Posted on 03/16/2005 8:41:07 PM PST by NormsRevenge
THE HAGUE (AFP) - The world's first permanent war crimes court started a hearing focused on an investigation by its prosecutors into crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (news - web sites) (DRC).
It is the first time that judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which began work almost three years ago, are formally studying a specific war crimes investigation.
"The hearing was behind closed doors. We will make no comment on the proceedings," spokesmen for the prosecutor and the court Yves Sorokobi and Ernest Sagaga said.
The move comes amid continuing instability in the eastern DRC, which has been ravaged by years of violent conflict.
Deliberations at the largely procedural hearing, known as a status conference, were expected to centre on witness protection and the preservation of evidence needed in any trial, according to court documents.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo last year launched his first official investigation into what he called "serious crimes" including mass killings, rapes and torture allegedly committed in the DRC.
He has expressed doubts over the court's competence to study his investigation, saying this could throw a shadow over its impartiality. Several human rights groups have, however, welcomed the investigation.
The investigation into crimes committed, particularly in the northeastern Ituri region, is still ongoing.
Ituri has been a hotbed of ethnic strife and clashes among armed militias since the vast country emerged from its last war of 1998-2003, which claimed around three million lives according to some human rights groups.
The government in Kinshasa has promised to cooperate in preparing the case which will focus on human rights abuses in Ituri, where relief and rights organisations have recently reported that rape, brutality and extortion by civilians of militia groups are routine.
The ICC, based in The Hague (news - web sites), became a legal reality in July 2002 despite fierce US opposition to the court. It is the world's first permanent tribunal mandated to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The court can only prosecute crimes committed after July 1, 2002 and only if the crimes were committed by nationals of countries that have given their backing to the court or were perpetrated on the territory of signatory states.
Besides the investigation into the DRC the court has also launched a formal probe into atrocities committed in neighbouring Uganda.
The hearing in The Hague comes as DRC president, Joseph Kabila, is in Japan seeking investment, insisting at a business seminar that "peace has taken its roots in all parts of the country."
However, the African Union (AU) and representatives of central African nations met Tuesday to discuss the possibility of sending troops to disarm Rwandan rebels based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said.
Congo Militiamen Grilled and Boiled Alive Victims, U.N. Says ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1364453/posts
View of Courtroom 1 of the International Criminal Court (ICC) prior to the first hearing of the court in The Hague (news - web sites) on the inquiry of head-prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo for war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (news - web sites).(AFP/Continental/Ed Oudenaarden)
Yet another international organization that is as useful as tits on a boar. The horde of tin pot bottom feeder tyrants and thugs that populate African governments could care less that white fools in some European kangaroo court are "studying the issue". The carnage will continue for many years before these dithering ICC morons will even whimper up an indictment.
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