A Paris criminal Court, on Monday, 15 December, sentenced former Congolese rebel leader Roger Lumbala to 30 years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity committed during the Second Congo War in 2002 and 2003. A decision widely hailed by rights groups as a decisive strike against decades of impunity.
The 67-year-old, who led the Uganda-backed Congolese Rally for National Democracy, was found responsible for atrocities including torture, executions, rape, forced labour and sexual slavery, particularly against the Nande and Bambuti communities in eastern Congo. His lawyer described the sentence as excessive and said an appeal could be lodged within ten days.
Victims testified to brutal abuses, recounting killings, mutilation and forced labour that continue to cast long shadows over their lives more than two decades on. Several survivors of sexual violence also gave evidence. The case, enabled by French laws on universal jurisdiction, marks the first time a Congolese political or military leader has been convicted by a national court abroad for mass atrocities. Analysts say the ruling challenges a long-standing pattern in which former warlords later assumed senior roles in government or the military.
After the war, Lumbala served as Congo’s minister of foreign trade from 2003 to 2005 and later as a member of parliament. He fled to France after an arrest warrant was issued in 2011 over alleged support for the M23 rebel group.
The verdict comes against the backdrop of renewed instability in eastern Congo, where fighting escalated last week after the Rwanda-backed M23 seized a key city, despite a U.S.-mediated peace deal signed last week in Washington. Rights advocates said the ruling sends a clear message that time and political power will not shield perpetrators of mass violence, reinforcing accountability as a cornerstone for lasting peace.