Former war lord Bosco Ntaganda faces a first hearing in The Hague on Monday. He is suspected of having committed crimes against humanity in the 2000s.
The purpose of the hearing on Monday (10.02.2014) is to decide whether there is sufficient evidence for Bosco Ntaganda to stand trial.
The procedures at the International Criminal Court are lengthy; it will probably be several months before the trial itself starts, assuming it goes ahead.
The charges against Ntaganda go back quite some time. Between 2002 and 2003 the then chief of military operations under the since convicted leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), Thomas Lubanga, is said to have committed grave crimes against humanity.
The list of alleged human rights abuses includes pillaging, persecution, the recruitment of child soldiers, rape and murder.
On March 18, 2013, Ntaganda unexpectedly turned himself in at the US embassy in Rwanda, from where he was transferred to The Hague.
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