International Criminal Court Unseals Warrant for BOSCO NTAGANDA: Accused of Recruiting Child Soldiers

On April 29, the International Criminal Court made the decision to unseal the arrest warrant (see the actual notification here) for Bosco Ntaganda, the 35 year Congolese accused of conscripting child soldiers in the Democratic republic of Congo in 2002-2003.  According to a press release by Human Rights Watch:

The ICC on April 29 revealed the unsealing of the arrest warrant against Bosco Ntaganda, charging him with the enlistment, conscription, and active use of children in 2002-2003 during the conflict in the northeastern district of Ituri when he was chief of military operations for the ethnic Hema militia group, the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC).

Reasoning behind the delay in unsealing the warrant is interesting, especially since he is an associate of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the former head of the UPC, who has already been charged by the ICC for enlisting, conscripting, and using children during the same period.  Lubanga is scheduled to begin trial at the Hague later his year.

According to the public document “Decision to Unseal the Warrant of Arrest Against Bosco Aganda”, the reasoning is as follows:

(i) Bosco Ntaganda remained at large despite criminal proceedings against him in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (”the DRC”) and continued to fight as a top commander of the Mouvement Revoltionnaire Congolais (”the MRC”) against the Forces Armees de la Republique democratique du Congo (”the FARDC”) in the Ituri district, and therefore (ii) public knowledge of the proceedings in the case might result in Bosco Ntaganda hiding, fleeing, and/or obstructing or endangering the investigations or the proceedings of the Court.

We look forward to the arrest…