This archive report was first published on 7 November 2019.
Congolese Warlord Sentenced to 30 Years for War Crimes ¶
On Thursday, Bosco Ntaganda, a 46-year-old Congolese warlord known as “the Terminator,” was sentenced to 30 years in prison by an international court in The Hague for war crimes including murder, rape, and sexual slavery.
The sentence was the highest ever handed down by the International Criminal Court, and it marked a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for the victims of Ntaganda's atrocities.
Ntaganda was found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in July of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the bloody ethnic conflict in the mineral-rich Ituri region of Congo in 2002-03.
Ida Sawyer, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa division, welcomed the ruling, saying, “Bosco Ntaganda’s 30-year sentence sends a strong message that even people considered untouchable may one day be held to account.”
Ntaganda's career spanned almost 20 years of fighting, first in Rwanda and then in an array of rebel groups vying for control of the coveted region of eastern Congo. He served as a general in the Congolese Army and as the deputy chief of staff and commander of operations for the rebel group the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo.
According to the prosecution, Ntaganda was one of the most ruthless and cruel of Congo’s rebel leaders, responsible for conscripting children and using them as soldiers, as well as forcing female fighters into sexual slavery.
The court in The Hague first issued an arrest warrant for Ntaganda in 2006 and another in 2012, but he lived openly, seemingly untouchable, until he unexpectedly arrived at the United States Embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2013 and asked to be turned over to the international court.
