French prosecutors on Friday sought a maximum sentence of life in prison for a former rebel leader accused of being one of the masterminds of atrocities in the Second Congo War.Roger Lumbala, 67, is on trial in Paris accused of complicity in crimes against humanity during the 1998-2003 conflict. He denies the charges. A verdict is expected on Monday.For human rights organisations, the trial is an historic opportunity to challenge the impunity enjoyed by warring parties in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting continues despite a “peace” agreement ratified in Washington in early December. But Lumbala, who was arrested in France in December 2020, refused to attend the trial after its opening session, saying the court has no legitimacy. Lumbala, who briefly served as trade minister then ran for president in 2006, insists he was merely a politician with no soldiers or volunteers under his control. One of the prosecutors, Nicolas Péron, told the jury that Lumbala is only failing to appear because he is “facing a problem he never thought he would encounter: he is now facing justice”. For more than a month, the court has heard about rape used as a weapon of war, sexual slavery, forced labour, torture, mutilation, summary executions, systematic looting, extortion, and the plundering of resources, including diamonds. The alleged atrocities were committed in 2002-2003 during Operation “Erase the Slate”, conducted in the northeast of the country by the Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists (RCD-N) — Lumbala’s rebel group.The RCD-N was supported by neighbouring Uganda and allied with the MLC group of the current Congolese Minister of Transport, Jean-Pierre Bemba.During the trial, one man told how his brother had his forearm amputated and was then executed after being unable to eat his severed ear.Women recounted rapes by soldiers, often gang rapes committed in front of parents, husbands, and children. The victims were mostly Nande or Bambuti Pygmies, ethnic groups accused by the attackers of siding with a rival faction.Lumbala is being tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
