Bogoro attack
Encyclopedia
The assault on Bogoro, which occurred on February 24, 2003, was an attack on the village of Bogoro in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC) by the Nationalist and Integrationist Front
(FNI) and the Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri
(FRPI). The attackers allegedly went on an "indiscriminate killing spree", killing at least 200 civilian
s, imprisoning survivors in a room filled with corpses, and sexually enslaving women and girls. Two rebel leaders, Germain Katanga
and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, have been charged by the International Criminal Court
with war crime
s and crimes against humanity
over their alleged role in planning the attack.
between the Lendu
, Ngiti
and Hema
ethnic groups. The Hema-dominated Union of Congolese Patriots
(UPC) seized control of Bunia
, the district capital, in August 2002.
Bogoro was a strategically important town on the road between Bunia and the border with Uganda, with a UPC military camp in the middle of the town. The attack aimed to drive the UPC from Bogoro, but it also appeared to be a "reprisal operation against the Hema civilian population". It was part of a plan by Lendu and Ngiti rebels to attack predominantly Hema villages in preparation for an assault on Bunia.
— attacked Bogoro with machetes, spears, arrows, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, rocket launchers and semi-automatic weapons. According to the ICC, they circled the village and "converged towards the centre on a killing spree", killing at least 200 civilian
s, imprisoning survivors in a room filled with corpses, and sexually enslaving women and girls. Some residents of the village were killed by setting their houses on fire, others were hacked to death with machete
s. The UN reported that 173 of the victims were under the age of 18.
UPC leader Thomas Lubanga
claimed that 400 people were killed and 500 were missing after the attack. "The civilian population was very, very coldly massacred," he said.
The attack succeeded in pushing UPC forces out of Bogoro within a few hours and, ten days later, the Lendu and Ngiti drove the UPC from Bunia.
(ICC). In July 2007, the Court found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that two rebel leaders, Germain Katanga
and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, bore individual criminal responsibility for war crime
s and crimes against humanity
committed during the Bogoro attack, and issued sealed warrants for their arrest. Both men were charged with six counts of war crimes (willful killing; inhuman treatment or cruel treatment; using children under the age of fifteen years to participate actively in hostilities
; sexual slavery
; intentionally directing attacks against civilians; and pillaging) and three counts of crimes against humanity (murder
, inhumane acts and sexual slavery). They are alleged to have ordered their fighters to "wipe out" the village of Bogoro.
Katanga, who had been held by the Congolese authorities since March 2005, was transferred to the ICC in October 2007. Ngudjolo was arrested by the Congolese authorities on 6 February 2008 and surrendered to the ICC. The two men will be tried jointly; the hearing to confirm the charges against them began on 27 June 2008.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
(DRC) by the Nationalist and Integrationist Front
Nationalist and Integrationist Front
The Nationalist and Integrationist Front is a Lendu rebel group active in the Ituri conflict in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FNI has fought against the Hema tribe and is blamed for the ambush and murder of nine MONUC peacekeepers near the town of Kafe in February 2005...
(FNI) and the Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri
Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri
The Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri is a Beni-based armed militia and political party in the Ituri Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The FRPI was established in November 2002 from the Ngiti ethnic group as an ally to the Lendu Nationalist and Integrationist Front...
(FRPI). The attackers allegedly went on an "indiscriminate killing spree", killing at least 200 civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s, imprisoning survivors in a room filled with corpses, and sexually enslaving women and girls. Two rebel leaders, Germain Katanga
Germain Katanga
Germain Katanga , also known as Simba, is a former leader of the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri . On 17 October 2007, the Congolese authorities surrendered him to the International Criminal Court to stand trial on six counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity...
and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, have been charged by the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
with war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s and crimes against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
over their alleged role in planning the attack.
Background
Bogoro is a village in Ituri Province, in the north-east of the DRC. Between 1999 and 2003, Ituri was the scene of a violent conflictIturi Conflict
The Ituri conflict is a conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo . While there have been many phases to the conflict, the most recent armed clashes ran from 1999 to 2003, with a low-level...
between the Lendu
Lendu
The Lendu, or Balendru, are an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, in particular the Ituri region of Orientale province. Their language is one of the most populous of the Central Sudanic languages...
