Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 21 March 2016: Congo politician guilty in first ICC trial to focus on rape as a war crime

The conviction of former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has been a historic moment for legal proceedings in war crime cases involving sexual violence as a weapon or military strategy. Bemba’s long-running trial was the first at the ICC where a senior politician has been convicted of using sexual violence as a weapon of war. For his actions as leading official of Congolese troops in the Central African Republic between 2002 and 2003, Bemba was convicted of both crimes against humanity in the form of murder and rape as well as internationally legally recognized war crimes of murder, rape and pillaging. More than 5,000 victims were granted the right to participate in the hearings and 77 witnesses were heard. While Bemba’s lawyers say that he had no control over his troops, the ICC’s prosecutors said Bemba knew, or should have known that his soldiers were committing the crimes.