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A London doctor wanted over allegations of genocide in Rwanda today welcomed a Scotland Yard probe into the claims, saying: “I’m more than happy to go to court in this country.”

Vincent Brown, 57, denies being a militia leader during the massacres in Rwanda in 1994 which saw an estimated 800,000 people killed.

The married father-of-two settled in Islington 18 years ago and was first arrested over the allegations in 2006.

He spent 27 months in Belmarsh prison before being released. Last year a High Court judge blocked extradition proceedings against Brown and four other alleged war criminals — including the head of an evangelical church in Kent — over fears they would not receive a fair trial in Rwanda.

The Metropolitan Police said its war crimes unit had begun initial inquiries into the allegations following a request from the Rwandan government.

After the Standard informed him of the development, Brown welcomed it as “good news”.

He said: “I’ve been asking since 2006 for something to happen here, and they [the Rwandan government] didn’t want to do it. If the police here go to Rwanda and find there is something I have to answer, I’m more than happy to go to court in this country. If I am found guilty, I will face what I have to face. If I am found innocent, that’s it.

“For the last 12 years I’ve been asking: if you have something against me bring it on in Britain, because I trust the courts in Britain.”

Brown, who changed his name from Bajinya, has always denied genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and premeditated murder during the 1994 atrocities, in which some 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by militias from the majority Hutu ethnic group.

He left Rwanda with his family in 1994 and worked as a doctor in Kenya before joining his family in London two years after they moved in 1998. From 2002 he worked for charity Praxis, training refugee medical staff until his first arrest in December 2006.

In an interview at the weekend, Rwanda’s justice minister Busingye Johnston accused Britain of acting as a “safe haven” for war criminals. “Some of the people responsible for all these rapes and murders are on your soil,” he said.

“These are masterminds... who somehow got [UK] citizenship and are getting benefits paid by your taxpayers.”

Brown, who has not returned to work since his imprisonment, denied receiving benefits and said he is supported by his family.

“I can work, but who will give you a job with those allegations hanging over you? It’s false allegations, trumped up charges,” he said.

The Met confirmed its war crimes unit is assessing documents after it “received a request from Rwandan authorities in January to investigate five individuals in the UK in relation to alleged genocide offences in Rwanda.” </s> Today, 8 July 2019, Trial Chamber VI of the International Criminal Court (ICC) found Mr Bosco Ntaganda guilty, beyond reasonable doubt, of 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 2002-2003. Trial Chamber VI, composed of Judge Robert Fremr, Presiding Judge, Judge Kuniko Ozaki and Judge Chang-ho Chung, announced its judgment during a public hearing held in Courtroom I at the seat of the Court in The Hague (The Netherlands).

Findings: To make its decision, the Chamber reviewed all the evidence submitted during the trial, including documents, eye witnesses and insiders.

Trial Chamber VI found that the Union des Patriotes Congolais [Union of Congolese Patriots] (UPC) and its military wing, the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo [Patriotic Force for the Liberation of Congo] (FPLC), were at all times involved in at least one non-international armed conflict with an opposing party, in Ituri, district of the DRC from on or about 6 August 2002 to on or about 31 December 2003.

The conduct of the UPC/FPLC against the civilian population was the intended outcome of a preconceived strategy to target the civilian population, and the crimes committed took place pursuant to a policy of the UPC/FPLC. Mr Ntaganda fulfilled a very important military function in the UPC/FPLC.

In this context, the Chamber found Mr Ntaganda guilty of crimes against humanity (murder and attempted murder, rape, sexual slavery, persecution, forcible transfer and deportation) and war crimes (murder and attempted murder, intentionally directing attacks against civilians, rape, sexual slavery, ordering the displacement of the civilian population, conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 years into an armed group and using them to participate actively in hostilities, intentionally directing attacks against protected objects, and destroying the adversary's property).

While the evidence did not sustain all incidents indicated by the Prosecutor, it did demonstrate that in relation to each of the 18 counts at least part of the charges were proven beyond any reasonable doubt.

