of the International Criminal Court. International Criminal Court appeals judges overturned Friday, June 8, 2018 the convictions of former Congolese Vice President Jean- Pierre Bemba for atrocities committed by his forces in Central African Republic. The reversal delivered a serious blow to ICC prosecutors by scrapping all the convictions in the court’s first trial to focus largely on sexual violence and on command responsibility - the legal principle that a commanding officer can be held responsible for crimes

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 41/93 EC T

committed by his or her troops or for failing to prevent or punish the crimes. (Jerry Lampen Pool Photo via AP, File)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — In a blow to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court and to victims of rape and murder in a conflict-ravaged African nation, appeals judges on Friday overturned the convictions of former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba for atrocities committed by his forces in Central African Republic.

The reversal delivered a serious setback to ICC prosecutors by scrapping all the convictions in the court’s first trial to focus largely on sexual violence and on command responsibility — the legal principle that a commanding officer can be held responsible for crimes committed by his or her troops or for failing to prevent or punish the crimes.

“We find it regrettable and troubling,” Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said. “And I can only regret that this ‘significant and unexplained departure’ from the court’s previous jurisprudence, as the dissenting judges described it, has taken place in the most serious case of sexual and gender-based violence that has been decided upon by this court to date.”

The ruling could have implications for possible future convictions of commanding officers in other conflicts.

Bemba’s lawyer, Peter Haynes, welcomed the decision.

“It’s not some acquittal on a technicality,” he said. “They went to the very heart of a commander’s culpability, namely his responsibility to ensure that when put in the knowledge of crimes he takes steps to investigate them and punish them.”

Bemba was the most senior suspect convicted by the global court and his 18-year sentence was the highest handed down in the court’s history.

Bemba, wearing a suit and tie, showed little emotion as Presiding Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert reversed his convictions. Bemba’s supporters in the packed public gallery were not so reserved; they cheered, whistled and hugged one another for so long that Van den Wyngaert threatened to halt proceedings if order was not restored.

The appeals chamber, in a 3-2 majority ruling, said the trial chamber “erred in its evaluation of Mr. Bemba’s motivation and the measures that he could have taken in light of the limitations he faced in investigating and prosecuting crimes as a remote commander sending troops to a foreign country.”

The appeals chamber also said Bemba was wrongly convicted for crimes that were not even included in the charges against him.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 42/93 EC T

The two judges who disagreed wrote a dissenting opinion in which they said the acquittals were based on “an incorrect standard of appellate review,” the court said.

Bemba was found guilty in 2016 as a military commander of two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes for a campaign of murder, rape and pillaging by his troops, known as the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, in 2002 and 2003.

He denied responsibility for the crimes. He was sentenced in 2016 to 18 years in prison.

Bemba has been in custody at the ICC for nearly a decade after authorities in Belgium arrested him there in 2008 and sent him to The Hague.

Van den Wyngaert said Bemba would not immediately be released because a separate panel of ICC judges is still considering what sentence he should be given in a conviction for interfering with witnesses in his trial. She urged that trial panel to quickly decide whether he should be set free.

The court scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to discuss the issue.

Haynes, the lawyer, was angry that Bemba was not released immediately.

“I think that is unacceptable. It is immoral and it may even be illegal,” he told reporters.

Bemba, a former Congolese senator and vice president, was the commander of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo when he was asked in 2002 and 2003 to send troops by President Ange-Felix Patasse in neighboring Central African Republic, or CAR.

At the time of his original conviction, judges said that women, girls and men were targeted by Bemba’s forces, often with multiple soldiers raping women and girls in front of family members. In one incident, a man’s wife was gang-raped and when he protested he, too, was raped at gunpoint.

Friday’s ruling does not mean those crimes did not take place, but that Bemba cannot be held criminally responsible for them.

Solomon Sacco, head of Amnesty International’s international justice team, said “the decision will be felt as a huge blow for the many victims of the ‘war against women’ waged in the Central African Republic through a horrifying campaign of rape and sexual violence.”

“5,229 survivors of Bemba’s atrocities participated in the ICC proceedings — for these brave individuals, as well as thousands of other victims in CAR, the pursuit of truth, justice and reparations will continue,” he said.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 43/93 EC T

Sacco said the ICC prosecutor’s office and judicial authorities in CAR “must learn from this decision and redouble their efforts to investigate and prosecute alleged perpetrators of crimes under international law.”

Karine Bonneau of the International Federation for Human Rights slammed Friday’s decision.

“Twenty years after its creation, has the ICC just scuttled itself?” she said in a statement. “Delivering this judgment, it seems to say to the warlords: ‘As long as you are not on the scene, let your troops commit the worst crimes and the worst abominations, say that you have nothing to do with that and we will not condemn you.’”

It remains to be seen what Bemba will do once he is released. Haynes said he likely would join his family in Belgium.

Prominent Congolese opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, speaking at an Atlantic Council event last month in Washington, said Bemba’s Movement for the Liberation of Congo was part of a new political alliance against President Joseph Kabila.

