Ntaganda, known as the “Terminator”, is charged with 13 counts of war crimes and 5 counts of crimes against humanity committed in Ituri, north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in 2002 and 2003. These include murder and attempted murder, attacking civilians, rape, sexual slavery of civilians, pillaging, displacement of civilians, destroying the enemy's property, conscription of child soldiers under the age of fifteen and using them to participate actively in hostilities.
Ntaganda, who turned himself in to the ICC in March 13, is accused of personally raping girls under 15 and keeping them in sexual slavery when he was second in command of the FPLC, one of the militia that operated in Ituri district.
The FPLC, which comprised mainly ethnic Hema, was fighting the rival Lendu ethnic group for control of Ituri, which is rich in natural resources.
The ICC has already sentenced former militia leader Thomas Lubanga, considered to have been Ntaganda’s boss in the FPLC, to 14 years in jail. Lubanga was found guilty of conscripting children under 15 and using them to fight.
ER/ JC