The assault on Bogoro, which occurred on February 24, 2003, was an attack on the village of Bogoro in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

(DRC) by the Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) and the

Front for Patriotic Resistance of Ituri The Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (french: Force de résistance patriotique d’Ituri; FRPI) is a Bunia-based armed militia and political party primarily active in the south of the Ituri Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of ...

(FRPI). The attackers allegedly went on an "indiscriminate killing spree",International Criminal Court (19 October 2007).
Statement by Fatou Bensouda, Deputy Prosecutor, during the press conference regarding the arrest of Germain Katanga
''. Retrieved on 17 July 2008. killing at least 200

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...

s, imprisoning survivors in a room filled with corpses, and sexually enslaving women and girls. Two rebel leaders, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, have been charged by the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to pro ...

with war crimes and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

over their alleged role in planning the attack.

Background

Bogoro is a village in

Ituri Province Ituri is one of the 21 new provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo created in the 2015 repartitioning. Ituri, Bas-Uele, Haut-Uele, and Tshopo provinces are the result of the dismemberment of the former Orientale province. Ituri was ...

, in the north-east of the DRC. Between 1999 and 2003, Ituri was the scene of a violent conflict between the

Lendu The Lendu language is a Central Sudanic language spoken by the Balendru, an ethno-linguistic agriculturalist group residing in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in the area west and northwest of Lake Albert, specifically the Ituri Region ...

Ngiti The Ngiti , or South Lendu, is an ethnolinguistic group located in the Ituri Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ngiti speakers call their language ''Ndruna''. In 1991, the Ngiti numbered 100,000 located in the Irumu territory sout ...

and Hema ethnic groups. The Hema-dominated

Union of Congolese Patriots The Union of Congolese Patriots (french: Union des Patriotes congolais, or UPC) is a political and militia group in Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, formed towards the end of the Second Congo War. It was founded by Thomas Lub ...

(UPC) seized control of

Bunia Bunia is the capital city of Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It was part of the Orientale Province until that province's dissolution. It lies at an elevation of on a plateau about west of Lake Albert in the Alb ...

, the district capital, in August 2002. Bogoro was a strategically important town on the road between Bunia and the border with Uganda, with a UPC military camp in the middle of the town.International Criminal Court (7 February 2008). . Retrieved on 17 July 2008. The attack aimed to drive the UPC from Bogoro, but it also appeared to be a "reprisal operation against the Hema civilian population". It was part of a plan by Lendu and Ngiti rebels to attack predominantly Hema villages in preparation for an assault on Bunia.

Attack

On 24 February 2003, hundreds of FNI and FRPI fighters — including children under the age of fifteen — attacked Bogoro with machetes, spears, arrows, mortars,

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads a ...

s, rocket launchers and

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO, an acronym based on its French name , is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was estab ...

(2004). ''Special report on the events in Ituri, January 2002-December 2003'', pp. 22-23. S/2004/573. According to the ICC, they circled the village and "converged towards the centre on a killing spree", killing at least 200

s, imprisoning survivors in a room filled with corpses, and sexually enslaving women and girls. Some residents of the village were killed by setting their houses on fire, others were hacked to death with

machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...

s. The UN reported that 173 of the victims were under the age of 18. UPC leader

Thomas Lubanga Thomas Lubanga Dyilo (born 29 December 1960) is a convicted war criminal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the first person ever convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He founded and led the Union of Congolese P ...

claimed that 400 people were killed and 500 were missing after the attack.Associated Press (1 March 2003).
Hundreds of civilians killed in Congo clashes
''. Retrieved on 17 July 2008. "The civilian population was very, very coldly massacred," he said.Agence France-Presse (1 March 2003).
Rebels claim 300 people are massacred in northeastern DR Congo
'. Retrieved on 17 July 2008. The attack succeeded in pushing UPC forces out of Bogoro within a few hours and, ten days later, the Lendu and Ngiti drove the UPC from Bunia.

International Criminal Court proceedings

In March 2004, the DRC government referred the situation in the country to the

(ICC).International Criminal Court (23 June 2004).
The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court opens its first investigation
'. Retrieved on 17 July 2008. In July 2007, the Court found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that two rebel leaders, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, bore individual criminal responsibility for war crimes and

committed during the Bogoro attack, and issued sealed warrants for their arrest.International Criminal Court (2 July 2007). . Retrieved on 17 July 2008.International Criminal Court (6 July 2007). . Retrieved on 17 July 2008. Both men were charged with six counts of war crimes (willful killing; inhuman treatment or cruel treatment; using children under the age of fifteen years to participate actively in hostilities;

sexual slavery Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a ...

; intentionally directing attacks against civilians; and pillaging) and three counts of crimes against humanity (

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

, inhumane acts and sexual slavery). They are alleged to have ordered their fighters to "wipe out" the village of Bogoro. Katanga, who had been held by the Congolese authorities since March 2005, was transferred to the ICC in October 2007. Ngudjolo was arrested by the Congolese authorities on 6 February 2008 and surrendered to the ICC.International Criminal Court (7 February 2008)
''Third detainee for the International Criminal Court: Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui''
. Retrieved on 17 July 2008. The two men will be tried jointly;International Criminal Court (10 March 2008). . Retrieved on 17 July 2008. the hearing to confirm the charges against them began on 27 June 2008.

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

nbsp;— public court records relating to the ICC trial Conflicts in 2003 Mass murder in 2003 Ituri conflict 2003 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Massacres in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Attacks in Africa in 2003