Bosco Ntaganda: DR Congo warlord appears before ICC
A picture taken on January 11, 2009 shows the leader of the rebels and chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) General Ntaganda Bosco. The International Criminal Court sought new war crimes charges against him on May 14, 2012.
Warlord Bosco Ntaganda appeared before the ICC in The Hague on Tuesday to face charges of war crimes, including rape and murder.
The Rwanda-born warlord, known as "The Terminator," was also accused of using child soldiers during his years of fighting in the eastern region of DR Congo.
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This was Ntaganda's first appearance in the ICC since he surrendered himself last week. He had been one of the court's longest-sought fugitives, surprising all involved when he became the first suspect to voluntarily turn himself in by seeking refuge at the US Embassy in the Rwandan capital of Kigali.
Ntaganda denies the charges against him. He is now awaiting his next hearing, set for September 23, and will determine whether there is enough evidence to put him on trial.
The warlord has fought for numerous rebel groups, as well as the Congolese army, but was most recently thought to be one of the leaders of the M23 rebel movement. The war crimes charges he faces in the ICC, however, are all related to his involvement with a different rebel group in the Ituri region of DR Congo between 2002 and 2003.
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