The trial of Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka is a high-profile, complex case that the court in the North Kivu region has done regularly, and its proceedings and the final judgment in 2020 provide a strong example of how to catch a war criminal just come to judgement.
Before the International Criminal Court (ICC) Day of International Criminal Justice, which marks the adoption of the UN’s basic treaty, the Rome Statute, UN News take a closer look at an experiment that provides an important case study for countries that administer criminal justice around the world.
The case also highlights the importance of supporting UN peacekeeping operations to national justice and security institutions.
Crimes: ‘On an unprecedented scale’
Ntabo Sheka (second from left) leads an armed group in eastern DR Congo. (file)
On 30 July 2010, armed members of the Nduma Défense of the Congo (NDC) went out across 13 remote villages at rest, the resource-rich Walikale, the largest district in North Kivu, 150 kilometers west of the capital Goma.
Located in the midst of a vast equatorial forest, the area has been wracked by two years of conflict, with thousands of armed groups fighting to control the lucrative mineral resources, including the primary miners. tin, cassiterite.
Mr Sheka, then 34 – a former miner who a year ago founded what Goma’s chief military prosecutor called the region’s “most organized group”, complete with gangs, soldiers, troops, and companies – have been given his command.
For four days and nights, his recruits rescued them.
“Sheka is not just anyone,” Nadine Sayiba Mpila, the Attorney General in Goma, said UN News. “Sheka committed crimes on a scale never seen in DR Congo.”
He described how his soldiers “will kill people and put these people’s heads on trees and walk the streets of the villages to say that this is what awaits you if you do not oppose what who are called ‘enemies'”.
On August 2, 2010, military forces began to fully occupy the villages.
Warrant: Wanted for war crimes
An official from the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, speaks to displaced Congolese women in Lushebere Camp in 2012. (file)
Those who can, run to safety. Some seek medical help from a nearby non-governmental organization (NGO).
Within two weeks, the survivors’ stories had reached the authorities. Media reports titled the attacks as “multiple rapes”. The UN agency in the country, MONUSCO, supports the deployment of a police force.
In November 2010, a case was filed against the warlord. Congolese authorities then issued a national arrest warrant for Mr. Sheka, and the UN Security Council added him to its sanctions list.
Mandated to protect civilians and support national authorities, MONUSCO launched Operation Silent Valley in early August 2011, helping residents return to their villages safely.
‘No choice but to surrender’
Residents of Bunia, DR Congo, protested the takeover of Goma in 2012 by the newly formed M23 militia. (file)
Mr. Sheka is now a fugitive.
Also known as the Mai-Mai militia, the NDC continues to operate in the region along with other armed groups.
“Being cornered by all parties, he has now become weak, and has no choice but to surrender,” said Colonel Ndaka Mbwedi Hyppolite, Chief Prosecutor of the Military Court of North Kivu, who tried the case Mr. Sheka.
He surrendered on 26 July 2017 to MONUSCO, who handed him over to the Congolese authorities, who charged him with war crimes, including murder, sexual assault, child recruitment, looting, and rape.
“The time has come to tell the truth and face the consequences of the truth,” Ms. Sayiba said.
The test: 3,000 proofs
Many people are watching the trial of Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka. (file)
Ahead of the trial, UN peacekeepers helped build the detention cells that housed Mr Sheka and the court itself, where military court trials have been held for two years, was delayed from March to June 2020 due to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting in November 2018, the court will consider 3,000 testimonies and hear from 178 witnesses in 108 hearings.
Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka during his trial for war crimes in DR Congo. (file)
Their testimonies play an important role, representing the “last resort” of the prosecution to prove that crimes have been committed, said Patient Iraguha, Senior Legal Adviser for TRIAL International in the DRC, who helps the authority with the case.
But, getting victims to testify is a serious challenge, Congolese prosecutors say.
During the investigation, Mr. Sheka “contacted some victims to intimidate them”, indicating their desire to appear in court. However, a joint effort involving the UN and partners such as TRIAL International changed that, Ms. Sayiba explained.
Colonel Ndaka agreed, adding that some rape victims also fear that society is corrupt.
Security measures have been established, and judicial authorities are able to gather evidence in cooperation with MONUSCO, which also trains judges in international criminal law procedures, giving the court sufficient knowledge to investigate the case as well, he said.
“When the Congolese authorities had to go into the field to investigate or to listen to the victims, they were surrounded by the MONUSCO team,” he said. “The victims who appeared, did so thanks to the support provided by our partners.”
UN peacekeepers in eastern DR Congo. (file)
Tonderai Chikuhwa, Chief of Staff at the UN Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, recalled hearing first-hand about the crimes.
“The sad testimonies I heard from survivors in 7 villages from Kibua to Mpofu in Walikale in 2010 cannot be erased from my mind,” he wrote on social media at the time.
The first witnesses to appear in court are six children, with victims testifying through July 2020.
“After her testimony before the jury, Sheka started crying,” Ms. Sayiba recalled. “The defendant’s tears are the answer. I believe that Sheka knows that he is alone now. You have to take responsibility for your actions. “
The verdict: the Congo trial ‘does it’
The trial of Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka took place in Goma, DR Congo from 2018 to 2020. (file)
On 23 November 2020, the Military Court sentenced Mr. Sheka to life imprisonment.
“This marks an important step forward in the fight against child recruitment and other serious crimes,” the UN Secretary-General wrote about the case in his report on children and armed conflict in the DRC.
Mrs Sayiba said the verdict sent a “great message” and “reassurance to the victims who can now see that their testimonies are not in vain”.
For Colonel Ndaka, the judgment is “a source of pride for myself, for my country, for Congolese justice”.
Today, the UN continues to support efforts to end impunity in the DRC, Central African Republic, Mali, South Sudan and other countries. In North Kivu, the Public Prosecutor’s Office expanded in June, with UN support, into the Peace Court of Goma.
Mr. Sheka, who is now 47 years old, continues his life sentence in a prison in the capital, Kinshasa.
“The fact that Sheka has been tried and sentenced is proof that the rule of law exists and that you cannot go unpunished when you have committed the highest crimes, heinous crimes,” said Colonel Ndaka. “Congo justice can be done, with will, determination, and means. He can do it, and he did it.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and MONUSCO have isolated soldiers who have been demobilized as Mai-Mai soldiers have surrendered to Congolese government forces. (file)