Frustration is rising in Congo against Kabila as the presidential election has been delayed since late 2016.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 44/93 EC T

13. Journalists For Justice https://www.jfjustice.net/fatou-bensouda-icc-prosecutor-on-fidh-and-the-role-of- ngos-at-the-court/complementarity/after-bemba-release-the-icc-is-a-court-with-a- heart-and-not-much-else

After Bemba release, the ICC is a court with a heart and not much else

Journalists for justice / 22 June 2018

By Brian Obara Jean-Pierre Bemba’s stunning acquittal and interim release after 10 years at the ICC detention centre in The Hague has shocked even the most seasoned observers of international criminal justice. Bemba’s release after the ICC's Appeals Chamber acquitted him of war crimes and crimes against humanity on June 8has unleashed an epic blamestorm that continues to churn.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 45/93 EC T

The ICC Prosecutor, in an unusually contentious statement put out on June 13, pointedly accused the Appeals Chamber of departing from previous jurisprudence and introducing “new, uncertain and untested standards.” Judge Eboe-Osuji, the President of the Court, took umbrage at Fatou Bensouda’s statement. Tact and civility have been thrown out the window even within the walls of the ICC itself. “When judges acquit or convict, it is because those core principles [set out under Article 45 of the Rome Statute] direct them to do so. And it is hoped that it is consideration of those core principles that should guide any post-judgment statements by a party or participant in the case,“ he tut-tutted in disapproval. Alex Whiting, currently professor at the Harvard Law School and formerly the Prosecutions Coordinator at the ICC, took aim at the appeal judgment in a long piece in Justice Security in which he accused the judges of turning “the ICC on its head with [the] Bemba decision”. Echoing Bensouda, he argued that imposing stricter rules on the confirmation of charges as endorsed by the Appeals Chamber meant that the Pre-Trial process at the ICC would come to resemble a “mini-trial.” Amnesty International was more conciliatory, going by the statement put out by its International Justice Team: “In our view the majority have taken an important step in this case towards clarifying the scope and requirements of the pre-trial process. If that makes the work of the OTP more difficult, then so be it,” they wrote in a blog post that also called for an end to the self-destructive sniping. Undermining the Bemba Appeal judgment does not help the court’s optics, especially with the Rome Statute’s 20thanniversary coming up on 17th July. You are not forgotten On social media and in the blogosphere, public sentiment suggests the Office of The Prosecutor (OTP) and the ICC's Appeals Chamber deserve a “plague on both your houses” telling-off for readily apparent andcomplex shortcomings that have resulted in a situation where victims in the Central African Republic (CAR) have not received any meaningful justice after a decade of expensive investigations and litigation. For Joyce Wangui, who wrote and reported n the Bemba trial extensively, the disillusionment, especially for victims of sexual crimes, is palpable: “I am deeply concerned about the victims of rape and sexual violence. As a journalist, I shared in their sigh of relief and hope for justice. In my view, Bemba’s acquittal reverses the gains made in the pursuit of accountability for sexual crimes, considering the immense resources devoted to this case,” said Wangui. Kelly-Jo Bluen, a doctoral degree candidate at the London School of Economics, says Bemba’s acquittal has shaken up the world of international criminal law but maintains that it also offers an opportunity to reorder things for the better while the pieces are in flux: “An acquittal is a legitimate outcome of a fair trial, where the rights of the accused must be respected. What needs to be addressed are the ways in which the type of justice provided is framed by both the Court, and by groups surrounding it. It is often presented as providing ‘victim-centric justice’, but, as this trial illustrates, the legal status of victims is tethered to the status of the alleged perpetrator,” says Bluen.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 46/93 EC T

“Over 5,000 victims who experienced grave harm participated in the trial. The acquittal does not invalidate their experiences, but the ways in which both justice and victims are framed at the Court risks doing so,” she adds. Dr Yassin Brunger saw the shortcomings in the Bemba trial from a mile away. Brunger, an expert on the prosecution of gender based and sexual violence in crimes in Africa, wrote about the danger of expectations freighted on the outcome of the Bemba trial in 2016. Today, Brunger believes it’s critical for the ICC to show that it is not deflated by the outcome of the Bemba case: “The Court must renew its commitment to seeking accountability for [sexual and gender- based violence], build the cases, gather the evidence and learn from the hard lessons. Fundamentally, it must reassure victims of SGBV that this category of crimes will remain a priority, notwithstanding the Bemba case. Additionally, whatever the outcome of any case, the Court must be unequivocal about continuing to support victims and ensure that those who have participated in the process are not forgotten in the aftermath of an acquittal or a conviction. That message has to be non-negotiable.” The ICC’s Trust Fund for Victims is certainly playing the right mood music. Days after Bemba’s acquittal, the TFV announced that it was launching a one-million-euro ($1.18- million fund appeal for victims in the CAR. “The Trust Fund for Victims wishes to assure the victims in the Bemba case and other victims who have suffered harm in the CAR I situation: You are not forgotten. The harms you have suffered are recognized and urgently call for a meaningful response,” read a statement released by the TFV. The ICC, as expected, is trying its hardest to put a positive spin on things after Bemba’s acquittal. Unfortunately for the ICC, as the Rome Statute’s 20th birthday beckons, Bemba’s acquittal is just one of many factors contributing to a gloomy forecast for the court in Africa. A powerful mascot Much ink has been spilled on the ramifications of Bemba’s release on politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he was Vice President. Bemba was a force to reckon with politically before his detention at the ICC and is arguable even more so now. Regardless of how the politics pans out in the DRC, Bemba has all the bona fides to turn himself into a powerful mascot in the service of those forces within the African Union (AU) who have been preaching for years that the ICC doesn’t mean well for Africa. Paul Kagame, Omar al-Bashir, Yoweri Museveni and Pierre Nkurunziza can cast the ICC as “anti-African” as much as they want but their criticism always has an air of unreality to it because of who they are. Bemba would be more believable as an anti-ICC avatar because he has the hard-won scars to back it up. For the faction within the African Union that is reflexively against The Hague court, Bemba, as president of the DRC or not, is an anti-ICC spokesman straight out of central casting. Bemba’s acquittal and interim release has sparked talk that Laurent Gbagbo’s release is not far off. There is also a strong possibility that Dominic Ongwen’s trial could end in an acquittal because of his age at the time of his abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and pressing questions over his mental health.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 47/93 EC T

