Relatives grieve next to the body of seventy-year old Samuel Unega Saturday, May 31, 2003, in Bunia, Congo. Unega died from machete wounds inflicted by tribal fighters. The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has indicated that the Ituri region, where Bunia is located, may be the focus of his first official investigation. © Karel Prinsloo | AP

In the four months since taking up his post, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has hinted at the possible area of his first investigation, and given a broader indication of how he intends to approach his work.

In a speech to the 2nd Assembly of State Parties in New York on September 8, Mr. Ocampo suggested that the Democratic Republic of Congo should refer possible crimes in Ituri to his office. Already, on July 16, 2003, the chief prosecutor had announced his intention to closely follow the situation in Ituri, a war-torn region in the eastern part of Congo. By announcing that he was looking into the conflict there, which could well provide the first case before the new international court, Ocampo gave the clearest indication yet of the wider judicial policy he plans to follow.

Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo sits in his office at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Tuesday July 15, 2003. (AP Photo/ Fred Ernst)

An Urgent Situation

In the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region rich in natural resources located on the borders of Rwanda and Uganda, war has been raging since 1996. It is an “urgent” situation, according to the chief prosecutor; relying on reports from international and non-governmental organizations, he estimated that 5,000 crimes may have been committed in Ituri since July 1, 2002, the date on which the International Criminal Court gained the authority to pursue cases against the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

The decision to open an investigation into events in Ituri was the result of six communications to the Prosecutor’s Office, from both human rights organizations and victims’ groups, of which one had been sent by mail directly from Congo. In a press conference on July 16, while photographs of the conflict were shown on the screen of the conference room in The Hague, Ocampo detailed the murders, disappearances, acts of torture and mutilation, rapes, and the forced enlisting of child soldiers that have overwhelmed the lives of the population of eastern Congo – making it clear that no judicial sophistry would be required to establish that the crimes involved were serious enough to reach the threshold for international attention.

The chief prosecutor, who started work on June 16, said he hoped to deter the commission of further crimes in the region – though he also spoke cautiously of the importance of investigation and analysis before the allegations could be verified. In any case, before launching an official investigation or filing charges, Ocampo is obliged first to reach a judgement about whether the Democratic Republic of Congo has the judicial capacity and the political will to bring the cases to trial itself. If the answer to this question is no, he must then convince the preliminary chamber of the court that there is enough evidence for his own investigation to go forward. That is, unless Congo or other “African or Western countries that have taken a role in the peace process as well as other States Parties” officially refer the case to the court, as the chief prosecutor stated in his address to the representatives of states parties in early September.

Attacking the Roots of Evil

Whichever scenario is followed, the procedure will be lengthy, but the case of Congo has already shed some light on the judicial priorities of the chief prosecutor. Beyond the specific facts of this case, Luis Moreno Ocampo has begun to make clear the outlines of the long-term approach that he will follow. At its heart is the idea of going after those on the highest level who bear ultimate responsibility: the planners of crimes – political and military decision-makers – and those who are in effect their accomplices – the people who provide the financial or material resources that enable the crimes to be committed.

A very small child soldier who would not give his age to journalists in an ethnic Hema militia camp near Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo, June 16, 2003. © Stephan Morrison | EPA

“The fighting taking place in Ituri seems to be the outcome of ethnic strife and of the struggle for local power, intertwined with national or regional conflicts,” Mr. Ocampo argued in July, and “all of these aspects of the situation are fuelled by the way natural resources are exploited.” According to the Diamond High Council in Antwerp, illegal diamond exports from the Democratic Republic of Congo are worth around 800 million euros a year. By focusing on this trade, the chief prosecutor said he hoped to get to the root of the evil, attacking the sinews of the conflict: “Investigation of the financial aspects of the alleged atrocities will be crucial to prevent future crimes and for the prosecution of crimes already committed.” In other words, the chief prosecutor aims to dismantle the entire infrastructure that supports the commission of crimes against humanity. Furthermore, by highlighting the role of those who are economically complicit in the conflict, the chief prosecutor implicitly refutes any criticism of the court for inappropriate discrimination in only pursuing investigations against African suspects.

There are “links between the activities of some African, European and Middle Eastern companies and the atrocities taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Mr. Ocampo stated. Illegal exploitation of resources, arms trafficking: the chief prosecutor is not mincing his words. Even if there is not yet any admissible proof of the fact, he implied, those responsible for this traffic are making use of the international banking system. In the case of Ituri, Ocampo also pointed to the involvement of organized criminal groups from Eastern Europe. According to him, “their activities allegedly include gold mining, the illegal exploitation of oil, and the arms trade.” He seems to be hoping for a big increase in judicial cooperation against international financial crime.

An Emphasis on Cooperation

In his address to the Assembly of States Parties, the chief prosecutor explicitly proposed an exchange of information: “National investigative authorities may pass to the Office [of the Prosecutor] evidence of financial transactions which will be essential to the Court’s investigations of crimes within the Court’s jurisdiction; for its part, the Office may have evidence of the commission of financial crimes which can be passed to national authorities for domestic prosecutions.”

Cooperation seems to be Ocampo’s watchword. His aim appears to be to invite the support of all countries that have taken a role in the peace process, arguing that groups divided by the conflict – who might be wary of prosecutions at each other’s hands – could come together in backing an independent and neutral investigation by the International Criminal Court.

The situation in Ituri also allows the chief prosecutor to reassure those who are worried that the Court will abuse its power by pursuing politically motivated cases. Opening an investigation into crimes committed in the east of Congo permits him to avoid any direct challenge to an established national government. The war there is now being fought between rival militia and insurgent groups against the background of peace negotiations and an outside intervention authorized by the United Nations. And in the country’s capital, Kinshasa, the new transitional government has stated loud and clear its hope of putting a stop to the massacres.

--Translated by Anthony Dworkin

Stéphanie Maupas reports from The Hague for Le Monde.

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