Off the wire
• ADB lends 60 mln USD to Cambodia for irrigation system rehabilitation  • New flight to link Chengdu, Paris  • Militants using civilians as human shield: President Ghani  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Sept. 29  • Indian stocks close higher  • China Voice: The world needs to adapt to slower China growth  • Unidentified gunmen attack woman in Indian-controlled Kashmir  • Spain's consumer prices fall by 0.9 pct in Sept.  • Evergrande coach Scolari confident ahead of Gamba Osaka clash  • Philippines beats India 99-65 to top Group E  
You are here: 　 Home

Rwanda, rights watch welcome FDLR convictions

Xinhua, September 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Rwanda and the Human Rights Watch have welcomed a German court's conviction of two Rwandan rebel leaders for crimes in the DR Congo as an important measure of justice to victims of mass crimes there.

Court in Stuttgart, Germany, on Monday convicted Ignace Murwanashyaka and Straton Musoni, the president and vice president of DR Congo-based Rwandan rebels, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), and sentenced them to 13 and 8 years in prison, respectively.

Murwanashyaka was found guilty of war crimes in relation to five FDLR attacks in eastern Congo and of leading a terrorist organization.

Musoni was found guilty of leading a terrorist organization but acquitted of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"The German court's guilty verdict against Rwandan rebel leaders for crimes in Congo shows that the world has become a smaller place for war criminals," said Géraldine Mattioli-Zeltner, international justice advocacy director at Human Rights Watch in a statement.

"The court in Stuttgart may be a long way from eastern Congo, but its judges have finally delivered justice to the thousands of Congolese who have suffered serious abuses at the hands of the FDLR, " she said.

Rights activists say the FDLR has long enjoyed impunity for widespread atrocities against civilians in Congo and the trial marks the first time that FDLR leaders have been held to account.

"It is an important step in fighting the FDLR impunity, Rwanda's Justice Minister Busingye Johnston said. "This is a good step in giving justice to FDLR's victims, and in the fight against the genocide ideology."

Human Rights Watch said German judicial officials should take steps to ensure that affected communities in Congo hear about the verdict by ensuring that victims have access to the relevant information.

The FDLR is predominantly made up of elements that participated in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

Murwanashyaka and Musoni had been living in Germany for several years when they were arrested in November 2009. Both were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed by FDLR fighters in eastern Congo between 2008 and 2010, and of belonging to a terrorist group.

Their trial began in May 2011. A written judgment will be issued later. The duo can appeal the judgment and sentence against them.

The case was the first to be tried under the German 2002 Code of Crimes Against International Law, which integrates the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court into German law and allows German courts to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide irrespective of where they are committed. Endit