The Chamber has found that Mr Ntaganda was liable as a direct perpetrator for parts of the charges of three of the crimes, namely murder as a crime against humanity and a war crime and persecution as a crime against humanity, and was an indirect perpetrator for the other parts of these crimes. He was convicted as an indirect perpetrator for the remaining crimes.

Next steps: In order to determine Mr Ntaganda's sentence in this case, the Chamber will receive submissions from the parties and participants regarding the possible sentence, and will schedule a separate hearing, to receive evidence and address matters related to sentencing. Pending the decision on sentencing, Mr Ntaganda continues to be detained.

The parties (the Prosecution and Defence) may appeal the decision of conviction within thirty days. Issues related to the procedure for victims' reparations will be addressed in due course.

Background on the trial: The trial of Mr Ntaganda opened on 2 September 2015 and closing statements from 28 to 30 August 2018.

Over the course of 248 hearings, the Chamber heard 80 witnesses and experts called by the Office of the ICC Prosecutor, Ms Fatou Bensouda, 19 witnesses called by the Defence team lead by Mr Stéphane Bourgon and three witnesses called by the legal representatives of the victims participating in the proceedings, as well as five victims who presented their views and concerns.

A total of 2 129 victims, represented by their legal counsel, Ms Sarah Pellet and Mr Dmytro Suprun from the ICC Office for Public Counsel for the Victims, participated in the trial after having been authorised by the Chamber to do so.

The Trial Chamber issued 347 written decisions and 257 oral decisions during the trial phase. 1791 items were admitted into evidence. After the presentation of evidence, the Chamber received written closing submissions from the parties and the Legal Representatives of Victims; in total more than 1 400 pages. The total number of filings of the parties and participants and the Chamber's decisions is more than 2300 filings.

For further information on the case, click here

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: fadi.el-abdallah@icc-cpi.int </s> The Hague — Lawyers representing wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic have asked UN judges to overturn his conviction and 40-year jail sentence for genocide and demanded a retrial.

Karadzic was convicted two years ago for some of the worst war crimes committed as the former Yugoslavia broke apart in the 1990s, including the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed.

"We are here today to ask you to overturn Radovan Karadzic’s conviction and order a new trial," defence lawyer Peter Robinson told a panel of UN judges as two days of appeal hearings got under way.

In the court room a group of victims from the "Bosnian Mothers of Srebrenica" organisation watched Karadzic, 72, who looked healthy and resolute. He was seated behind his legal team.

Karadzic, who was arrested a decade ago after a years-long manhunt, was found guilty on 10 counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia he oversaw as president of the breakaway Bosnian Serb Republic. His lawyers said his seven-year "out-of-control mega-trial" violated his rights to a fair hearing.

Karadzic would argue that the initial judgment was wrong in concluding that he was a member of a joint criminal enterprise to drive out non-Serbs from Serb-claimed territory in Bosnia and Croatia, his lawyers said. He would contest the charge that he supported the shelling of civilians during the siege of Sarajevo, they said.

Karadzic’s conviction was handed down by UN judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia which said he was "at the apex of power" of the Bosnian Serb military and political hierarchy when the atrocities were committed. The appeals hearing is being held at the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, which is handling UN war crimes cases for the Balkans and Rwanda. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Daniel Sandford reports on the crimes of Stephen Port, "a serial rapist who became a serial killer"

A serial killer has been found guilty of murdering four young men by poisoning them with lethal doses of a date rape drug.

Stephen Port, 41, lured his victims to his London flat and secretly gave them GHB, the Old Bailey heard.

Scotland Yard believes there could be more victims and is reviewing 58 deaths in London spanning four years involving the drug.

Port, who denied 29 charges, will be sentenced on Friday.

The chef was also found guilty of 10 offences of administering a substance with intent, four rapes and four sexual assaults.

