ICC sentence ex-Congolese vice president, Jean-Pierre Bemba to 18-year jail

Former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba sits in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on June 21, 2016. (AFP photo)

The International Criminal Court on Tuesday gave the former Congolese vice president, Jean-Pierre Bemba, an 18-year jail sentence.

ICC Judge Sylvia Steiner handed down the verdict on conviction that Bemba was involved in a series of brutal rapes and murders in the Central African Republic over a decade ago.

"The chamber sentences Mr. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo to a total of 18 years of imprisonment," said the judge, ruling that the former militia leader had failed to properly control his private army in CAR in late October 2002. The judge said Bemba’s army carried out “sadistic” rapes, murders and pillaging of “particular cruelty.”

Bemba’s Congolese Liberation Movement, also known as the MLC, was sent to the Central African Republic from October 2002 to March 2003 to put down a coup.             

Judges ruled in late March that 53-year-old Bemba was guilty of five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his private army. They said Bemba turned a blind eye to a reign of terror by some 1,500 of his troops in the Central African Republic.

The judges said Bemba knew of what was happening, but failed to take “all necessary and reasonable measures” to prevent a litany of crimes, which included the gang rapes of men, women and children. The rapes, which were used as a weapon of war by Bemba’s troops, were reportedly carried out as relatives were forced to watch.

The case is the first in the ICC to focus on a commander’s responsibility for abuses by his troops.