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Rwanda high court sends Congo militia leader case to military court

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The Rwandan Supreme Court ruled on Saturday that the plea for release by Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rebel leader Laurent Nkunda can only be heard by a military court. According to Nkunda's counsel, Aime Bokanga, the court held that since the military was responsible for Nkunda's detention, a military court must hear his case for release. Bokanga expressed disappointment at the ruling, saying that the Supreme Court should have declared Nkunda's detention illegal. The case is expected to be transferred next week. Nkunda is the leader of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), a rebel group operating in the eastern DRC province of Nord-Kivu. According to Nkunda's counsel, he is being held illegally without charge, and has promised to bring the case to the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights if redress cannot be found in a Rwandan court. Last April, a Rwandan court rejected a similar lawsuit seeking Nkunda's release from custody. Nkunda was apprehended by Rwandan authorities in last January near the DRC border after a joint DRC-Rwandan military operation to capture him and root out Rwandan Hutu rebels operating in the DRC. Nkunda faces an uncertain legal future, with the DRC government having called on Rwanda to extradite Nkunda to DRC where he would face charges for atrocities allegedly committed by forces under his command. Another possibility for Nkunda is extradition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. The ICC has issued an arrest warrant and prepared a case against his deputy in the CNDP, Bosco Ntaganda, for war crimes committed in the DRC, including the recruitment and use of child soldiers. Nkunda has repeatedly denied allegations of war crimes against him and the CNDP.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on April 04, 2010 (boomark / email).