afrol News, 4 July - Congolese warlord and rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba made his first appearance before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague today.

Mr Bemba who was transferred yesterday to ICC to face multiple counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including rape and murder stemming from interventions of his militia in neighboring Central African Republic in 2002-2003 was arrested in May in Belgium.

Mr Bemba a former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) told the court that conditions of his detention are not what he had hoped for, saying he has nothing to add to his complains as it was at an early stage.

He faces five counts of war crimes and three of crimes against humanity, with specific charges including murder, rape and torture.

As former commander-in-chief, the prosecution alleges Bemba must have known the risk of such crimes occurring when sending his combatants to the Central African Republic, and accuses him of keeping his troops there even after being informed of the perpetration of the acts.

Mr Bemba's lawyer, Mr Aime Kilolo Musamba, said on Thursday his client welcomed the chance to prove his innocence. "This provides us with the opportunity to go to The Hague and present the elements of defense that we have which will help establish that Mr Bemba has no legal responsibility in this affair," he said.

Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Mr Bemba's transfer was a clear indication that justice is being served for the victims of massive sexual violence perpetrated by Mr Bemba's militia in CAR.

"We listened to them, and we transformed their painful stories into evidence," said Chief prosecutor adding that there would not be impunity on this case as Mr Bemba is not immune before ICC, though he was a senior government official.

Though Mr Bemba has been transferred, prosecutors at ICC yesterday suffered a major setback when judges ordered for release of the court's first suspect Mr Thomas Lubanga fearing that he would not receive a fair trial as prosecutors were withholding vital information from defense lawyers.

Mr Bemba joins Mr Lubanga and two other alleged Congolese warlords also indicted by the ICC as well as former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is being held in the same prison but tried by the separate U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Mr Bemba who ruled a large part of northeastern Congo as a warlord and rebel leader during that country's 1998-2002 war was made a vice president in a transitional government before elections in 2006. He was then elected to Senate, but a clash between his militia and government forces led to his being accused of treason, which forced him flee to Portugal last year.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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