## Facts

- Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo led the Mouvement de libération du Congo (MLC) and served as Commander-in-Chief of its armed wing, the Armée de libération du Congo (ALC).
- During the 2002–2003 conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), CAR President Ange-Félix Patassé requested Bemba send MLC forces to support the government against a rebellion led by François Bozizé.
- An MLC contingent of roughly 1,500 troops deployed to CAR and operated across multiple locations, including Bangui and other towns along key routes.
- In the charged period (approximately 26 October 2002 to 15 March 2003), MLC troops committed killings, widespread sexual violence, and extensive looting against civilians.
- The Prosecutor charged Bemba with murder and rape as crimes against humanity and murder, rape, and pillaging as war crimes, alleging responsibility as a military commander under Rome Statute article 28(a).
- Trial Chamber III conducted a multi-year trial with extensive witness testimony and documentary evidence and issued a judgment on 21 March 2016.

## Issues

1. Whether the events in CAR during the charged period constituted a non-international armed conflict and whether the crimes occurred as part of a widespread attack directed against a civilian population.
2. Whether the charged murders, rapes, and pillaging were committed by MLC troops and were sufficiently connected to the MLC deployment.
3. Whether Bemba bore command responsibility under Rome Statute article 28(a), including (a) effective authority and control, (b) knowledge or notice of crimes, and (c) failure to take all necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or repress crimes or submit matters for investigation and prosecution.
4. Whether the elements of murder, rape, and pillaging as war crimes and crimes against humanity were proven beyond reasonable doubt.

## Decision

- The Chamber found a non-international armed conflict existed in CAR during the relevant period and that MLC operations formed part of that conflict.
- The Chamber found MLC troops committed widespread murder, rape, and pillaging against civilians in multiple CAR locations.
- The Chamber held these acts amounted to crimes against humanity of murder and rape and war crimes of murder, rape, and pillaging.
- The Chamber found Bemba criminally responsible as a military commander under article 28(a), concluding the crimes resulted from his failure to exercise proper control over forces under his authority.
- The Chamber entered convictions for:
  - Crimes against humanity: murder; rape.
  - War crimes: murder; rape; pillaging.

## Legal Principles

- For war crimes under the Rome Statute, the Prosecution must prove an armed conflict and a nexus between the conduct and that conflict; for crimes against humanity, it must prove conduct as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.
- Attribution of crimes to a force may be established through patterns of conduct, identification evidence, and corroborated testimony and documents showing perpetrators’ affiliation and operational presence.
- Command responsibility under Rome Statute article 28(a) requires proof that the accused acted as a military commander (or effectively so), had effective authority and control over forces, and knew or, given the circumstances, should have known forces were committing or about to commit crimes.
- Article 28(a) further requires proof that the commander failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his material ability to prevent or repress crimes or to submit matters to competent authorities for investigation and prosecution, and that this failure is causally connected to the crimes.

## Conclusion

Trial Chamber III found that MLC troops committed widespread murder, rape, and pillaging during the CAR operation and convicted Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo under article 28(a) for failing, despite effective control and knowledge, to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent or repress the crimes or ensure investigation and prosecution.


Prosecutor v. Bemba, ICC-01/05-01/08-3343 (Int’l Crim. Ct. Trial Chamber III 2016)