Image copyright Stephen Port/Met Police Image caption Port presented a very different version of himself online (left) where he claimed he'd been in the navy and graduated from Oxford University

Between August 2014 and September 2015, Port murdered Gabriel Kovari, 22, from Lewisham, Daniel Whitworth, 21, from Gravesend, Kent, and Jack Taylor, 25, from Dagenham, east London.

The jury also found him guilty of murdering Anthony Walgate, 23, from Dagenham, in June 2014 by a majority verdict.

Port met his victims on dating websites, including Grindr, and coaxed them to his home in Barking for sex before giving them fatal doses of drugs.

Their bodies were all found dumped in or near a graveyard within 500m of his house.

How did police miss killer Stephen Port?

The Metropolitan Police admitted it missed "potential opportunities" in investigating the deaths and has urged any other victims to come forward.

The force's own LGBT independent advisory group and journalists from the website Pink News had raised concerns about a serial killer being at large but were told the deaths were unconnected.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is currently investigating how the force handled the initial investigation into the deaths.

Seven officers have been served with gross misconduct notices advising them their conduct is under investigation. Another 10 have been served with misconduct notices.

Cdr Stuart Cundy, from the Met, said he was personally writing to the victims' families "to express our sincere condolences".

Image copyright PA Image caption Port murdered the men at his flat in Barking, east London, before dumping their bodies in and around a nearby graveyard

Port was found not guilty of three rapes relating to two living complainants.

The trial had heard he had an insatiable appetite for boyish-looking, smaller men, who he referred to as "Twinks".

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In a police interview in 2015, Port tried to implicate Daniel Whitworth in the death of Gabriel Kovari

The Old Bailey was also told he trawled the internet for pornography involving impassive young men being "raped" by older men.

Home videos were played to the jury of 10 women and two men which appeared to show Port allegedly enacting his drug-rape obsession.

At court: Danny Shaw - BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

As the 12 jurors took their seats, there was an almost palpable sense of tension.

Every day since Monday of last week, when the jury's deliberations began, relatives of Port's victims have gathered waiting for the outcome of this harrowing case.

At 10:35, the jury forewoman was asked whether they'd reached unanimous verdicts on each of the counts and, if so, what that verdict was.

When the first reply of "guilty" came back Port just sighed.

But to his right, there were sobs, tears and hugs among the parents and siblings of those who were murdered.

The murders

Image copyright Met Police Image caption Anthony Walgate (left) and Gabriel Kovari were Port's first victims

Anthony Walgate occasionally worked as a male escort and met Port when he offered the 23-year-old student £800 for an overnight date.

Mr Walgate had told a friend about the date "in case I get killed" but was found dead outside Port's flat on 19 June 2014.

Port later admitted he had "panicked" over the death and was jailed for perverting the course of justice, but he continued to claim Mr Walgate died from taking his own drugs.

Image copyright Met Police Image caption Daniel Whitworth (L) was murdered a year before Jack Taylor (R) died

Gabriel Kovari was staying with Port as a temporary flatmate when he was killed in August 2014.

Port called his sister to confess he had his body in his bed then dragged the 22-year-old to a nearby graveyard.

He then constructed a web of deceit to divert suspicion, telling his neighbour that Mr Kovari had died of an infection in Spain.

Port also invented a Facebook identity via which he told the Slovakian's boyfriend Mr Kovari had gone to a sex party with a man named "Dan".

Image copyright Met Police Image caption The suicide note, written by Port, sought to absolve him of any part in Mr Whitworth's death

The same dog walker who found Mr Kovari's body also found Daniel Whitworth dead in the same spot in the churchyard and "lying in the exact same position" three weeks later.

A fake suicide note was found in his hand which purported to be a confession by Mr Whitworth for Mr Kovari's death.

It was later found to have been written by Port but at the time of Mr Whitworth's death police had treated his demise "at face value".

Image copyright PA Image caption Mr Kovari and Mr Whitworth's bodies were found in the graveyard of St Margaret's Church

Jack Taylor died on 13 September 2015, hours after meeting with Port. The pair had earlier shared a conversation on Grindr.

