Image copyright AFP Image caption Germain Katanga is serving a 12-year prison sentence

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has for the first time ordered a war criminal to pay reparations to victims of his atrocities.

Germain Katanga, an ex-militia leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, should pay $1m (£800,000) to villagers targeted in 2003, judges ruled.

But as he was insolvent, the ICC Trust Fund for Victims should consider making the payment, the judges added.

Katanga followed proceedings via video link from jail in DR Congo.

The ICC sentenced him to 12 years in 2014 for aiding and abetting war crimes.

He was behind the 2003 massacre of hundreds of villagers in north-eastern DR Congo.

In total, the court ordered reparations of more than $3.7m.

"The chamber has assessed the scope of the prejudice to 297 victims as $3,752,620. The chamber sets the amount to be contributed by Mr Katanga towards the reparations as $1m," said presiding judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

A "symbolic" sum of $250 (£200) should be given to each of the 297 victims and a further $1m in "collective reparations", the judge said.

Lawyers for the victims set out a detailed list of losses, including the destruction of houses, furniture, and the killing of livestock.

They also said survivors had suffered psychological harm because of the loss of loved ones.

"The order provides for two types of reparations: individual reparations, awarded to individuals to repair the harm they have suffered; and collective reparations, consisting of long-term projects covering a whole community but still focusing on individual victims to the extent possible," an ICC statement said.</s>Germain Katanga, a Congolese National, sits during his trial at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, May 23, 2014. The International Criminal Court on Friday found Congolese former militia leader Germain Katanga liable for $1 million in damages to his victims, in a landmark ruling for the permanent war crimes tribunal.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Voice of America.</s>The International Criminal Court (ICC) has for the first time ordered a war criminal to pay reparations to victims of his atrocities.

Germain Katanga, an ex-militia leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, should pay $1m (£800,000) to villagers targeted in 2003, judges ruled.

But as he was insolvent, the ICC Trust Fund for Victims should consider making the payment, the judges added.

Katanga followed proceedings via video link from jail in DR Congo.

The ICC sentenced him to 12 years in 2014 for aiding and abetting war crimes.

He was behind the 2003 massacre of hundreds of villagers in north-eastern DR Congo.

In total, the court ordered reparations of more than $3.7m.

“The chamber has assessed the scope of the prejudice to 297 victims as $3,752,620. The chamber sets the amount to be contributed by Katanga towards the reparations as $1m,” said presiding judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

A “symbolic” sum of $250 (£200) should be given to each of the 297 victims and a further $1m in “collective reparations”, the judge said.

Lawyers for the victims set out a detailed list of losses, including the destruction of houses, furniture, and the killing of livestock.

They also said survivors had suffered psychological harm because of the loss of loved ones.</s>After fourteen years of campaigning, rights groups on Friday gave a sigh of relief when the International Criminal Court in the Hague delivered its first-ever order for financial reparations to victims of war crimes.

"The decision is hugely significant," Juergen Schurr, Head of Law and Policy at the human rights organisation Redress, told RFI.

"It comes about fourteen years after the brutal attack, and so it's long overdue that victims of that attack do receive some form of tangible justice."

The devastation caused by the 2003 attack on Bogoro village was total: Around 200 civilians were murdered, many others mutilated and women and girls forced into being sex slaves by the men of former warlord Germain Katanga.

"The damage was so colossal that no one can repair this 100%," Alain Uaykani, a former child soldier with a rival warlord at the time, told RFI by phone from Kinshasa.

"If you go to Bogoro, this is an area that almost disappeared off the map. So in terms of justice, this reparation is significant because it means the victims have not been forgotten."

In total, the court calculated that the survivors had suffered $3.75 million (around 3.5 million euros) in damages. Of this amount, it found that militia leader Germain Katanga was personally responsible for just under 1 million euros.

"In deciding what reparations to award, the chamber really relied on the needs that were expressed by the victims," Oriane Maillet, Associate Public Affairs Officer for the International Criminal Court told RFI.

