Paris: Congolese ex-rebel leader Roger Lumbala was found guilty by a Paris court on Monday of complicity in crimes against humanity committed during the Second Congo War and was sentenced to 30 years in prison, an official said. The trial has been hailed by international justice advocates as a milestone in expanding accountability for the conflict that left millions dead.
According to Nam News Network, court President Marc Sommerer announced the verdict, stating that Lumbala was found guilty of ordering or aiding and abetting torture and inhumane crimes, summary executions, rape constituting torture, sexual slavery, forced labor, theft, and pillage. The allegations were connected to a military operation known as Erasing the Board, which took place in 2002 and 2003 in northeastern Congo. This operation was conducted by the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo and Rally for Congolese Democracy-National (RCD-N), a Uganda-backed group led by Lumbala at the time.
The operation specifically targeted members of the Nande and Bambuti groups, who were accused of supporting a rival militia. The Second Congo War, which ran from 1998 to 2003, involved nine countries and resulted in the deaths of more than 5 million people, many of whom died from hunger and disease. While some individuals have been tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes committed during the war, Lumbala's trial marked the first time a Congolese national has been tried before a national court in connection with the conflict.
Lumbala was arrested in January 2021 under France's universal jurisdiction law, which permits French courts to pursue justice for crimes against humanity committed abroad. Throughout the trial, which began last month, Lumbala refused to testify, questioning the legitimacy of the French court, though he attended the verdict.
Yasmine Chubin, legal director of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which participated in the trial as a civil party, remarked that using national courts for such cases could enable arrests of suspects beyond the limited number pursued by the ICC. Defense lawyer Hugues Vigier declined to comment after Monday's verdict.