Should all of this come to pass then the ICC would be left with only a few limp trophies in its cells and its reputation irreparably in tatters. Adding to the ICC’s misery is the fact that it looks like South Africa, the most politically influential state on the continent, seems set again to try to withdraw from the Rome Statute. An earlier attempt under former President Jacob Zuma ran into legal difficulties but it appears that President Cyril Ramaphosa might just have all his ducks in a row. Justice Minister Michael Masutha has introduced the International Crimes Bill before the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services. The Bill’s passing would repeal the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act, 2002 and set the stage for South Africa’s exit from the ICC. All this is happening in the context of African Union’s push to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on head of state immunity. Should the AU not get its way at the ICJ, it’s easy to foresee the continent again talking up the possibility of withdrawing en masse from the ICC. None of these are sure-fire certainties but if Bemba’s acquittal has taught us anything, it’s that anything and everything is possible regarding the ICC. The Hague Court has a lot of heart, as shown by its willingness to give some recompense to victims in the CAR despite Bemba’s acquittal, but little else seems to be going the ICC’s way.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 48/93 EC T

14. National Post https://nationalpost.com/news/icc-to-deliver-appeals-ruling-in-former-congo-vp- conviction

Former Congo VP Bemba acquitted of convictions of rape and murder by appeal judges

It was a setback to ICC prosecutors by scrapping all the convictions in the court's first trial to focus largely on sexual violence and on command responsibility

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 49/93 EC T

convictions in the court's first trial to focus largely on sexual violence and on command responsibility - the legal principle that a commanding officer can be held responsible for crimes committed by his or her troops or for failing to prevent or punish the crimes.Michael Kooren / AP

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — In a blow to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court and to victims of rape and murder in a conflict-ravaged African nation, appeals judges on Friday overturned the convictions of former Congolese Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba for atrocities committed by his forces in Central African Republic.

The ruling could have implications for possible future convictions of commanding officers in other conflicts.

Bemba’s lawyer, Peter Haynes, welcomed the decision.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 50/93 EC T

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 51/93 EC T

15. Yahoo! News https://news.yahoo.com/congolese-warlord-faces-verdict-war-crimes-appeal-

035126990.html?guccounter=1

ICC acquits DR Congo's Bemba on appeal

Jan HENNOP, AFP • June 8, 2018

Bemba, seen here in 2009, had been handed an 18-year term for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The verdict was overturned on appeal on Friday (AFP Photo/ED OUDENAARDEN)

The Hague (AFP) - International war crimes judges Friday acquitted former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba on appeal, overturning an 18- year sentence for war crimes committed in the Central African Republic (CAR).

"Mr Bemba cannot be held criminally liable for the crimes committed by his troops in the Central African Republic," presiding judge Christine Van den Wyngaert told the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 52/93 EC T

"The Appeals Chamber in this instant reverses the conviction against Mr Bemba... and in relation to the remaining criminal acts it enters an acquittal," Van den Wyngaert said.

Bemba, 55, dressed in a blue-grey suit, light blue shirt and dark blue tie showed little emotion as the judge read the verdict, but his supporters exploded in cheers on the public gallery, prompting the judge to call them to order.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) capital of Kinshasa, Bemba's supporters erupted in joy as they watched the announcement on live TV, and cheering was even heard at the National Assembly, AFP reporters said.

In 2016, the ICC's judges had unanimously found Bemba -- nicknamed "Miniature Mobutu" -- guilty on five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for abuses committed by his troops during a five-month rampage in the neighbouring CAR.

The heavy-set leader had sent his militia, the Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) -- a rebel force that Bemba later transformed into a political organisation -- into the CAR in October 2002 to quash a coup against the then president, Ange-Felix Patasse.

At his sentencing in 2016, trial judges blamed Bemba for failing to stop a series of "sadistic and cruel" rapes and murders as well as pillaging by his soldiers.

The trial was the first before the ICC to focus on sexual violence as a weapon of war.

It was also the first to determine whether a military commander bore responsibility for the conduct of troops under his control.

- 'Erroneous conviction' -

But in a scathing assessment, the Hague-based ICC's appeal judges said Bemba was "erroneously" convicted for specific criminal acts.

Trial judges were also wrong in their finding that Bemba could in fact prevent crimes being committed by his MLC troops, they ruled.

"The trial chamber ignored significant testimonial evidence that Mr Bemba's ability to investigate and punish crimes in the CAR was limited," judge Van den Wyngaert said.

Bemba's lawyer Peter Haynes told journalists afterwards his client had been "vindicated."

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 53/93 EC T

The appeals judges' decision was "particularly significant because it's not some acquittal on a technicality. They went to the very heart of a commander’s culpability," Haynes said.

But the ICC's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called the acquittal "regrettable and troubling".

"Today's judgement does not deny that Mr Bemba's troops committed crimes which resulted in great suffering in the Central African Republic," Bensouda added.

