A mobile court trained to handle rape cases in Eastern Congo is raising expectations among local people. But international donors must ensure that this vital project doesn't expire for lack of support next year.
Posts Tagged “complementarity”
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After some six years of proceedings, the International Criminal Court trial of Thomas Lubanga is entering its final phase. The case has been marked by both milestones and near-disasters for international justice.
Posted in: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, Middle East, Rights & Justice, United States
Topics: Alison Cole, child soldiers, complementarity, Democratic Republic of Congo, intermediaries, International Criminal Court, international justice, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, rape, Thomas Lubanga
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Voices from inside Bukavu Central Prison, home now to those convicted of rape by the Kamituga mobile court.
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As the mobile court in Kamituga winds down, participants reflect on the work still left to be done.
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Of the ten rape cases before the Kamituga mobile court, two involve sex with consent, albeit by a minor. These cases reveal what might be a flaw in Congo's laws governing rape—laws that too few people know about and too few consider a deterrent to following traditions.
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Sexual predator? Or unwitting victim of conspiracy? With no DNA tests and little medical evidence, many cases before the Kamituga mobile court come down to testimony—one person's word against another's.
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Earlier this year, a mobile court much like the one in Kamituga found a group of soldiers guilty of rape as a crime against humanity. The verdict still resonates.
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How do you end impunity for the most serious crimes? The International Criminal Court is not the whole answer. Domestic courts must play a role. A new experiment in how this might work in practice is currently underway in eastern Congo.
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After days of testimony in Kamituga, crowds throng to hear the mobile court pass judgment on three men. At stake: twenty years in a Congo prison cell.
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Many of the crimes being tried before the Kamituga mobile court took place in the nearby town of Mwenga. In conversations with local people, it quickly becomes clear that the experience of the war here is still actively shaping the present.