The International Criminal Court on Thursday sentenced former DR Congo military leader Bosco Ntaganda to 30 years in prison for atrocities including murder, rape and conscripting child soldiers, reported Reuters.
The court found Ntaganda, 46, guilty on 18 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for acts committed when he was military operations chief at the Union of Congolese Patriots(UPC) militia in east Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002-2003.
Judge Robert Fremr said in the ruling that there were no real mitigating circumstances and issued the 30-year sentence, the longest handed down by the Hague court to date. The judge added that Ntaganda was a key leader who gave orders to target and kill civilians.
“Men, women and children and babies were found in the field. Some bodies were found naked, some had hands tied up, some had their heads crushed. Several bodies were disemboweled or otherwise mutilated,” Judge Fremr said.
Ntaganda became the first person to be found guilty of sexual slavery when he was convicted by The Hague-based ICC in July.
Notably, the Rwanda-born former rebel has been involved in numerous armed conflicts in both Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was found to be the key in planning and running operations for the Union of Congolese Patriots (UCP) rebels and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC).
The ICC found that the armed group conducted attacks against people perceived not to belong to the Hema ethnic group. In one such attack, fighters killed 49 captured people in a banana field behind a village using sticks and batons as well as knives and machetes.
Ntaganda was also responsible for recruiting troops under the age of 15 and for rape and sexual slavery of underage girls.
The court’s verdict is currently subject to appeals.