Rights organisations also regretted the decision, with Amnesty International calling it a "huge blow to victims of the 'war against women' waged in the CAR through a horrifying campaign of rape and sexual violence."

- 'Immoral detention' -

Bemba nevertheless remains behind bars in a separate case in which he was sentenced to one year in jail for bribing witnesses and fined 300,000 euros ($350,000) during his main war crimes trial.

Bemba lost an appeal against that sentence, but the ICC still has to decide on a new jail sentence.

Judges will now meet Tuesday to discuss Bemba's continued detention, the ICC announced, saying "a decision will be made in due course."

Haynes said his client's continued incarceration was "unacceptable, immoral and may even be illegal."

Bemba had unsuccessfully opposed President Joseph Kabila in elections in 2006. After his militia clashed violently with government forces in 2007, he was forced out of the DRC but retains a groundswell of support.

His acquittal comes amid mounting tension in the runup to scheduled presidential elections on December 23.

Kabila was required to step down at the end of 2016 after he reached his two-term constitutional limit.

But a constitutional clause has allowed him to remain in office until his successor is elected. He has not stated whether he will run again, although the United States, France and Britain are appealing for him to step aside.

In Kinshasa, Bemba's supporters reacted with jubilation on Friday, buoyed by hopes of his return.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 54/93 EC T

"Our leader, we await you," some chanted.

"I weep for joy. Jean-Pierre Bemba was a dead man. He has just been revived," one said.

Opposition leader Moise Katumbi, who lives in exile, also offered his congratulations.

"His acquittal shows that truth will always be triumphant. To those who resort to bogus trials, this decision marks the start of a new era" for the DRC, he said in a tweet.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 55/93 EC T

B. OTHER NEGATIVE REPORTS ON MR. BEMBA’S ACQUITTAL

1. Libération

https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2018/06/09/acquittement-surprise-de-jean-pierre- bemba-a-la-cpi-echec-et-mat-pour-la-justice-internationale_1657720

Acquittement surprise de Jean Pierre Bemba à la CPI : échec et mat pour la justice internationale

Par Maria Malagardis — 9 juin 2018 à 14:04

En renversant radicalement la condamnation prononcée contre Jean-Pierre Bemba, leader et ex-chef de guerre congolais, la Cour d'appel de la Cour Penale Internationale sanctionne certaines approximations du dossier du procureur mais affaibli aussi la crédibilité de la justice internationale. Notamment aux yeux des nombreuses victimes qui avaient accepté de témoigner dans ce procés qui a duré huit ans.

 Acquittement surprise de Jean Pierre Bemba à la CPI : échec et mat pour la justice internationale

«C’est une tragédie, un revers incroyable», confie, quelque peu sonnée, Karine Bonneau de la Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), après l’annonce vendredi après-midi de l’acquittement de Jean- Pierre Bemba à la Cour Pénale Internationale (CPI) à La Haye. Une décision qui a aussitôt fait l’effet d’un coup de théâtre, accueillie par des cris de stupeur mais aussi des applaudissements dans la salle d’audience. Au moment précis où les juges de la Cour d’Appel ont totalement renversé le verdict prononcé contre ce même inculpé, il y a deux ans, le 21 mars 2016. Ce jour-là, Jean Pierre Bemba avait été condamné à 18 ans de prison, la peine alors la plus lourde jamais prononcée par la CPI. Bemba avait aussitôt fait appel mais personne n’aurait pu prédire que ce nouveau jugement aboutirait à un verdict aussi radicalement opposé, après huit ans de procès et dix ans d’emprisonnement pour Bemba.

Le choc est rude pour le bureau du procureur de la CPI qui avait fait de ce long procès un symbole. D’abord parce que l’accusé est un homme

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 56/93 EC T

puissant, le «premier gros poisson» en réalité, jamais arrêté par cette juridiction internationale en mai 2008. Dans son pays, la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), Bemba est en effet un homme qui compte, depuis longtemps : tour à tour, chef de guerre, vice-président du pays, candidat aux présidentielles, sénateur. C’est aussi un riche homme d’affaires, qui n’entrera en politique qu’après 1997 et la chute du Maréchal Mobutu auquel sa famille était liée. Sa milice armée, transformée par la suite en parti politique, le Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo (MLC) aurait commis de nombreuses exactions dans de lointaines provinces où Bemba s’est un temps replié. Reste que ce ne sont pas les crimes éventuellement commis dans son propre pays, qui lui étaient reprochés devant la CPI. Mais ceux, commis dans un pays voisin : en Centrafricain. En 2002, alors confiné au nord- est de la RDC, Bemba répond à l’appel à l’aide du président centrafricain Ange-Félix Patassé, alors confronté à une rébellion armée. Or à Bangui la capitale centrafricaine, le contingent du MLC va pendant plusieurs mois multiplier les atrocités : pillages systématiques, mais aussi viols et tortures. Les témoignages recueillis, dès cette époque, par la FIDH reflètent une sauvagerie et une cruauté sans limites qui méritent amplement le qualificatif de «crimes de guerres» et de «crimes contre l’humanité».

