Comment: Bemba is ICC's Biggest Fish

With the May 24 arrest of Jean-Pierre Bemba, the International Criminal Court, ICC, has finally netted a suspect who carries real weight.



Bemba – the former military leader and head of the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo, MLC, and at one point vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC – is undoubtedly the Hague-based court’s biggest fish so far.



Prosecutors say Bemba is responsible for four counts of war crimes and two counts of crimes against humanity committed between October 2002 and March 2003, when MLC troops were active in the Central African Republic, CAR, supporting the country’s then president Ange-Félix Patassé against rebel forces.



Victims, lawyers and non-government groups were rightly enthusiastic about the arrest, since the MLC troops Bemba commanded are accused of brutal crimes including rape, torture, murder and systematic looting during their stay in CAR.



But there was also disappointment, with some civil society activists complaining that the ICC indictment should also have included crimes committed in DRC, notably in Mambasa in the eastern province of Ituri. MLC troops there were accused of cannibalism, forcing others to engage in cannibalism, and crimes including rape and torture in 2002.



Bemba’s MLC was naturally unhappy with the arrest and came out in support of its leader. Some in the party suggested he could not be held accountable for the actions of his troops, arguing that as long as they were in CAR, command responsibility lay with Patassé and his generals.



An MLC representative told Belgian television that although Bemba might bear moral responsibility, he was not guilty, and suggested that the court look instead at Patassé, who is now in exile in Togo. He acknowledged that some MLC troops committed crimes in CAR but said they were punished by the party at the time.



Bemba’s lawyers also lambasted the detention of their client. They say he was denied access to legal advice during his interrogation in Belgium.



They also argued that there was no justification for holding him in custody as he had no intention of trying to escape justice.



Launched on May 16, the arrest warrant against Bemba was kept secret in case he fled to DRC. That would have complicated his arrest and transfer to the court, and there was a risk that he would have fled into the country’s vast forests.



Bemba was arrested by the Belgian authorities on May 24 at his home in a Brussels suburb.



Though it sent shockwaves through Congo, the unexpected arrest would have resonated even more strongly if the ICC had made its move in while he was still the country’s vice-president; he held the post from 2003 to 2006. Today, he is a shadow of his former political self.



However, the arrest nevertheless hit the Congolese political classes like an earthquake, with implications both for DRC and CAR.



It is hard to ignore the fact that Bemba was the main opponent to President Joseph Kabila during the 2006 election. With his arrest, he is off the political scene and we are now in a situation where the opposition to Kabila is weakened.



In Kinshasa, the ICC’s action will be seen as a gift to Kabila that further reinforces his power base.



There are also fears that his arrest could hamper the peace process in the east by driving the likes of Laurent Nkunda, a dissident militia commander in Ituri, away from the negotiating table for fear of being prosecuted after agreeing to disarm.



That is not the case. The warlords will face justice – either national or international – one day. As the saying goes, “Our deeds follow us forever.” Bemba’s arrest proves this is true.



Congolese everywhere are talking about the case, about its politicisation, and about what some regard as treachery by Belgium. Some believe the Belgians surrendered Bemba to the ICC as a sacrifice to improve diplomatic relations with Kinshasa, which have been tense recently.



In fact, the ICC acted independently, free of any external influence.



Although international justice might appear discriminatory and sometimes unfair, this criticism also applies to Congolese national justice that is also discriminatory in whom it prosecutes.



All eyes are now turned towards Lomé, where Patassé is based, and Tripoli, where his ally Abdoulaye Miskine is staying.



One can understand the position of Congolese who think the court should also have issued an arrest warrant against Patassé and that it does not make sense to prosecute one without the other. It was Patassé who brought in the combatants of the MLC, and this could make him an accomplice to the crimes of which Bemba is accused.



Yet Patassé could find still himself in The Hague. The prosecutor has already said this arrest warrant is the first in the CAR, but not the last. It is very likely his detention will pave the way for others.



We have now seen that with cooperation from states that have signed the Rome Statute, the court can hit higher and harder. Despite the ICC’s slow pace of action to date and other difficulties, its fight against impunity is welcome.



The main challenge now for the ICC is to keep on prosecuting alleged perpetrators of war crimes, even when they are still in power.



Eugène Bakama Bope is president of Friends of the Law in Congo.