"He must be stopped." With these words the International Criminal Court unsealed a new arrest warrant against an alleged Congolese war criminal. Bosco Ntaganda is accused of conscripting child soldiers into his militia. Ntaganda is at large and it is believed that he is still committing crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"Bosco Ntaganga committed crimes in Ituri; he is today in the Kivus. He must be arrested. Like all the other indicted criminals in Uganda and in the Sudan, he must be stopped if we want to break the system of violence. For such criminals, there must be no escape. Then peace will have a chance. Then victims will have hope", said Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo as the court unsealed its arrest warrant.

Congo-connection
With this latest indictment the ICC is seeking the arrest of a fourth Congolese militia leader. Bosco Ntaganda (35), also known as "the Terminator", is accused of being the leader of the Congrès National pour la Défense du People (CNDP), an armed militia that is fighting in the North Kivu region. The CNDP is one of the many Congolese groups against which there are reports of serious crimes committed, including sexual crimes of unspeakable cruelty.

The CNDP falls under the direct command of Laurent Nkunda, a notorious Tutsi warlord. Ntaganda is also a former associate of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, alleged leader of the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo (FPLC). This armed group is believed to have conscripted child soldiers on a large scale. According to the prosecutors, Ntaganda was subordinated to Lubanga whose trial is due to start on 23 June at the ICC for similar crimes.

Moreno Ocampo called upon all concerned states, authorities and actors "to contribute to his arrest and surrender him to the court." The warrant of arrest against Ntaganda is the fourth issued by the Court in the situation of the DRC. Three persons are currently into custody: Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ndgudjolo Chui.

Congo at the ICC
The ICC opened its first ever investigation into the Democratic republic of Congo. Millions of civilians have died as a result of conflict since the 1990s and serious crimes are still being committed, especially in the eastern region of Ituri. It was President Joseph Kabila who in 2003 called upon the ICC to halt the violence and fill the impunity gap.

The ICC's Prosecutor found substantial evidence that thousands of people had been killed in campaigns of mass murder and summary executions since 2002, the date of entry into force of the ICC. A pattern of rape, torture, forced displacement and the illegal use of child soldiers was reported in Congo. Despite a comprehensive cease-fire signed in mid-January in Goma, the situation remains highly unstable and the central government as well as the UN peacekeeping force (UNMIC) is unable to stop atrocities.

Unsealing
The warrant of arrest, issued in August 2006 remained under seal because the Court feared that public knowledge of this case could have resulted "in Bosco Ntaganda hiding, fleeing, and obstructing or endangering the investigations or the proceedings of the Court." Now, both the Prosecution and the Registry agreed that "the unsealing of the warrant "will not endanger the witnesses of the DRC cases" any further because protective measures have taken. Besides there are reasons to believe that Ntaganda is aware of the warrant against him, according to the Trial Chambers decision. Unsealing the warrant may also assist the DRC government in apprehending him.