Following his murder, Port disposed of Mr Taylor's mobile phone and deleted their communication on the dating app.

His body was found by a refuse collector with a needle and syringe in his pocket.

Image copyright AFP/NIKLAS HALLE'N Image caption Jack Taylor's family gave their reaction to Port's conviction at the Old Bailey

Speaking outside court following the verdicts, Daniel Whitworth's family said they were still "bereft at the loss of a such a clever, talented and much-loved boy".

His step-mother, Mandy Pearson, said the guilty verdict "has marked the end of a large part of our battle" but the family "have yet to concentrate on other areas of accountability".

"The fight goes on until all our questions are answered," she said.

Jack Taylor's family said they felt he would still be alive if the police "had done their job".

"The police should be held accountable for Jack's death. We do understand it's not them who took Jack's life but Stephen Port would have been stopped," they said.

Image copyright AFP/ NIKLAS HALLE'N Image caption Mr Whitworth's family made only passing reference to the initial police probe of his death

Police believe there are many other victims and have urged people to come forward.

As Port used a variety of social networks and dating apps to meet men, the Met has released a list of his account details in a bid to aid any other possible victims. </s> Image copyright AFP Image caption President Yahya Jammeh has ruled Gambia since 1994

The Gambia says it will pull of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after accusing the tribunal of persecuting and humiliating Africans.

The small West African nation joins South Africa and Burundi in withdrawing from the court.

The ICC was set up to try the world's worst crimes but has been accused of unfairly targeting African leaders.

Gambian Information Minister Sheriff Bojang said the court had ignored Western war crimes.

He said the ICC, for example, had failed to indict former British Prime Minister Tony Blair over the Iraq war.

Speaking on state television, he said the ICC was "an International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of colour, especially Africans".

The ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is a former Gambian justice minister.

President Yahya Jammeh has ruled The Gambia since taking power in a coup in 1994.

Elections are due in December, but opposition leader Ousainou Darboe and 18 others were jailed for three years earlier this year over an unauthorised protest.

The country has been unsuccessfully trying to have the European Union indicted by the court over the deaths of thousands of African migrants trying to reach the continent by boat.

The ICC and global justice:

Came into force in 2002

The Rome Statute that set it up has been ratified by 123 countries, but the US is a notable absence

It aims to prosecute and bring to justice those responsible for the worst crimes - genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes

In the court's 14-year history it has only brought charges against Africans.

What is the International Criminal Court?

South Africa said last week that it had formally begun the process of withdrawing from the ICC because it did not want to execute arrest warrants which would lead to "regime change".

Last year, a South African court criticised the government for refusing to arrest Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the court.

Burundi has also said it will leave the court, while other Africa countries like Kenya and Namibia have said they might.

All but one of the ICC's 10 investigations have been Africa-based. </s> A former British soldier is set to be prosecuted in connection with the deaths of two civil rights protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, 47 years ago, part of an incident known as Bloody Sunday, prosecutors said Thursday.

But the identity of the former soldier, identified only as Soldier F, has yet to be revealed.

The veteran will face prosecution for the murders of James Wray and William McKinney and the attempted murders of Joseph Friel, Michael Quinn, Joe Mahon and Patrick O’Donnell.

Sixteen other soldiers under investigation will not face prosecution in the shootings, which took place at the height of the unrest in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles. Prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to try them.

The charges against Soldier F follow a decade-long investigation that concluded soldiers killed 13 unarmed demonstrators protesting Britain’s detention of suspected Irish nationalists. Some 28 people were shot in total.

But the results of a long-running inquiry that concluded in 2010 could not be used in any prosecution and Thursday’s charges resulted from a separate police investigation into the incident.

He joined the 1st battalion of Britain’s famous Parachute Regiment in 1966, the Telegraph reports, and was a lance corporal at the time of the killings on Jan. 30, 1972.

