Facts
From 1998 to 2003, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was engulfed in a regional conflict in which government forces supported by Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe fought against multiple armed groups mainly backed by Rwanda and Uganda. This conflict, known as the Second Congo War, involved shifting alliances and widespread violence against civilians.
In this context, the armed group Congolese Rally for National Democracy (RCD-N) was created in 2000 to fight Congolese government forces and formed an alliance with the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), led by Jean-Pierre Bemba, in an attempt to take control of resource-rich areas in the eastern part of the DRC. In 2003, the United Nations published a report implicating the RCD-N in the perpetration of crimes against humanity, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, summary executions, torture, mutilation, and cannibalism.
Lumbala Tshitenga was the leader of the RCD-N. He is accused of ordering and supporting military operations that resulted in crimes that took place between 1 July 2002 and the end of December 2003 in the provinces of Ituri and Haut Uélé (northeastern DRC), in particular during a military operation called Effacer le tableau (Erasing the Board).
In April 2003, he became minister for foreign trade in the transitional government following the inter-Congolese dialogue, until January 2005. He then became a member of parliament and a senator until 2013.
Procedure
In 2016, after the rejection of his asylum application, the French specialized unit for the prosecution of international crimes opened an investigation against Lumbala Tshitenga. He was arrested on 2 January 2021 in Paris and the case was referred to three investigating judges within the specialized unit, who conducted the judicial investigation.
On 2 January 2021, Lumbala Tshitenga was placed under formal investigation (mis en examen) for his alleged participation in a group formed to plan and support the commission of crimes against humanity committed in the DRC between 2002 and 2003.
Throughout the years 2021 and 2023, more than 30 Congolese victims and witnesses were heard by the investigating judges in Paris. Several eyewitnesses and expert witnesses were heard regarding the functioning and hierarchical structure of the RCD-N as well as Lumbala Tshitenga’s alleged role in the preparation and perpetration of the crimes. The investigation shed light on the crimes committed during the military operation in the Beni-Mambasa-Bunia area by the alliance of the RCD-N and other armed groups toward the end of 2002. Evidence and testimonies were also gathered on crimes committed in Bafwasende and Isiro, areas controlled by the RCD-N in those years.
TRIAL International, Clooney Foundation for Justice, Minority Rights Group, and the DRC-based NGO Justice Plus, all admitted as civil parties to the procedure, have collaborated throughout the investigation to identify and support Congolese communities, victims, and survivors who provided evidence and shared their account with French judicial authorities.
In October 2023, the Paris Court of Appeal rejected a motion introduced by Lumbala Tshitenga’s counsel invoking the judges’ violation of the procedural requirement to verify that no extradition request had been issued regarding the suspect.
On 6 November 2023, the investigative judges indicted (mis en accusation) Lumbala Tshitenga for his alleged complicity in and conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity including murder, torture, rape, pillage and enslavement, including sexual slavery, in the DRC between 2002 and 2003.
Following Lumbala Tshitenga’s appeal against the indictment, the Paris Court of Appeal upheld the charges in full on 28 February 2024.
Lumbala Tshitenga’s counsel filed two appeals before the Court of Cassation (Cour de cassation), one on the indictment and the other on the rejection of the defendant’s motion to dismiss the proceedings for violation of the no extradition requirement.
On 4 June 2024, the Court of Cassation joined the two appeals and rejected them both.
In July 2024, the parties were notified that the trial of Lumbala Tshitenga will take place from 12 November and should last until 19 December 2025 before the Paris cour d’assises.
Highlight
Lumbala Tshitenga will be the first Congolese national to be tried before a national court for crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the Second Congo War (1998-2003), and he is among the few former government officials to face such prosecution.
It will also be the first universal jurisdiction case in France related to events that occurred in the DRC.
Additionally, this trial marks the first time that crimes committed during the Second Congo War will be heard in a national court of law.