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International court sentences Congo warlord to 30 years

Published:Thursday | November 7, 2019 | 9:30 AM
Congolese militia commander Bosco Ntaganda enters the courtroom of the International Criminal Court to hear the sentence in his trial in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, November 7, 2019. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court passed its highest ever sentence Thursday, sending a Congolese warlord known as “The Terminator” to prison for 30 years for crimes including murder, rape and sexual slavery.

Bosco Ntaganda was found guilty in July of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role as a military commander in atrocities in a bloody ethnic conflict in a mineral-rich region of Congo in 2002-2003.

Ntaganda showed no emotion as Presiding Judge Robert Fremr passed sentences ranging from eight years to 30 years for individual crimes and an overarching sentence of 30 years.

The court’s maximum sentence is 30 years, although judges also have the discretion to impose a life sentence. Lawyers representing victims in the case had called for a life term.

Fremr said that despite the gravity of the crimes and Ntaganda’s culpability, his convictions “do not warrant a sentence of life imprisonment.”

Ida Sawyer, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Africa division, welcomed the ruling.

 “Bosco Ntaganda’s 30-year sentence sends a strong message that even people considered untouchable may one day be held to account,” Sawyer said. “While his victims’ pain cannot be erased, they can take some comfort in seeing justice prevail.”

Ntaganda, who has always insisted he is innocent, became a symbol for widespread impunity in Africa in some seven years between first being indicted by the global court and finally turning himself in 2013 as his powerbase fell apart.

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