Just Monday French police officers arrested Callixte Mbarushimana who is believed to be a leader of a movement involved in a recent terrorist campaign in the Kivu region of Congo in which thousands of civilians have been raped and killed. Police were armed with an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court in the Hague stating that he was wanted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humility. According to the court official, Rwandan activities have been tracked for the past 18 months in several countries including France, Germany, Congo and Rwanda. As of now the court must decide whether or not to transfer Mr. Mbarushimana to the international court in the Hague who find Mbarushimana to be a top leader of the Rwandan rebel F.D.L.R. which from it's base in Congo was fighting to gain power in Rwanda and was using crimes against civilians to demonstrate that power.
“In 2009, the F.D.L.R. leadership decided to attack civilians in the North and South Kivu Provinces in order to create a massive humanitarian catastrophe; the F.D.L.R. then tried to blackmail the international community and to extort concessions of power, in exchange for ending the atrocities,” the statement said. “As a result of this deadly blackmail, victims were killed, raped and forcibly displaced, and entire villages were razed to the ground.”
It was Mr. Mbarushimana’s job to conduct an international campaign to convince governments that that the F.D.L.R. was a legitimate political group that had to be reckoned with, an official in the prosecutor’s office said. His arrest was linked to a cycle of violence that took place mostly in 2009. The prosecutor decribed his arrest as "a crucial step in efforts to prosecute the massive sexual crimes" in the Congo being that Mbarushimana's group was linked to several other war crimes resulting in a grand total of more that 500 rapes in multiple places.
We keep hearing about all these different war crimes that seem to be frequent in the DRC. We understand that their country is one that not many people other than them can understanding and really make sense out of. Mbarushimana was living in France at the time of his arrest. How do you feel about other countries butting in on the conflict that is going on? What do you think about the legitimacy of Mbarushimana's arrest?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/africa/12congo.html?scp=5&sq=Arrest%20of%20Rebel%20Leader&st=cse
“In 2009, the F.D.L.R. leadership decided to attack civilians in the North and South Kivu Provinces in order to create a massive humanitarian catastrophe; the F.D.L.R. then tried to blackmail the international community and to extort concessions of power, in exchange for ending the atrocities,” the statement said. “As a result of this deadly blackmail, victims were killed, raped and forcibly displaced, and entire villages were razed to the ground.”
It was Mr. Mbarushimana’s job to conduct an international campaign to convince governments that that the F.D.L.R. was a legitimate political group that had to be reckoned with, an official in the prosecutor’s office said. His arrest was linked to a cycle of violence that took place mostly in 2009. The prosecutor decribed his arrest as "a crucial step in efforts to prosecute the massive sexual crimes" in the Congo being that Mbarushimana's group was linked to several other war crimes resulting in a grand total of more that 500 rapes in multiple places.
We keep hearing about all these different war crimes that seem to be frequent in the DRC. We understand that their country is one that not many people other than them can understanding and really make sense out of. Mbarushimana was living in France at the time of his arrest. How do you feel about other countries butting in on the conflict that is going on? What do you think about the legitimacy of Mbarushimana's arrest?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/12/world/africa/12congo.html?scp=5&sq=Arrest%20of%20Rebel%20Leader&st=cse
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