Mais qui est responsable ? Bemba ? A l’époque des faits, il n’est pas en Centrafricain, se contentant de «prêter» ses hommes à Patassé. Et en 2007, au moment où la CPI annonce l’ouverture d’une enquête le concernant, il est confronté à d’autres enjeux : devant fuir son pays, lorsque sa rivalité avec le président congolais Joseph Kabila tourne à la guerre ouverte. Moins d’un an plus tard, il est arrêté dans son exil bruxellois et envoyé à La Haye. Ses partisans crieront aussitôt au procès politique, ses avocats n’auront de cesse de rappeler son absence du lieu des crimes commis.

Du côté de la CPI en revanche, le cas Bemba apparaît bientôt comme une opportunité historique : pour sanctionner pour la première fois les violences sexuelles qui n’ont jamais pu être prouvées dans des jugements précédents. Et en imposant également la notion de «supériorité hiérarchique», celle qui rend les «chefs» comptables des exactions de leurs troupes sur le terrain. Même à distance. Reste à le prouver.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 57/93 EC T

«Bemba savait» affirme Karine Bonneau de la FIDH. «Ses troupes avaient déjà commis des exactions en RDC et il connaissait leur comportement. Par ailleurs, il a été plusieurs fois interpellé notamment par le président de la FIDH dès cette époque. Or jamais Bemba n’a sanctionné le moindre militaire», déplore-t-elle. Sauf que la CPI n’a pas non plus cherché à pousser les enquêtes sur les subordonnés qui se trouvaient sur place, se contentant, peut-être un peu vite, du cas symbolique de Bemba. Dont les arguments n’auraient pas été examinés avec l’attention requise, ont finalement estimé trois des cinq juges de la Cour d’appel pour justifier vendredi leur décision surprise. Laquelle évoque également d’autres lacunes, plus techniques, qui accablent au fond le bureau du procureur, très affaibli par cet échec retentissant : dix ans de procès pour rien. Mais les conséquences sont également dévastatrices pour les 5229 victimes centrafricaines qui avaient accepté de témoigner. Dans ce pays meurtri ensuite par tant d’autres tragédies et violences, la confiance dans la justice risque d’être largement, et pour longtemps, compromise. Quant à la RDC, la libération de Bemba risque de bouleverser la donne dans la perspective des prochaines présidentielles de décembre 2018. Lors d’un scrutin qui s’annonce sous tension, Bemba ne sera-t-il pas tenté de jouer les hommes providentiels face à Joseph Kabila ? Les cartes sont en tout cas désormais rebattues. Mais pour la justice internationale dans l’immédiat, c’est tout simplement : échec et mat.

Maria Malagardis

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 58/93 EC T

2. Le Monde https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2018/06/13/l-acquittement-de-jean-pierre- bemba-est-un-choc-pour-les-victimes-et-un-echec-pour-la-cpi_5314262_3212.html

Centrafrique : « L’acquittement de Jean-Pierre Bemba est un choc pour les victimes et un échec pour la CPI »

Pour Marceau Sivieude, de la FIDH, le chef de guerre congolais était bien au courant des crimes perpétrés par ses troupes en 2002 en Centrafrique.

Par Marceau Sivieude Publié le 13 juin 2018 à 12h58 - Mis à jour le 13 juin 2018 à 13h08

Temps de Lecture 4 min.

Jean-Pierre Bemba lors de son procès devant la Cour pénale internationale, en mars 2016, à La Haye. JERRY LAMPEN / AFP

Tribune. Vendredi 8 juin, trois juges sur cinq de la chambre d’appel de la Cour pénale internationale (CPI) décidaient l’acquittement de Jean-Pierre Bemba. Ils déchiraient ainsi le jugement en première instance qui avait condamné le chef de guerre et homme politique congolais à dix-huit ans de prison pour crimes contre l’humanité et crimes de guerre. Ces crimes ont été commis par les troupes de Bemba envoyées se battre en 2002 en Centrafrique, en soutien à un régime vacillant confronté à une rébellion.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 59/93 EC T

Lire aussi En Centrafrique, les souvenirs à vif des victimes des miliciens de Jean-Pierre Bemba

En 2002, j’ai fait partie de la mission de la Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’homme (FIDH) qui a enquêté en Centrafrique sur les crimes perpétrés contre les civils par toutes les parties au conflit. En pleine guerre, nous avions recueilli les témoignages de femmes, d’hommes et d’enfants, victimes ou témoins de viols collectifs, d’assassinats, de bombardements, de tirs à l’aveugle et de pillages, qui s’étaient trouvés sur le chemin des combattants. Si l’armée et les rebelles avaient commis leur lot de violations, les récits des atrocités commises par les mercenaires de Bemba étaient légion.

En l’absence de poursuites judiciaires au niveau national, l’ouverture d’une enquête de la CPI sur la situation en Centrafrique avait suscité l’espoir pour les victimes d’être enfin reconnues et entendues par une justice indépendante. C’était aussi une occasion pour la Cour de se saisir de cas de violences sexuelles – si souvent pratiquées comme arme de guerre dans les conflits. Une opportunité également d’établir une jurisprudence forte sur la responsabilité des supérieurs hiérarchiques qui envoient leurs troupes semer la mort parmi les civils, en toute impunité. Le verdict en appel a été un choc pour les victimes, dont plus de 5 000 avaient courageusement participé à la procédure devant la Cour.

