ICC awards reparations to victims of 2003 Congo attack News
ICC awards reparations to victims of 2003 Congo attack

The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] on Friday awarded symbolic reparations [order, PDF] for the victims of a deadly 2003 attack by forces under the control of Germain Katanga [case materials] in the Democratic Republic of Congo. ICC Trial Chamber II awarded $250 to each of 297 victims, as well as collective reparations [press release] in the form of “housing support, income-generating activities, education aid and psychological support.” The Chamber emphasized [AP report] that the symbolic amount is not intended to compensate for the harm, but to provides meaningful relief to the victims. The Chamber limited Katanga’s personal liability to $1,000,000 of the $3,752,620 assessed as the approximate monetary cost of the physical and psychological harm suffered by the victims. Katanga was convicted in 2014 for crimes committed in the attack at Bogoro, in the Ituri region of Congo, in which 200 people were shot and hacked to death.

The five-year war [BBC backgrounder] in the DRC between 1998-2003 was fought between government forces, supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe, and rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda. The conflict resulted in millions of deaths and allegations of war crimes against military leaders, including for recruitment of child soldiers and crimes against humanity. In March 2014, the ICC found Katanga guilty [JURIST report] of one count of crime against humanity (murder) and four counts of war crimes (murder, attacking a civilian population, destruction of property and pillaging) committed in February 2003 during the Bogoro attack. In November 2015, Katanga became the first ICC convict to be granted early release [JURIST report]. Since beginning its investigation in June 2004, the ICC has indicted seven people [ICC materials] in connection with war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Congo.