The inquiry into the killings, conducted by Britain’s Lord Saville, granted anonymity to all military witnesses involved. Its final report covered some 5,000 pages, costing $352 million. It had been set up after an earlier inquiry into the killings was deemed a whitewash.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland first launched a murder probe in 2012, after Lord Saville’s Bloody Sunday Inquiry found that all of those who died were innocent civilians who had not posed a threat on the day, the Irish Times reports. Files were then sent to public prosectors in Northern Ireland in December 2016. In the end, names of 20 suspects were sent to prosecutors, including 18 ex-soldiers and two Official IRA men, but only Soldier F has been charged.

That leaves 19 suspects not charged and 11 killings unaccounted for. The victims’ families have called for justice, while supporters of the soldiers say it is unfair for them to face charges decades after the events.

In 2003 testimony to the Saville Inquiry, Soldier F admitted to firing 13 rounds on that 1972 day in Derry, as civil rights marchers made their way toward the city centre from the Bogside area.

The killings and attempted murders Soldier F will be tried for happened in the Glenfada Park North and Abbey Park north areas of Derry.

Although a Soldier H was also found by Saville to be responsible for these deaths, prosecutors deemed there was not the same level of evidence against Soldier H, and thus “no reasonable prospect of conviction.”

At a rubble barricade on nearby Rossville Street, six other protestors met their deaths. They were Michael Kelly, Hugh Gilmour, William Nash, John Young, Michael McDaid and Kevin McElhinney, all aged between 17 and 20.

The Irish Times reports that Soldier F was connected to these deaths, as were other soldiers, but again prosecutors decided there was no prospect a conviction could be secured.

Prosecutors found there was “no admissible and credible witness evidence that Soldier F fired at the rubble barricade,” but Michael Kelly’s body did offer up a bullet linked to a rifle Soldier F had used.

Soldier F was also linked to two other deaths — Bernard McGuigan and Patrick Doherty — and the wounding of other protestors, the Times reports. At the time of his report, Lord Saville said he had no doubt Soldier F shot the dead men, but evidence from Saville’s report was inadmissible. A co-accused soldier who might have pinpointed Soldier F is now dead.

Now, prosecutors have determined that there is enough evidence to try soldier F for two murders and four attempted murders.

A legal expert told the BBC that he expects Soldier F will soon be named, once the case goes to a preliminary hearing in Northern Ireland.

Expert Joshusa Rozenberg said Soldier F may argue abuse of process and unfair treatment as a defence, because no other soldiers have been prosecuted.

His legal costs, as well as welfare support, will be paid by the British government, it has been confirmed.

“We are indebted to those soldiers who served with courage and distinction to bring peace to Northern Ireland,” UK Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson told the BBC. “The welfare of our former service personnel is of the utmost importance.”

William McKinney’s brother Michael said it was “disappointing” for those families whose cases would not be prosecuted, the BBC reports.

“We are mindful of those families who received that news today, and believe me, there are many. For us here today it is important to point out that justice for one family is justice for all of us,” he said.

“I wish to clearly state that where a decision has been reached not to prosecute, that this is in no way diminishes any finding by the Bloody Sunday Inquiry that those killed or injured were not posing a threat to any of the soldiers,” Stephen Herron, the director of public prosecutions for Northern Ireland, said as he announced the charges. “We recognize the deep disappointment felt by many of those we met with today.”

— With files from the Associated Press </s> A third African country, Gambia, says it will leave the International Criminal Court as fears grow of a mass pullout from the body that pursues some of the world's worst atrocities.

Gambia announced the decision on television Tuesday night, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africa and calling it the "International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of color, especially Africans."

The move comes after South Africa, once a strong ICC supporter under former President Nelson Mandela, last week notified the United Nations secretary-general it would leave the court. Early last week, Burundi's president signed legislation to leave the court as well.

