By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 14 -- When
outgoing
International
Criminal Court
prosecutor
Luis Moreno
Ocampo
scheduled a
press
conference on
Monday,
many at the UN
thought it
would either
be about the
high profile
issues of
Libya or even
Syria, or be
his swansong.
But no.
Rather,
Ocampo
described
arrest
warrants for
Bosco
Ntaganda,
until recently
an
officer in the
Congolese
Army, and for
the head of
the Hutu FDLR
rebels. Ocampo
said that the
DRC government
has been
helping the
ICC
to investigate
Bosco. But
when?
Inner
City Press
asked Ocampo
about this
help, given
that Bosco was
integrated
into
the DRC army
and was given
a free pass,
including by
UN officials
who
saw him living
the relative
high life in
Goma.
Ocampo
then
acknowledged
that this was
a problem, but
hoped for a
new approach
now. Inner
City Press
asked him
about another
war lord still
integrated
into the
Congolese
Army, Peter
Kerim, who
kidnapped UN
peacekeepers
and,
apparently in
exchange for
releasing
those he did
not kill, was
made a colonel
and put up in
a hotel in
Kinshasa.
Yes,
Ocampo said,
there are
other people
we should
prosecute in
the Congo. But
he went
on to say that
the Congolese
authorities
now have
"capacity."
But don't they
only indict
their enemies
and opponents?
Inner
City Press
asked about
the lack of
accountability
for the mass
rapes in
Walikale
-- which have
been
compounded by
a failed
MONUSCO "quick
impact"
project
exposed by
Inner City
Press
involving
gas-powered
Chinese made
grain mills
never
installed, dubbed
"Meece's
Mills" which
so far also
escape
accountability.
Ocampo
did not
address
Walikale in
his response,
but argued
that the Mai
Mai rebels
support the
FDLR, "there
is evidence,"
he said.
Likewise
they are
viewed as at
time
supporting the
government.
They are
rebels
for hire.
Would the DRC
prosecute
them? Only if
convenient.
Inner
City Press
began to ask
about Cote
d'Ivoire, with
the failure to
investigate
the
massacres in
Duekoue in
mind, even as
Cote d'Ivoire
forces
allegedly
involved may
soon be
deployed to
Mali as part
of an ECOWAS
force.
But
Ocampo said
this press
conference was
only about the
Congo. He will
do Libya on
Wednesday,
then agree
meet the
press. Then,
he said, his
final
appearance on
June 5 after
briefing the
Council about
Darfur. One
wag
said, talk
about a long
goodbye. But
we'll be
there.
Analysis:
the problem
with the ICC
under Ocampo
has been its
penchant for
victor's
justice, for
example the
failure to
follow through
on Duekoue
massacre by
the victors in
Cote d'Ivoire.
Ocampo's
Africa focus
is a subset of
this problem.
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