, Ngiti
Ngiti
The Ngiti, or South Lendu, is an ethnolinguistic group located in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ngiti speakers call their language Ndruna. As of 1991, the Ngiti numbered 100,000 located in the Irumu territory south of Bunia...
and Hema
Hema people
The Hema, or Hima, are an ethnic group with about 160,000 members located in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, in particular the Ituri region and Orientale province, as well as parts of Uganda and Rwanda...
ethnic groups. The Hema-dominated Union of Congolese Patriots
Union of Congolese Patriots
The Union of Congolese Patriots is an armed group in Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were in 2003 said to be 15000 soldiers . It has carried out numerous attacks upon civilians and other serious human rights abuses in pursuit of its policies...
(UPC) seized control of Bunia
Bunia
Bunia is a city in Democratic Republic of the Congo and is the headquarters of Ituri Interim Administration in the Ituri region of Orientale Province....
, the district capital, in August 2002.
Bogoro was a strategically important town on the road between Bunia and the border with Uganda, with a UPC military camp in the middle of the town. The attack aimed to drive the UPC from Bogoro, but it also appeared to be a "reprisal operation against the Hema civilian population". It was part of a plan by Lendu and Ngiti rebels to attack predominantly Hema villages in preparation for an assault on Bunia.
Attack
On 24 February 2003, hundreds of FNI and FRPI fighters — including children under the age of fifteenMilitary use of children
The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...
— attacked Bogoro with machetes, spears, arrows, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, rocket launchers and semi-automatic weapons. According to the ICC, they circled the village and "converged towards the centre on a killing spree", killing at least 200 civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
s, imprisoning survivors in a room filled with corpses, and sexually enslaving women and girls. Some residents of the village were killed by setting their houses on fire, others were hacked to death with machete
Machete
The machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
s. The UN reported that 173 of the victims were under the age of 18.
UPC leader Thomas Lubanga
Thomas Lubanga
Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is a former rebel leader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo . He founded and led the Union of Congolese Patriots and was a key player in the Ituri conflict...
claimed that 400 people were killed and 500 were missing after the attack. "The civilian population was very, very coldly massacred," he said.
The attack succeeded in pushing UPC forces out of Bogoro within a few hours and, ten days later, the Lendu and Ngiti drove the UPC from Bunia.
International Criminal Court proceedings
In March 2004, the DRC government referred the situation in the country to the International Criminal CourtInternational Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
(ICC). In July 2007, the Court found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that two rebel leaders, Germain Katanga
Germain Katanga
Germain Katanga , also known as Simba, is a former leader of the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri . On 17 October 2007, the Congolese authorities surrendered him to the International Criminal Court to stand trial on six counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity...
and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, bore individual criminal responsibility for war crime
War crime
War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...
s and crimes against humanity
Crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Explanatory Memorandum, "are particularly odious offenses in that they constitute a serious attack on human dignity or grave humiliation or a degradation of one or more human beings...
committed during the Bogoro attack, and issued sealed warrants for their arrest. Both men were charged with six counts of war crimes (willful killing; inhuman treatment or cruel treatment; using children under the age of fifteen years to participate actively in hostilities
Military use of children
The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...
; sexual slavery
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
; intentionally directing attacks against civilians; and pillaging) and three counts of crimes against humanity (murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, inhumane acts and sexual slavery). They are alleged to have ordered their fighters to "wipe out" the village of Bogoro.
Katanga, who had been held by the Congolese authorities since March 2005, was transferred to the ICC in October 2007. Ngudjolo was arrested by the Congolese authorities on 6 February 2008 and surrendered to the ICC. The two men will be tried jointly; the hearing to confirm the charges against them began on 27 June 2008.
External links
- The Prosecutor v Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui — public court records relating to the ICC trial