Priest tells war crimes trial DR Congo ex-rebel leader 'not very important'

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An elderly Italian priest on Tuesday appeared to downplay the alleged role of a former rebel leader on trial in France for a wave of atrocities against civilians during the Second Congo War.

Roger Lumbala, 67, is accused of complicity in crimes against humanity during the 1998-2003 conflict, which drew half a dozen African countries into the world's deadliest fighting since World War II.

A number of witnesses from Mambasa and Epulu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, have told the court in Paris that Lumbala was behind marauding rebels who looted the towns, and beat, maimed, killed and raped their inhabitants.

But under questioning, Silvano Ruaro, who was in charge of a Catholic mission in Mambasa when rebels arrived on October 12, 2002, seemed to back Lumbala's claim that he was a solely political figure, with no military responsibility.

When the fighters arrived, he said they shouted they belonged to an allied rebel group led by Jean-Pierre Bemba, who is now the country's transport minister.

"None of them claimed to be with Lumbala," the 86-year-old priest told the court.

Asked about a statement from his congregation at the time that the attacks were carried out by "the forces of Lumbala and Bemba", he said Lumbala's role was "not very important".

"He was an ally of Bemba but we didn't feel he had any political or military influence," he added.

Denial

Lumbala was arrested in France, where he owned a flat, in 2020 and has been held in a Paris prison ever since. He is being tried under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

At the opening of his trial, he described himself as a former trade minister and ex-lawmaker, denied any wrongdoing and questioned the competence of the French court to try him.

He has said he would no longer attend proceedings.

The prosecution described him as a warlord who let fighters from his Uganda-backed rebel movement, the Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists (RCD-N), pillage, execute, rape and mutilate with impunity.

The charges centre on the RCD-N's actions in 2002 and 2003 in the northeastern Ituri and Haut-Uele provinces bordering Uganda and modern-day South Sudan, primarily against the Nande and Bambuti pygmy ethnic groups.

French authorities believe RCD-N fighters used rape as a "weapon of war", especially towards women from the Nande and Bambuti communities, whom the militia suspected of pro-government sympathies.

UN investigators believe the RCD-N's offensive was designed to secure access to the region's resources, which include gold, diamonds and the coltan crucial to the making of mobile phones.

Lumbala, who briefly served as trade minister then ran for president in 2006, insists he was merely a politician with no soldiers or volunteers under his control.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.