Parodie de procédure

Des enseignements doivent être tirés de ce jugement. Tout d’abord, l’absolue nécessité du renforcement de la politique pénale du bureau de la procureure de la CPI. La FIDH avait en effet déploré qu’un seul mandat d’arrêt soit émis s’agissant des crimes commis en Centrafrique. Cette décision générait des interrogations sur l’étendue de l’enquête, laissait de côté de nombreuses victimes et revêtait un risque énorme en cas d’échec judiciaire. L’étonnement fut grand, par ailleurs, de voir que le mandat incriminait d’abord Bemba en tant qu’auteur direct des crimes et non en tant que supérieur hiérarchique. Une erreur rapidement rectifiée, mais qui questionnait à nouveau la politique pénale du procureur de l’époque.

Lire aussi La CPI ordonne la libération de Jean-Pierre Bemba

Ensuite, certaines conclusions de la chambre d’appel créent une jurisprudence qui risque d’entraver le mandat même de la CPI, à savoir le jugement des principaux responsables des crimes les plus graves. Les juges majoritaires ont considéré que Bemba ne pouvait pas être responsable des agissements criminels de ses troupes, car, bien qu’étant leur supérieur, il n’avait pas un contrôle effectif sur celles-ci, n’étant pas présent sur le théâtre des opérations. Pour eux, Bemba n’avait pas connaissance de la réalité des crimes commis et avait même bien agi en sanctionnant à l’époque certains de leurs auteurs.

Les deux juges qui ont exprimé une opinion dissidente ont, à raison, très vivement critiqué ce positionnement. Ils ont relevé l’évidence en affirmant que Bemba était bien au courant des crimes perpétrés par ses troupes, rappelant notamment la lettre écrite par Bemba au président de la FIDH dans laquelle il reconnaissait l’existence d’exactions. Ces juges ont mis en avant le fait que Bemba était en communication régulière avec ses commandants sur le terrain. Il recevait leurs rapports et leur donnait des ordres sur les opérations à mener. Quant à la

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 60/93 EC T

parodie de procédure que Bemba a diligentée contre certains de ses hommes, elle ne peut que démontrer le contrôle effectif exercé par celui-ci sur ses troupes.

Il faut renforcer la CPI

L’approche restrictive de la chambre d’appel concernant la responsabilité du supérieur hiérarchique est préoccupante en ce qu’elle vide cette responsabilité de son sens. Juger les principaux responsables des crimes de guerre, génocides et crimes contre l’humanité suppose de ne pas s’en tenir qu’aux exécutants mais bien de s’en prendre à ceux qui sont à leur tête, qui financent les opérations et donnent les ordres.

Si, dans cette affaire, on peut noter que les droits de la défense ont été parfaitement respectés (alors même que Bemba et certains de ses conseils ont été condamnés pour subornation de témoins…), ce verdict nourrira à n’en pas douter les dures critiques déjà émises contre la CPI, stigmatisant son incompétence ou sa partialité. Des critiques souvent portées par des Etats dont les forces armées sont responsables de graves violations des droits humains dans des situations de conflit et/ou qui ne sont pas parties à la CPI. Des critiques également issues d’Etats qui ne coopèrent pas avec la Cour ou qui ne lui donnent pas les moyens financiers adéquats pour renforcer ses enquêtes.

Lire aussi Débat sur la CPI : « C’est aux Africains de juger leurs monstres »

La CPI est une belle idée, une création historique et encore une jeune institution. Elle doit être une cour véritablement universelle pour lutter contre l’impunité quand les justices nationales sont défaillantes. Il faut indéniablement la renforcer pour éviter qu’elle ne disparaisse sous le flot des critiques, mais également pour qu’elle réponde véritablement aux espoirs fondés en elle par les victimes et familles de victimes des crimes les plus graves. Interviewée par la FIDH quand la CPI annonçait l’ouverture d’une enquête sur la situation en Centrafrique, une femme victime de violences sexuelles commises par les troupes de Bemba avait déclaré : « Je revis. »

Marceau Sivieude est directeur des opérations de la Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’homme (FIDH).

Marceau Sivieude

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 61/93 EC T

3. Libre Afrique http://www.libreafrique.org/Asmaa-Bassouri-CPI-Bemba-060718

CPI : L’acquittement de Bemba est-il légitime?

Véritable coup de théâtre, l'acquittement du congolais Jean-Pierre Bemba par la Cour Pénale Internationale (CPI), aura non seulement des conséquences dévastatrices sur les 5229 victimes présentes à son procès, mais infligera aussi un grave revers aux 10 années d'efforts du Bureau du Procureur pour instruire l'affaire. Tant les praticiens du droit international que les défenseurs des droits de l'Homme seront unanimement d'accord pour dire qu'il s'agit là d'un précédent regrettable pour une institution à vocation universelle et permanente, se voulant un modèle de l'administration de la justice internationale. La CPI a-t-elle finalement pris la bonne décision?

Bref historique de l’affaire

Procès symbole pour la CPI, l'affaire Bemba a été portée devant la Cour en mai 2008. Tenu comptable à La Haye pour les méfaits de sa milice ayant multiplié les sévices contre la population civile en République Centrafricaine, Bemba a été condamné en 2016 à 18 ans d'emprisonnement, pour ensuite être acquitté en appel deux ans plus tard. L'analyse de la décision de la Chambre d'Appel de la CPI laisse entrevoir deux motifs majeurs servant de base à cet acquittement: dépassement des charges confirmées, et erreur dans l'appréciation des mesures nécessaires et raisonnables que devait prendre Bemba pour stopper les exactions du MLC dont il est le chef. Et sans nullement prétendre interférer avec l'indépendance des juges, ni défier leur pouvoir souverain d'appréciation, nous pensons que le premier motif serait plutôt valable, tandis que le second serait un "forçage" des textes, qui au lieu de préciser davantage les méandres de la notion de responsabilité du supérieur hiérarchique (telle qu'initialement conçue en doctrine), va venir la flouter et la vider de sens.

