“If your neighborhood was being bombed, would you stay or flee?”

13 January 2011

Another day in the ICC today! We hurried so we could get to the court early. We got there and entered the courtroom. There were several African people speaking French to one another on the left side of the room. Celine and I sat by them, while Erin, Kathi, and Sam sat on the other side of the room in order to see the prosecution. Celine and I were very close to Bemba as the curtains opened.

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WARNING: If you are triggered by sexual violence, please skip to the next set of asterisks.
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As I mentioned before, today began the examination by the defense (what we would call cross-examination. The court does not call it this). The counsel for the defense, Mr. Kaufman, began by asking her about Chief Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo’s visit in February of 2008. He was polite with his questions, but seemed to be curt at some of her replies.

She said that those who were raped and robbed by the Banyamulenge met with the prosecutor. There was a large number, over 20 people. Mr. Kaufman continued questioning her about who spoke with her, what they asked, and what they did, but her memory did not seem to hold these names and dates. Other than the two prosecutors, she had only told her family and her father about her rape. Three white people recorded her story and took photos of the places in her testimony. She did not remember whether this was before or after Ocampo visited.

Mr. Kaufman asked her whether she had consulted a doctor after her rape. She answered no until the ICC brought her to see a doctor. She saw doctors in 2009 and 2010. They performed a gynecological examination on her and the doctor took notes. “After you had been brutally raped, why didn’t you see a doctor?” he asked her. She replied that to see a doctor, you need money, and since her money had been stolen by the Banyamulenge, she could not see a doctor. He asked whether she had gone to see the Red Cross or Medecine Sans Frontier (sp?), but she had not.

Mr. Kaufman grilled her about an error in her birth certificate, whose date was three days off from her actual date of birth, which was 13 February 1962. At this point, Bemba seemed to speak angrily to the defense counsel in front of him and pointed in the direction of the gallery. Mr. Kaufman asked whether the investigators had told her the dates of the attack, insinuating that they had put works in her mouth and tampered with her testimony. She said she was unsure of the dates, as it was long ago and she had been very upset at the time.

Furthermore, Mr. Kaufman mentioned other armed groups that had been in the Central African Republic at the time, suggesting that these soldiers weren’t necessarily Banyamulenge. She insisted, however, that they were wearing Presidential Guard uniforms. Bemba nods in the direction of the audience.

The session went on break after Kaufman asked, “If your neighborhood was being bombed, would you stay or flee?” She said, “I was supposed to go away.” And the defense decided to break for lunch.

When the curtains began to close to take the witness out, Celine and I saw Bemba wave to the African women seated next to us. These women laughed and waved back happily. ow we knew why they had been laughing throughout the victim's testimony. They were friends of Bemba, who is currently on the ballot for election in the DRC. Apparently, the gallery is often a place where supporters come, and people from the CAR are often too intimidated by the general feeling of the gallery to watch the proceedings.

I can say that I myself was extremely taken aback. I had been sitting next to Bemba supporters for the past few hours. Very eerie.

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We had an appointment with the Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice after lunch, and so we headed to the store and picked up food. Celine and I got bread, lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes to make sandwiches and headed to a café at Station Hollands Spoor near where we lived to grab coffee and make our food. Erin, Sam, and Kathi joined us.

Then, we took the tram to the ICTY stop and arrived early for our presentation at the Women’s Initiative for Gender Justice, which I’ll write about at length in my next entry. Working there may be my dream job. You’ll see why, but first I need to sleep. Then I’ll write all about it.

Over and out!
Mac