A French court has sentenced former DRC rebel leader Roger Lumbala to 30 years in prison after finding him guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity committed during the Second DRC War. The ruling, delivered in Paris on Monday, was welcomed by international justice advocates as a major step toward accountability for one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts, which claimed millions of lives between 1998 and 2003.
Prosecutors had sought a life sentence for Lumbala, 67, accusing him of playing a central role in serious abuses carried out by fighters under his command. Announcing the verdict, court president Marc Sommerer said Lumbala was guilty of ordering or aiding acts including torture and inhumane treatment, summary executions, rape amounting to torture, sexual slavery, forced labour, theft, and pillage.
The charges stem from a military campaign known as “Erasing the Board”, conducted in 2002 and 2003 in north eastern DRC by the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo and the Rally for Congolese Democracy National, an armed group backed by Uganda and led at the time by Lumbala. The operation targeted members of the Nande and Bambuti communities, who were accused of supporting rival militias. Lumbala’s defence lawyer, Hugues Vigier, declined to comment following the verdict.
A war that killed millions
The Second DRC War involved nine countries and resulted in more than five million deaths, many caused by hunger and disease rather than direct fighting. While several individuals have been prosecuted at the International Criminal Court for crimes linked to the conflict, Lumbala’s case marks the first time a DRC national has been tried before a national court for atrocities committed during the war.
He was arrested in January 2021 under France’s universal jurisdiction law, which allows French courts to prosecute crimes against humanity committed outside the country. Lumbala refused to testify during the trial, which began last month, arguing that the French court lacked legitimacy. He was present when the verdict was delivered.
Yasmine Chubin, legal director at the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which participated in the case as a civil party, said the use of national courts could significantly expand avenues for justice beyond the limited number of cases pursued by the ICC. “Universal jurisdiction tightens the net,” she said, “giving victims more options and leaving perpetrators with fewer places to hide.”
One of the victims, Pisco Paluku Sirikivuya, a 50 year old nurse from Mambasa in eastern DRC, travelled to Paris to testify. He told the court that RCD National fighters robbed and injured him, killed his uncle, and raped his friend’s wife in Ituri province. “I am deeply moved and very satisfied with this verdict,” he said. “We have waited a long time.”
He added that he hoped the ruling would serve as a warning to those who continue to inflict suffering on the people of DRC, particularly in Ituri.