Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Kinshasa (Agenzia Fides) - Questions and controversy have arisen in political spheres in Kinshasa (capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo) following the arrest in Belgium of Senator -Pierre Bemba Gombo, leader of Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) and former Vice-President of the nation and main contending candidate versus President Kabila in the presidential elections of 2006. Bemba was arrested on the evening of May 24 in Brussels, by Belgian authorities with a warrant issued from the International Criminal Court.
The leader of the MLC is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity (above all for the rape of massive amounts of women) which were committed by his troops in the Central African Republic from October 25, 2002 to March 15, 2003. Bemba’s men were intervening in support of former Central African President Ange Felix Patasse, who was then replaced by current President Bozize.
The MLC has responded to its leader’s arrest by accusing the International Criminal Court of “politicized the inquiry.” François Muamba, Secretary for the political formation of the opposition, affirmed that “the arrest of Senator Bemba just days prior to his election as spokesman of the opposition party in the Democratic Republic of Congo cannot be mere coincidence, seeing as neither Patasse nor the head of his army, who have benefited from the support of the MLC troops, have been subject to investigation.”
Questions are also being asked as to the circumstances of the Bemba arrest, in Belgium and not in Portugal, where the leader of the opposition spent a great deal of his time in exile (officially for medical reasons). The Belgian authorities have intervened just at a time of great tension between Brussels and Kinshasa due to declarations made by the Belgian Foreign Affair Minister on the existence of a “moral right” of Belgium over its former colony and its leaders - a comment which was considered offensive by the Congolese. As a sign of protest, the Congolese government has decided to pull out its ambassador in Brussels and to close the Consulate in Antwerp.
The Congolese press points out, on the one hand, the fear that Bemba’s arrest could cause unrest in the country, and on the other, the fact that not only Bemba, but other local and foreign players as well, should be tried for their crimes in Congo, where the population has suffered and continues to suffer from the violence caused by numerous armed groups, some of which are foreign groups, mostly present in the eastern part of the country. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 26/5/2008; righe 34, parole 420)
