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Bosco Ntaganda
Bosco Ntaganda (born 5 November 1973) is a Rwandan warlord and convicted war criminal. He was the former military chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), a Tutsi group that operated in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the first phases of the Kivu conflict. He is also a former member of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and a veteran of the Rwandan Civil War, as well as an alleged former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots.
Until March 2013, he was wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of fifteen and using them to participate actively in hostilities. Prior to his surrender, Ntaganda had been allegedly involved in the rebel group March 23 Movement, a military group based in eastern areas of the DRC. On 18 March 2013, Ntaganda voluntarily handed himself in to the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda, asking to be transferred to the ICC. On 22 March, he was taken into custody by the ICC. On 8 July 2019, the ICC convicted him of war crimes including rape, murder, recruitment of child soldiers and sexual slavery. He was subsequently sentenced to 30 years for crimes against humanity.
Ntaganda was born in the small town of Kinigi, situated in the foothills of Rwanda's Virunga mountain range in the Musanze District. When he was a teenager, Ntaganda fled to Ngungu-Masisi in eastern DRC after attacks on his fellow ethnic Tutsis started taking place in Rwanda.[citation needed] He attended secondary school there but did not graduate; at the age of 17 he joined Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels in southern Uganda. At some point he acquired Congolese citizenship.
Ntaganda fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Army in the early 1990s and participated in the overthrow of the Hutu-led Rwandan government in 1994 following the Rwandan genocide. He subsequently joined the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), and became its chief of military operations.[citation needed] During this time, he is alleged to have been involved in numerous massacres and other serious human rights abuses. When Ntaganda was in charge of the UPC, he told child soldiers; "When you're a soldier, you get a woman for free. Everything is free."
In January 2005, Ntaganda was offered a position as a general in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a peace process, but he refused the offer. On 1 November 2005, a United Nations Security Council committee imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on him for violating an arms embargo.
In 2006, following conflicts within the UPC, he returned to North Kivu, his home province, and joined Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). As of April 2008, he was believed to be living in the Masisi district of North Kivu, serving as the CNDP's chief of staff. The CNDP has since been incorporated into the regular Congolese armed forces and Ntaganda was acting as a General in the army, despite being wanted by the ICC.
In 2012, he was living openly in the city of Goma in the DRC, on Avenue des Tulipiés, about 100 yards from the Rwandan border.
According to DRC authorities, General Bosco Ntaganda had "crossed from Goma to the town of Gisenyi, Rwanda, twice in 2011, in March and again in September, despite the travel ban imposed on him. Congolese authorities reported that on both occasions Ntaganda had gone there to attend a burial, having sought official authorization to do so from his military hierarchy and from immigration authorities. Rwandan officials said that they have no objections to Ntaganda crossing the border. They claim that his status as a sanctioned individual "is not a Rwandan problem, but a Democratic Republic of the Congo problem", adding that "Bosco contributes to peace and security to the region, which converges with Rwanda's aims".[better source needed]
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Bosco Ntaganda
Bosco Ntaganda (born 5 November 1973) is a Rwandan warlord and convicted war criminal. He was the former military chief of staff of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), a Tutsi group that operated in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the first phases of the Kivu conflict. He is also a former member of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and a veteran of the Rwandan Civil War, as well as an alleged former Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots.
Until March 2013, he was wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of fifteen and using them to participate actively in hostilities. Prior to his surrender, Ntaganda had been allegedly involved in the rebel group March 23 Movement, a military group based in eastern areas of the DRC. On 18 March 2013, Ntaganda voluntarily handed himself in to the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda, asking to be transferred to the ICC. On 22 March, he was taken into custody by the ICC. On 8 July 2019, the ICC convicted him of war crimes including rape, murder, recruitment of child soldiers and sexual slavery. He was subsequently sentenced to 30 years for crimes against humanity.
Ntaganda was born in the small town of Kinigi, situated in the foothills of Rwanda's Virunga mountain range in the Musanze District. When he was a teenager, Ntaganda fled to Ngungu-Masisi in eastern DRC after attacks on his fellow ethnic Tutsis started taking place in Rwanda.[citation needed] He attended secondary school there but did not graduate; at the age of 17 he joined Rwandan Patriotic Front rebels in southern Uganda. At some point he acquired Congolese citizenship.
Ntaganda fought with the Rwandan Patriotic Army in the early 1990s and participated in the overthrow of the Hutu-led Rwandan government in 1994 following the Rwandan genocide. He subsequently joined the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC), the military wing of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), and became its chief of military operations.[citation needed] During this time, he is alleged to have been involved in numerous massacres and other serious human rights abuses. When Ntaganda was in charge of the UPC, he told child soldiers; "When you're a soldier, you get a woman for free. Everything is free."
In January 2005, Ntaganda was offered a position as a general in the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo as part of a peace process, but he refused the offer. On 1 November 2005, a United Nations Security Council committee imposed a travel ban and asset freeze on him for violating an arms embargo.
In 2006, following conflicts within the UPC, he returned to North Kivu, his home province, and joined Laurent Nkunda's National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP). As of April 2008, he was believed to be living in the Masisi district of North Kivu, serving as the CNDP's chief of staff. The CNDP has since been incorporated into the regular Congolese armed forces and Ntaganda was acting as a General in the army, despite being wanted by the ICC.
In 2012, he was living openly in the city of Goma in the DRC, on Avenue des Tulipiés, about 100 yards from the Rwandan border.
According to DRC authorities, General Bosco Ntaganda had "crossed from Goma to the town of Gisenyi, Rwanda, twice in 2011, in March and again in September, despite the travel ban imposed on him. Congolese authorities reported that on both occasions Ntaganda had gone there to attend a burial, having sought official authorization to do so from his military hierarchy and from immigration authorities. Rwandan officials said that they have no objections to Ntaganda crossing the border. They claim that his status as a sanctioned individual "is not a Rwandan problem, but a Democratic Republic of the Congo problem", adding that "Bosco contributes to peace and security to the region, which converges with Rwanda's aims".[better source needed]