"It also consulted the defence and they decided that two types of reparation should be awarded to the victims: on the one hand individual reparation but also collective reparation consisting of long-term projects, focusing on things like support for housing, income activities, education and psychological support."

In addition to the collective damages, each victim was awarded a symbolic amount of $250 (around 230 euros) in compensation.

While not intended to compensate the victims entirely, the court said it was "a symbolic amount which would provide meaningful relief to the victims for the harm they suffered."

One aspect though that needs to be fine-tuned is how the victims will actually be paid.

Germain Katanga, who's currently serving 12 years in jail for war crimes, doesn't have the means to pay.

So the independent Trust Fund for Victims--a body set up under the ICC--will try to cover the cost of the reparations.

A separate ruling on reparations for the victims of another convicted warlord Thomas Lubanga is expected to follow.

"Thomas Lubanga was the first to be tried by the Court, even before Germain Katanga, and yet his victims have been waiting for so long and they don't know what's going on," says former child soldier Alain Uaykani.

"The heart of this case was an ethnic fight, and if the Court doesn't pay attention it will stir up those same feelings again that others are more prioritized than others."

But for Juergen Schurr of Redress, Friday's decision can serve as a catalyst to end impunity.

"The fact that the reparations in the Lubanga case are delayed, shouldn't mean that the victims in the Katanga case should equally wait a long time for their reparations to come forward."

Last October judges approved symbolic reparations to create a living memorial for Lubanga's victims. "And we are now also in the same phase for the [Jean Pierre] Bemba case, so more decisions will be coming on those issues soon," insists Oriane Maillet.

"The success of the court will depends on how it delivers on its mandate to ensure all victims receive reparations," concludes Schurr.</s>The International Criminal Court on Friday found Congolese former militia leader Germain Katanga liable for $1 million in damages to his victims, in a landmark ruling for the permanent war crimes tribunal.

Judges specified that Katanga, convicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes in 2014, should pay $250 to each of 297 victims individually, or $74,250 in all — the first time the court has ordered a convict to pay damages to individual victims.

Noting that Katanga is in prison, indigent and unlikely to pay, judges acknowledged the ruling is partly "symbolic" and asked the court's Trust Fund for Victims to consider paying the damages on his behalf.

The award was "not intended to compensate for the entirety of the harm," said presiding judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

But he said he hoped the fund, which is independent, would provide some kind of "meaningful relief" to the victims for the harm they have suffered.

Katanga was convicted for crimes including murder, attacking a civilian population and pillaging for his role in a 2003 attack on the Bogoro village in the Ituri district of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison but remains in jail in DRC on other charges.

The attack on Bogoro was part of an ethnic conflict which pitted ethnic Hema and Lendu communities against each other.

Judges ruled that damages suffered by all victims of the attack amounted to $3.7 million, and Katanga was responsible for $1 million of that.

The court requested funding for a program to support victims with housing, education, work, and psychological support.

The Trust Fund for Victims is funded by donations from states and individuals. It said in its 2016 report that it has earmarked 5 million euros to contribute to victims' reparations in various ICC cases.

The court asked it to respond by June 27 with details of how it might support Katanga's victims.</s>The International Criminal Court (ICC) has awarded 297 victims of Congolese warlord Germain Katanga $250 (£200) each in what it describes as "symbolic compensation" during its first order for financial reparations to victims of war crimes.

Known as "Simba the Lion" due to his alleged ferocity, the former leader of the Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (FRPI) was handed down a 12-year sentence by the ICC in March 2014 on five counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The time Katanga spent in detention at the ICC between 2007 and 2014 was deducted from the sentence.

This morning (24 March), ICC judges awarded "individual and collective reparations" to 300 victims of an attack on the village of Bogoro where approximately 200 ethnic Hema civilians were slaughtered.