Sur quoi repose d’acquittement ?

Relativement au premier motif, et pour des raisons évidentes, la condamnation ne peut se faire sur la base de chefs d'accusation en dehors de la portée des charges telles que confirmées. Pour rappel, le procès devant la CPI est un échelonnement d'étapes, dont celle de la confirmation des charges qui sert à délimiter les faits criminels qui feront l'objet des débats contradictoires devant les juges pour que ces derniers statuent. Cette délimitation se mesurant bien sûr à l'aptitude du Procureur à s'aménager les preuves nécessaires à l'appui des allégations criminelles qu'il avance. Une lecture des paragraphes 74 à 119 de la décision d'Appel explicite en quoi la condamnation excédait les charges confirmées[1]. Alors que Bemba comparaîtra devant les juges pour des charges de meurtre, viol et pillage, le Procureur va présenter plus tard en cours de procès des informations concernant d'autres allégations de faits criminels plus spécifiques, et que les juges vont retenir pour prononcer la condamnation de Bemba. En cela, l'erreur procédurale consistant à dépasser la portée des charges initialement confirmées pourrait justifier que l'on ne punisse Bemba que par rapports aux charges confirmées au départ. Seulement, est-ce que Bemba sera pour autant châtié par rapport aux crimes n'ayant aucunement dépassé les charges confirmées? Loin s'en faut! Il sera même acquitté et c'est là où le second motif avancé par les juges d'Appel prête à discussion.

En effet, les juges vont conclure à une erreur commise en première instance lors de l'examen pour savoir si M. Bemba avait pris les mesures nécessaires et raisonnables pour empêcher ou punir les crimes relevant de ses subordonnés, ou d'en référer aux autorités compétentes. La nouvelle (mais fort malheureuse) lecture ayant était faite de la notion de responsabilité pénale du supérieur hiérarchique pour les crimes de ses subalternes, crée un

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 62/93 EC T

précédent voulant que les contraintes rencontrées par le chef militaire éloigné de ses troupes déployées à l'étranger, lui suffisent de motif pour être exonéré. En d'autres termes, il suffit d'être absent des lieux des crimes pour que soit dégagée sa responsabilité, et que soit signée par là même une autorisation implicite de tuer, violer, piller... en toute impunité. Cet aspect d'impunité étant in fine ce qui scandalise le plus dans cette affaire. Il s'agit de crimes documentés, dont personne ne nie la commission, mais qui demeureront pourtant impunis. La manière de procéder des juges est intenable. D'une part, elle conduit à une sous-estimation de la responsabilité (normalement lourde) d'être à la tête d'un groupement armé. Car en acceptant le fardeau d'un grade militaire élevé, on accepte aussi l'obligation de veille et de vigilance en découlant relativement aux agissements de ses subalternes. Être limité dans sa capacité d'intervenir en cas de dérapages pourrait justifier une discussion quant au quatum de la peine mais non la suppression de celle-ci.

D'autre part, cela ruine la politique criminelle suivie par le Procureur, dans le sens où la CPI ne pouvant techniquement se livrer à la poursuite de tous les présumés auteurs des crimes d'une situation criminelle portée devant elle, elle va se limiter aux «gros poissons», nommément les personnes occupant le plus haut rang militaire et/ou politique, qui deviennent de ce fait les effigies des crimes en question. Or, dans l'affaire Bemba, le seul auteur identifié ne passera pas sous les fourches caudines de la justice internationale pénale parce qu'on a tout simplement allégé la critériologie pouvant engager sa responsabilité en tant que supérieur hiérarchique.

Doit-on plaider pour la suppression de la CPI ?

Critiquer la CPI ne revient nullement à plaider pour sa suppression. L'institution - et malgré ses travers et ses faiblesses- demeure un pilier incontournable de l'ordre international. Les juges doivent tirer une leçon de ce qui vient de se produire pour éviter la répétition. De même que la république centrafricaine, comme tous les États d'ailleurs qui sont membres à la CPI, doivent assumer le devoir premier qui est le leur, à savoir le jugement des criminels sur leur sol pour redonner ainsi au principe de complémentarité régissant la CPI ses lettres de noblesse. La juridiction de cette dernière étant en effet complémentaire de celle étatique, tout échec de la CPI serait volens nolens un échec de l'État qui faillit à son devoir originel de poursuite poussant la Cour, en tant que juridiction de dernier ressort, à se saisir.

Asmâa Bassouri, doctorante en droit international, Université Cadi Ayyad Marrakech (Maroc) - Le 6 juillet 2018

[1]International Criminal Court, Appeals Chamber, The Prosector v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, «Judgment on the appeal of Mr Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo against Trial Chamber III's "Judgment pursuant to Article 74 of the Statute"», ICC-01/05-01/08-3636-Red, 08/06/2018.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 63/93 EC T

4. JusticeInfo.net https://www.justiceinfo.net/en/tribunals/icc/37885-icc-prosecutor-says-bemba- acquittal-based-on-false-testimony.html

AFRICA >D.R. CONGO TRIBUNALS > ICC ICC PROSECUTOR SAYS BEMBA ACQUITTAL BASED ON FALSE TESTIMONY

JUL 05 2018 STÉPHANIE MAUPAS,CORRESPONDENT IN THE HAGUE, JUSTICEINFO.NET

2 min 24Approximate reading time As the International Criminal Court (ICC) prepared to hold a hearing this July 5 in a second, witness tampering case against Congolese Senator Jean-Pierre Bemba and his co-accused, the Prosecutor says his

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 64/93 EC T

acquittal in early June for crimes in the Central African Republic (CAR) was based partly on false testimonies.