The withdrawal of the African countries has been criticized by human rights groups. "Shameful club of leaders who ignore victims of atrocity crimes," the EU director for Human Rights Watch, Lotte Leicht, tweeted Wednesday. The court was set up to pursue cases of alleged genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Gambia's decision is also striking because the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, is Gambian.

The information minister of the tiny West African country, Sheriff Baba Bojang, said in the statement late Tuesday that the court is involved in "the persecution of Africans, and especially their leaders."

Only Africans have been charged in the six ICC cases that are ongoing or about to begin, though preliminary ICC investigations have opened elsewhere.

Under the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, signatory countries have a legal obligation to arrest anyone sought by the tribunal, but some African states have allowed people wanted by the ICC, notably Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, to visit, and some say leaders ought to be immune from prosecution.

Gambia's information minister accused "at least 30" Western countries of having committed war crimes against their citizens since the ICC was founded more than a decade ago and said none has been targeted by the court. He singled out former British prime minister Tony Blair for his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Gambia has begun the process of withdrawing from the ICC, which involves notifying the U.N. secretary-general and takes effect a year after the notification is received, said the minister.

So far, the U.N. has said it has received notification only from South Africa.

Rights groups often accuse Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, one of Africa's longest-serving leaders, of abuses including a clampdown on political opponents. The next presidential election is in December.

Officials with other top African critics of the court, including Uganda and Kenya, have said in recent days they have not yet decided whether to leave the ICC as well. Uganda said it will be a "hot topic" at an African Union meeting in January. </s> A Congolese rebel chief, known as “the Terminator,” was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity on Monday, in a badly needed victory for judges at the International Criminal Court. Bosco Ntaganda was charged for his role in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri conflict in 2002 and 2003, including massacring civilians and sexually enslaving underage girls.

Wearing a dark blue suit, Ntaganda showed no emotion Monday as head judge Robert Fremr read out the 18 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity against him.

Prosecutors said the 46-year-old was a "key leader" who recruited child soldiers and gave direct orders to target and kill" non-combatants in the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern Ituri province in 2002 and 2003.

"It's a bad day for Bosco, a great day for justice, a great day for the victims of Ituri," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, the Executive Director of corporate watchdog Raid in the UK, after the verdict.

"As Bosco Ntaganda stood up to hear the judgment on each one of those counts, the constant word of 'guilty, guilty, guilty' that ran out across the court room on Monday morning is important for others committing these kinds of atrocities," she told RFI. Her message is clear: justice will catch up with you.

It has taken a while. Ntaganda was first indicted in 2006 by the International Criminal Court for allegedly recruiting child soldiers in Ituri, but then fell off the radar.

At one point, he even served as a general in Congo's army before turning himself in 2013 as his power base crumbled. But for nearly ten years, he was a symbol of impunity in Africa.

"To wait so long and to finally hear a verdict handed down of guilty is really important. It's timely, and I hope it will have a big impact for the victims in Ituri,” commented Lorraine Smith van Lin, a post-conflict justice adviser with human rights group Redress based in the Hague.

Ntaganda case stolen from Africa

The long-awaited verdict is also the first conviction the Hague-based court has secured for gender-based and sexual violence since its creation in 2002.

"The ICC speaks about its role in relation to sex crimes but we're not seeing a lot of evidence of actual convictions that stand, so this decision today is quite important," van Lin told RFI.

It is also important for the international body's reputation following a string of setbacks. The ICC has been criticized for letting some of its most high profile suspects walk free, including Ivorian former leader Laurent Gbagbo and another ex-Congolese warlord: Jean-Pierre Bemba.

"Those were very embarrassing acquittals for the ICC prosecutors, so the successful prosecution of Bosco Ntaganda, one of the highest profile suspects to have come to the dock in The Hague is extremely welcome," reckons for his part Phil Clark, author of the book Distant Justice, analysing the impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics.

However, he has qualms that the international justice system may be interfering with Africa's local courts.

