Gender Report Card on the International Criminal ... - YWCA Canada

Trial Proceedings
The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo
234
The ICC’s third trial, The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre
Bemba Gombo, commenced on 22 November
2010 before Trial Chamber III. 1390 The trial against
Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (Bemba), the only trial
to date arising from the CAR Situation, is the
first against a high-profile political and military
figure, and the first in which the accused is
charged with command responsibility under
Article 28(a) of the Rome Statute, including
for gender-based crimes. Bemba faces two
counts of crimes against humanity (murder 1391
and rape 1392 ) and three counts of war crimes
(murder, 1393 rape 1394 and pillaging 1395 ) for his
alleged responsibility, as military commander,
for crimes committed by the MLC in the CAR.
Bemba, reportedly one of the wealthiest men
in Congo, is a Congolese national and a wellknown
political figure who served as one of four
Vice Presidents of the DRC in its transitional
government from 2003–2006. Bemba ran in the
2006 Presidential election in the DRC, but came
second, behind incumbent President Joseph
Kabila. 1396 Bemba is the founder and former
President and Commander-in-Chief of the MLC.
In 2002, CAR President Ange-Félix Patassé invited
the MLC into the CAR to help him suppress an
attempted coup by a rebel movement led by
François Bozizé, former Chief-of-Staff of the CAR
armed forces. It was in this context that the MLC
forces were alleged to have entered the CAR
in October 2002 and launched a campaign of
rape, pillaging and murder against the civilian
population.
1390 Trial Chamber III is composed of Presiding Judge Sylvia
Steiner (Brazil), Judge Joyce Aluoch (Kenya) and Judge
Kuniko Ozaki (Japan).
1391 Article 7(1)(a).
1392 Article 7(1)(g).
1393 Article 8(2)(c)(i).
1394 Article 8(2)(e)(vi).
1395 Article 8(2)(e)(v).
1396 Carayannis, T. ‘Elections in the DRC: The Bemba Surprise’,
United States Institute of Peace, Special <strong>Report</strong> 200,
February 2008, available at , last visited on 3 November 2011.
The trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo breaks
new ground for the ICC, with evidence of
sexual violence and charges for gender-based
crimes comprising a significant part of the
Prosecution’s case. This trial also involves the
largest number of witnesses for sexual violence
in any case before the ICC to date, with 14 out
of 40 prosecution witnesses, including two
expert witnesses, 1397 set to testify about rape
and other forms of sexual violence committed
by the MLC militia. As stated by Brigid Inder,
Executive Director of the Women’s Initiatives for
<strong>Gender</strong> Justice, upon the commencement of the
trial: ‘The Bemba trial presents an opportunity
for the Court to say firstly to women, that
crimes of sexual violence are important enough
to prosecute those who commit such acts;
and secondly to leaders of armed forces and
militias, that should they fail to prevent or
punish subordinates for gender-based crimes,
they will be held accountable.’ 1398 In addition,
the Bemba case includes the highest number
of victim participants in any case before the
Court to date. As described in more detail in
the Victim Participation section of this <strong>Report</strong>,
a total of 1,619 victims have been accepted
to participate in this case to date, amounting
to more than 50% of all victim participants
accepted across all Situations and cases since
2005. 1399
In the request for Bemba’s Arrest Warrant, 1400 the
Prosecution sought a broad range of charges of
gender-based crimes. Charges were originally
1397 ICC-01/05-01/08-793; ICC-01/05-01/08-812; ICC-01/05-
01/08-891; see also <strong>Gender</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>Card</strong> 2010, p 115.
1398 ‘Statement by the Women’s Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong> Justice
on the Opening of the ICC Trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba
Gombo’, Women’s Initiatives for <strong>Gender</strong> Justice, 22
November 2010, available at .
1399 According to figures provided by the VPRS by email dated
14 September 2011.
1400 ICC-01/05-01/08-26.