48 hours before the witness tampering sentencing debates, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court filed a new deposition. Fatou Bensouda considers that witness tampering by the former Congolese vice-president had an impact on the acquittal decision of June 8. Whilst Bemba was acquitted of crimes against humanity and war crimes charges for rape, murder and looting committed by his forces in the CAR in 2002 and 2003, he remains guilty of tampering with 14 witnesses in the course of the trial. That guilty verdict against him and four others was confirmed on appeal in early March, but he has not yet been given a final sentence. In her latest document, the Prosecutor says that false testimonies influenced three of the five appeals court judges who pronounced Bemba’s acquittal.

“TOXIC EFFECT”

“To obtain Mr. Bemba’s acquittal, the convicted persons intentionally and irreversibly poisoned the evidentiary record of the Main Case with the testimony of false, scripted and tainted witnesses,” says Bensouda. “Once the record of a case is polluted with corrupt evidence and false testimony, there is no way of controlling the reach of their toxic effect. Here, that effect reached the appellate stage and affected at least a significant part of the Majority’s assessment and conclusions.”

In short, she says, “the convicted persons’ concerted and unlawful efforts may have ultimately succeeded, not at trial as originally intended, but at the appellate stage”. A few days after the appeals decision, the Prosecutor criticized it strongly in a press release, refusing to admit the weakness of her initial case file, and was called to order by the Court president. Bemba had been charged with command responsibility, not for ordering the crimes committed by his troops, but for failing to prevent or punish them. The trial court rejected Bemba’s attempts to show that he did punish his soldiers.

BEMBA’S POLITICAL FUTURE

The trial chamber deemed at the time that Bemba was acting in bad faith, to satisfy the international community. But the appeals chamber considered that the Prosecutor had failed to prove bad faith. Bensouda, however, says the appeals judges “tacitly” accepted the narrative advanced by “scripted and tainted Defence witnesses”. She therefore calls for the maximum 5-year jail sentence and a “substantial fine” for Bemba, his lawyer at the time Aimé Kilolo and defence associate Jean-

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 65/93 EC T

Jacques Mangenda. The sentences against the two other accused, Congolese parliamentarian Fidèle Babala and witness Narcisse Arido were already confirmed in March.

If the judges impose a fine, it will be paid to the ICC Trust Fund for Victims, which has promised to set up an assistance programme for victims of the 2002-2003 war who will not now obtain reparations. In a memorandum filed before the acquittal, Bemba’s lawyers called for a sentence not exceeding one year in jail and a 300,000 Euro fine. As for Kilolo, he called for confirmation of the 11-month sentence, which he has already served in preventive detention, and 30,000 Euro fine. Jean- Pierre Bemba has already spent more than 10 years in the prison in Scheveningen. But the judges consider that he has spent some four years in preventive detention for the witness tampering (since he was charged). On June 16 he was freed and allowed to join his family in Brussels, after the judges ordered his interim release. Since his acquittal, there has been much speculation about his political future in Kinshasa, which he left after being beaten by Joseph Kabila in the November 2006 presidential elections. His supporters hope he will return for the Congress of his MLC party scheduled for mid-July.

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 66/93 EC T

II. TWITTER https://twitter.com/RTTRimpunity/status/1016214750999515137

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 67/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/PhilipGrant40/status/1014530674605412352

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 68/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/PhilipGrant40/status/1014531727337967616

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 69/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/Barrie_Sander/status/1007558934616526848

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 70/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/Barrie_Sander/status/1006500526614286336

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 71/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/KAlexaKoenig/status/1007411054270296064

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 72/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/LucaFerro_Ghent/status/1007512291506642945

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 73/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/dkwere/status/1008953737505923072

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 74/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/ktseelinger/status/1009811619726143488

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 75/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/MariaMingoJ/status/1014489676789501952

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 76/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/kiphale/status/1014418198316376065

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 77/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/kiphale/status/1017389064461271040

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 78/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/carstenstahn/status/1006920452906897408

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 79/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/Karine_Bonneau_/status/1006511262702931969

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 80/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/JFJustice/status/1006107135669829632

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 81/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/HicksGarcia/status/1005372772686745600

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 82/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/Sam_hanryon/status/1005357058454114305

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 83/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/Justice_Intl/status/1005153726368280576

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 84/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/fidh_en/status/1005132610631294980

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 85/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/fidh_fr/status/1005148313476321282

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 86/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/fidh_fr/status/1005167621497589762

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 87/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/fidh_en/status/1005897675953377280

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 88/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/Karine_Bonneau_/status/1005098985458163712

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 89/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/Karine_Bonneau_/status/1005150797905219584

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 90/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/Karine_Bonneau_/status/1006511262702931969

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 91/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/MS_Chebat/status/1005178458580897792

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 92/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/ClementBoursin/status/1006485274120146944

ICC-01/05-01/08-3673-AnxE 08-03-2019 93/93 EC T

https://twitter.com/LA_Bagnetto/status/1019224829071904768