The Ituri district has been the home to inter-ethnic clashes between the Lendu and Hema communities since 1999, a conflict that became one of the deadliest within the larger 1998-2003 Second Congo War. Katanga remains in prison in the DRC.

According to a Tweet from the ICC, victims will receive $250 each, and get housing and other support, but as Katanga has no money the ICC is relying on a fund set up by its member states known as the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV).

It is the ICC's first ever ruling on compensation for victims of someone it has found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In February, Katanga was on trial again for crimes against humanity this time for his alleged role in the killing of nine United Nations (UN) peacekeepers in the Ituri region in 2005.

His previous sentence was reduced in November 2016 for good behaviour and after he voiced regret. The 37-year-old was brought back from The Hague to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, late last year to complete his term, and had been scheduled to walk free on 18 January when Congolese authorities decided to keep him behind bars to prosecute him for "other cases".</s>When the Congolese village of Bogoro was attacked by men with machetes and guns, the devastation was total: homes were pillaged, farms were destroyed, crops were ruined, and an estimated 200 villagers were massacred.

Now, for the first time in its history, the International Criminal Court has awarded compensation to the victims in a war-crimes case. The landmark ruling has broadened the court’s reach, taking it beyond traditional punishment and into the realm of restorative justice, and potentially creating a crucial new source of political support for the controversial court.

With some of the Congolese victims watching from thousands of kilometres away on a video link, the international court in The Hague ruled on Friday that a Congolese warlord is personally liable for $1-million (U.S.) in reparations to nearly 300 victims.

In total, the court calculated that the survivors had suffered $3.75-million in damages and psychological harm. Of this amount, it found that militia leader Germain Katanga is personally responsible for $1-million in damages.

Mr. Katanga, convicted of war crimes in 2014 for supplying the weapons and commanding the militia that led the assault on Bogoro village in 2003, is currently in prison in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on other criminal charges and is considered penniless.

Because the perpetrator has no money, the compensation will instead be provided by the Trust Fund for Victims, an independent body established under the court’s founding rules and financed by voluntary contributions from the court’s member states. There is $5-million currently in the fund, although $1-million has reportedly been set aside for another case.

The court decided that 297 villagers had proven that they were victims of the attack. Each will receive $250 in symbolic reparations, but they will also become beneficiaries of a larger fund of collective reparations to pay for long-term projects in housing, education, psychological support and income-generating activities.

The court ruled that Mr. Katanga should continue to be monitored to see if he remains indigent and unable to pay damages.

The symbolic $250 payment could help the villagers to buy farming tools or other material to improve their lives, the court said. “This symbolic amount, while not intended to compensate for the entirety of the harm, does provide meaningful relief to the victims for the harm they have suffered,” the court said.

Amnesty International said the decision is an important step towards addressing the “horrific suffering” of Mr. Katanga’s victims.

“Providing full and effective reparation will help the victims of these war crimes and crimes against humanity to rebuild their lives,” said a statement by Amnesty’s senior legal advisor, Solomon Sacco.

“But we must not forget that there are hundreds of thousands of other victims of similar crimes in the DRC, and whom the ICC will not be able to assist. Today’s decision should be a catalyst to end this impunity.”

The court asked the Trust Fund for Victims to present a plan by June 27 for the compensation projects that the fund will develop to help the victims.

Mr. Katanga watched the proceedings from a video link at Makala prison in Kinshasa, the Congolese capital. Several representatives of the victims watched a video link from the city of Bunia in Ituri province, the gold-rich region where Bogoro village is located, and larger meetings will be held in the region to explain the ruling to the victims.

To calculate the total damages of $3.75-million, the court had to use arbitrary estimates. It included, for example, $600 for the destruction of a house, about $520 for the killing of a family’s cattle and $150 for the destruction of a crop. It also included an amount of $8,000 for the death of a close relative.

By demonstrating its concern for victims and providing compensation to survivors, the International Criminal Court could be better equipped to fend off the growing criticism of its political biases and blind spots.

