Case: Germain Katanga
Germain Katanga (also known as "Simba")
Position Alleged commander of the Force de résistance patriotique en Ituri (FRPI)
Charges Allegedly criminally responsible for three counts of crimes against humanity and six counts of war crimes
Status Trial concluded and judges deliberating verdict; in detention at the ICC
Summary
The case against Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui was the ICC's second. The individual cases were joined into a single case because of the suspects' alleged joint criminal participation in the attack on the village of Bogoro. In November 2012 the trial judges severed the case into two and announced that they would render a verdict against Katanga at a later date and based on charges separate from those against Ngudjolo. Katanga is accused of having deliberately planned, orchestrated, and ordered their respective troops to execute their plan to attack and wipe out Bogoro, in the resource rich Ituri district of the DRC on February 24, 2004. Bogoro was a village controlled by the UPC, a rival of both the FRPI and the FNI.
According to the OTP, on February 24, 2004, Katanga and his 1,000 FRPI soldiers entered the village of Bogoro. 300 FNI soldiers also joined the attack and Ngudjolo gave them instructions over the radio. The village was completely destroyed and pillaged. At least 200 civilians were killed. Many women were raped and forced into sexual slavery. Many civilians were locked and some killed inside the Bogoro Institute which was already full of dead bodies of other civilians who were killed that day. The militia forced civilians to call out to others in hiding, who were killed when they showed themselves. The militia used children under the age of 15 who were trained in the FRPI and FNI camps to commit these crimes. After the attack, Katanga and Ngudjolo joined their troops in the village to celebrate their victory.
- The Case of the Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chiu at the ICC, by Aurélie Coppin (August 25, 2008)
- ICC-OTP, Combined Factsheet on Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui (February 7, 2008)
Timeline
October 17, 2007 Katanga is arrested and transferred by DRC authorities to the ICC based on a sealed arrest warrant issued on July 2, 2007.
March 10, 2008 Pre-Trial Chamber joins the cases of The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and The Prosecutor v. Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui into a single case.
June 27-July 16, 2008 Pre-Trial Chamber conducts a confirmation of charges hearing.
September 26, 2008 Pre-Trial Chamber confirms most of the charges against Katanga and Ngudjolo. A public redacted version of the decision is published on September 30, 2008.
October 24, 2008 Case is referred to Trial Chamber II which sets a trial date of September 24, 2009.
June 12, 2008 Trial Chamber dismisses a challenge by Katanga that the case against him is inadmissible. This decision is upheld by the Appeals Chamber on September 25, 2009.
November 24, 2009 Trial of Katanga and Ngudjolo begins.
December 8, 2010 Prosecutor finishes presenting his case.
May 23, 2012 Defense concludes the presentation of its case. Following 240 hearings, the judges begin deliberations on the verdict.
November 21, 2012 Trial Chamber II announces that it will sever the charges of the two defendants, rendering the first its verdict against Ngudjolo on Decemeber 18. The verdict against Katanga will be issued later and based on separate charges.
March 27, 2013 The Appeals chamber dismisses an appeal by Katanga against the Trial Chamber's decision to possibly change the legal characterization of the case.
More Resources
Open Society Justice Initiative's International War Crimes Trials Monitoring project:
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