MONUSCO welcomes the surrender of Bosco Ntaganda

19 mar 2013

MONUSCO welcomes the surrender of Bosco Ntaganda

Kinshasa, 19 March 2013 – The UN Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) welcomes the surrender of the Congolese rebel Bosco Ntaganda and the decision by the United States to transfer him to The Hague, where he is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in Ituri between 2001 and 2003.

"The surrender of Bosco Ntaganda and his early transfer to the ICC will help advance the peace process in the DRC" said Roger Meece, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the D. R. Congo. "It will also send a strong signal to other Human Rights offenders that they are not beyond justice", he continued.

Bosco Ntaganda, has been indicted by the ICC on seven counts of war crimes and three counts of crimes against humanity. He is accused of being responsible for the use of children in armed conflict and acts of murder, rape and sexual slavery. Before his surrender, he was one of the authors behind and leaders of the M-23 rebellion in the eastern DRC.