"While many victims will welcome today's verdict, many have asked why Ntaganda wasn't prosecuted at home where they could have witnessed this case first hand, rather than having to watch the case beamed from a television screen from The Hague," he told RFI.

Wrong debate

Ntaganda, Clark argues, was already being investigated by domestic prosecutors in Bunia, the main town in Ituri. "The ICC basically stole the Ntaganda case from the domestic courts in Ituri (...)" and ultimately this "remarkable prosecutorial success, which would have been more valuable within Congo, now goes to the International Criminal Court," he added.

For Redress' van Lin, such debate is much ado about nothing.

"I think the real issue is whether or not the verdict is in favour of victims, I don't think it matters where it happens," she commented.

A total of 2,123 victims participated in the trial, including former child soldiers and victims of Ntaganda's rebel group.

"I think at the end of the day the issue is whether or not justice has been served for the victims," reckons van Lin.

More than 60,000 people have been killed since violence erupted in Ituri region in 1999, according to rights groups.

Prosecutors said Rwandan-born Ntaganda was central to the planning and operations for the Union of Congolese Patriots rebels and its military wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC). The FPLC killed at least 800 people as it fought rival militias in Ituri.

Cold-blooded

For Van Woundenburg, a former Human Rights Watch senior researcher, who has been documenting Ntaganda's crimes since 2003, and has met and interviewed him on several occasions, he stood out as a "particularly brutal individual."

"Often you get these warlords who direct, who command from their headquarters, who aren't necessarily themselves on the frontline, murdering, killing and raping. But Bosco was, which is in part why he was given the nickname "The Terminator," which I think is apt," she said.

Ntaganda is one of five Congolese warlords brought before the ICC. The FPLC's leader, Thomas Lubanga, was convicted by the ICC in 2012 of using child soldiers. He is serving a 14-year prison sentence. The court has also convicted one wartime opponent, Germain Katanga.

Other rebel leaders however, such as Mudacamara remain at large. And despite, the success of Monday's conviction, critics such as Phil Clark are disappointed that the ICC only focused on Ntaganda's early crimes and not the "more systematic and much graver crimes he committed when he became a fully fledged leader."

"It is limited in scope in terms of the time and it doesn't take into account the atrocities that are still happening," admits van Lin.

But for her, "it doesn't blight the conviction today, which demonstrates that the court is serious about going after these commanders and that the long arm of the law will still find them even years after," she said. </s> A written notice of South Africa's intention was submitted to the UN secretary general, said Tshililo Michael Masutha, the country's justice minister. The withdrawal from the international court will be formalized one year after the notification.

The court in the Hague, Netherlands, comprises 124 states from around the world. The ICC is the "court of last resort" and tries four types of crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and war crimes. The court was created by the Rome Statute, a treaty first brought before the United Nations.

During the 12 months' notice period, South Africa will remain under the Rome Statute.

The country's department of justice said via Twitter that South Africa was "hindered" by certain parts of the Rome Statute, primarily the one that "compels South Africa to arrest persons who may enjoy diplomatic immunity under customary international law, who are wanted by the ICC for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, to surrender such persons to the International Criminal Court."

It said the rule forced South Africa to turn over such persons even when the country was "actively involved in promoting peace, stability and dialogue in those countries." SA remains committed to the fight against impunity, to hold those who have committed crimes against humanity, serious crimes accountable. — The DoJ & CD (@DOJCD_ZA) October 21, 2016 During a 2015 visit to South Africa by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the ICC had requested his arrest on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide stemming from the conflict in the Darfur region in western Sudan. Al-Bashir departed the country without getting arrested. The ICC has come under criticism by African leaders for what they say unfairly targets them. South Africa's justice minister added that the country remains committed to holding those who committed crimes against humanity accountable, and that it intended to work closely with the African Union and other African countries.
The Metropolitan Police in London launches a war crimes investigation into five men wanted in Rwanda for alleged massacres in 1994. A United Kingdom court previously refused to extradite the men over concerns they may not receive a fair trial.