Congo warlord Bosco Ntaganda faces slavery and murder trial at ICC

A Congo militia leader known as The Terminator has finally gone on trial facing 18 charges, including murder, rape and sexual slavery. Bosco Ntaganda was for years a symbol of impunity in Africa before turning himself in to the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2013 as his powerbase crumbled. He looked on impassively as the court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, called him a “notorious and powerful” military leader who commanded troops who slaughtered hundreds of civilians in the resource-rich Ituri region of eastern Congo in 2002 and 2003.

Finally, he saw the bodies of his two remaining children. Their throats had been slit.

Chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda

Ntaganda faces a maximum life sentence if convicted. Bensouda told judges that one of her witnesses had to pick through scores of bodies in a field of banana trees to find the bodies of his wife and four children, allegedly killed by Ntaganda’s troops in the armed wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots. First the witness found his son, a toddler, Bensouda said. He had been disemboweled and his throat slit. Prosecutors plan to call more than 80 witnesses, including military insiders and former child soldiers, at the trial that is expected to last for months. Former child soldiers also are expected to testify. Ntaganda denies the charges.

Finally, he saw the bodies of his two remaining children.

International Criminal Court.Bosco Ntaganda

Africa Bosco Ntaganda