Germain Katanga, a warlord convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for murder and other crimes, thought he was getting released from prison in January. But he was wrong. He had been found guilty by the ICC on charges linked to a 2003 attack on the village of Bogoro, in the eastern province of Ituri of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – and had served the end of his 12-year sentence in a Kinshasa jail, at his own request.
But DRC authorities, instead of freeing him, held him for trial on other charges that had not been dealt with by the ICC. This development represents not only yet another legal novelty for the ICC but also a potentially significant gearshift by the DRC justice system.
When President Kabila had voluntarily asked the ICC prosecutor in 2003 to look into DRC crimes, he indicated it was because conditions did not allow for DRC officials to do so. Does the decision to hold on to and prosecute Katanga indicate that those conditions have materially changed?
