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Paris Opens Trial of Ex-DRC Rebel Leader Roger Lumbala on Crimes Against Humanity

The case proceeds under France’s universal jurisdiction in what rights groups call the first prosecution of a Congolese national for DRC atrocities in a foreign court.

The United Nations suspects Roger Lumbala's militia of cannibalism and targeting ethnic pygmies
Vice-president of the delegation of M23 rebels, Roger Lumbala attends a press briefing in Uganda’s capital Kampala on January 8, 2013. A delegation of rebels was in Kampala for talks with the Congolese government aimed at ending a crisis that has led to widespread rights abuses and displacement and sparked fears of an all-out regional conflict. The M23, former rebels who were integrated into the Democratic Republic of Congo's regular forces in 2009 and mutinied again this year, pulled out of the main eastern city of Goma last week when the government agreed to discuss some of their demands. AFP PHOTO/ PETER BUSOMOKE (Photo credit should read PETER BUSOMOKE/AFP via Getty Images)

Overview

  • The trial opened on November 12 at the Paris Criminal Court for Roger Lumbala, 67, a former rebel leader and DRC commerce minister, over alleged crimes in 2002–2003 in North Kivu and Ituri.
  • Prosecutors cite summary executions, torture, rape and sexual slavery, enslavement, and pillage linked to the RCD-N’s Operation “Effacer le Tableau.”
  • French authorities arrested Lumbala in December 2020 and indicted him in November 2023 under universal jurisdiction, the first such case involving a Congolese national for atrocities in the DRC.
  • Hearings are expected to run for more than a month with dozens of victims set to testify, and the court aims to issue a verdict on December 19.
  • Human rights organizations say the proceedings confront entrenched impunity and urge broader use of universal jurisdiction alongside stronger accountability efforts in the DRC.