The court has been under frequent attack by many African politicians who accuse the court of being biased against Africans. So far, the court has convicted only Africans in its war-crimes prosecutions, and the court is unable to prosecute anyone in the United States or other countries that don’t belong to the court. But the court’s defenders have noted that most of its trials were a result of cases submitted to the court by African governments themselves.

Last year, three African governments – Burundi, Gambia and South Africa – announced their withdrawal from the court. But this year, Gambia and South Africa have reversed their decisions, although South Africa says it still intends to withdraw at a later stage. Courts there have ordered the government to obtain parliament’s approval first.</s>The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The International Criminal Court Friday ordered 297 victims of ex-Congolese warlord Germain Katanga to each be paid “a symbolic” $250 in damages for a brutal 2003 attack on their village, in the tribunal’s first such award.

Awarding both individual and collective damages, the court also found that Katanga was liable for one million dollars of the total damages estimated at $3.7 million (3.4 million euros).

Katanga was sentenced by the ICC to 12 years in jail in 2014, after being convicted on five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the February 2003 ethnic attack on Bogoro village in Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He was accused of supplying weapons to his militia in the attack in which some 200 people were shot and hacked to death with machetes.

“The chamber has assessed the scope of the prejudice to 297 victims as $3,752,620. The chamber sets the amount to be contributed by Mr Katanga towards the reparations as one million dollars,” said presiding judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

He recognised however that Katanga, currently imprisoned in Kinshasa where he is on trial on other charges arising out of the unrest in the Ituri region, was penniless or “indigent” and had no home or possessions.

The court acknowledged that the “symbolic amount of $250 to each victim of Mr Katanga … does not make up for the totality of the crime,” Perrin de Brichambaut said.

However it “can grant some measure of autonomy to the victims by making it possible for them to engage in some kind of activity… and make relevant decisions pertaining to their current needs.”

Friday’s order for reparations is a landmark step for the tribunal, set up in 2002 to prosecute the world’s worst crimes, and marks the first time that monetary values have been placed on the harm caused by such crimes.

The court asked the Trust Fund for Victims, set up under the tribunal’s founding guidelines to support victims, to consider using its resources to pay for the reparations and to come up with a plan for the court by late June.

Legal representatives for the victims had assessed the damage caused by the attack at $16.4 million in a filing to the court last year.

Katanga was watching Friday’s order from his prison in Kinshasa, while five victims representing the group followed in the village of Bunia with their lawyers.</s>Presiding Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Judge Olga Herrera-Carbuccia, and Judge Peter Kovacs in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court, as the ICC delivers its order for reparations to victims in the case The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga at a public hearing, in The Hague, Netherlands March 24, 2017.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Globe and Mail.</s>THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court Friday ordered 297 victims of ex-Congolese warlord Germain Katanga to each receive “a symbolic” $250 in damages for a brutal 2003 attack on their village, in the tribunal’s first such award.

Awarding both individual and collective damages, the court also found that Katanga was liable for $1-million of the total material, psychological and physical damage caused, estimated by the court to stand at $3.7-million.

Katanga was sentenced by the ICC to 12 years in jail in 2014, after being convicted on five charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for the February 2003 ethnic attack on Bogoro village in troubled Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was accused of supplying weapons to his militia in the attack in which some 200 people were shot and hacked to death with machetes.

“The chamber has assessed the scope of the prejudice to 297 victims as $3,752,620. The chamber sets the amount to be contributed by Mr Katanga towards the reparations as $1-million,” said presiding judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut.

He recognised however that Katanga, who watched Friday’s proceedings from jail in Kinshasa where he is on trial on other charges, was penniless or “indigent” and had no home or possessions.

The “symbolic amount of $250 to each victim of Mr Katanga ... does not make up for the totality of the crime,” Perrin de Brichambaut acknowledged.
Imprisoned former Congolese warlord Germain Katanga is ordered by the International Criminal Court to pay reparations to some of his victims in the first such ruling by the court.