Jean-Pierre Bemba facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jean-Pierre Bemba
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Bemba in 2005.
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| Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Transportation |
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| Assumed office 12 June 2024 |
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| President | Félix Tshisekedi |
| Prime Minister | Judith Suminwa Tuluka |
| Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Defense |
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| In office 23 March 2023 – 12 June 2024 |
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| President | Félix Tshisekedi |
| Prime Minister | Sama Lukonde |
| Preceded by | Gilbert Kabanda Rukemba |
| Succeeded by | Guy Kabombo Muadiamvita |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo
4 November 1962 Bokada, Equateur Province, Republic of the Congo |
| Nationality | Congolese |
| Political party | Movement for the Liberation of the Congo |
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| Alma mater | ICHEC Brussels Management School |
| Occupation | Politician |
Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (born 4 November 1962) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). After he served as Deputy Prime Minister of Defense 2023 to 2024, he was moved to the Deputy Prime Minister of Transportation. He was previously one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government from 17 July 2003 to December 2006. He led the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (MLC), a rebel group turned political party. He received the second-highest number of votes in the 2006 presidential election. In January 2007, he was elected to the Senate.
In 2008, during a trip to Europe, Bemba was arrested on International Criminal Court charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes. He spent the following 10 years in prison at The Hague, The Netherlands; 8 years awaiting trial and verdict, then 2 more years after conviction in 2016. In 2018, the verdicts were overturned on appeal. The court ruled that because the Rome Statute which sets the court's rules does not limit the amount of time a person can spend in prison awaiting trial, Bemba was not entitled to compensation. It called on member states to urgently review the relevant provisions in the statute. No such review has yet taken place. In 2018, Bemba returned to the DRC where he has since been active in national politics.
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Background
Bemba was born in Bokada, Nord-Ubangi. His father, Jeannot Bemba Saolona, was a businessman who was successful under Zairian President Mobutu Sese Seko, and one of his sisters is married to Mobutu's son Nzanga, who was also a candidate in the 2006 presidential election.
Bemba attended boarding school in Brussels and later studied economics at the ICHEC Brussels Management School.
MLC rebel years
The MLC movement started in the Orientale Province of the DRC in 1998 at the beginning of the Second Congo War. Said Bemba of its founding: "I had identified the possibility of launching an armed movement. So I went looking for serious partners. There were two countries in the region that were interested but I chose to present my dossier to the Ugandans. They liked it and so I went in." Between October 2002 and February 2003, the MLC had carried out an ethnic cleansing of 40% of pygmies in eastern Congo known as the operation Effacer le tableau.
Involvement in the Central African Republic
In 2002, President Ange-Félix Patassé of the Central African Republic invited the MLC to come to his country and put down a coup attempt. Human rights activists accused MLC fighters of committing atrocities against civilians in the course of this conflict.
Interim government
In 2003, Bemba became one of four vice-presidents during the interim government that lasted from 2003-2006.
2006 Presidential election
Bemba was one of 33 candidates who ran in the Congolese presidential election on 30 July 2006. His main campaign slogan — "One Hundred Percent Congolese" — was widely perceived as an attack on frontrunner President Joseph Kabila.
Bemba received substantial support in the western, Lingala-speaking portion of the country, including the capital, Kinshasa. Following the vote there was significant tension as to whether Kabila would win a majority of the vote, avoiding a runoff against Bemba, who was perceived as Kabila's main opponent. However, results announced on 20 August gave Kabila 44% of the vote and Bemba 20%,
On 21 August 2006, while accompanied by 14 ambassadors of CIAT members (International Committee in charge of the Transition), including ambassadors from the United States of America, Britain, France (Bernard Prévost) and Belgium (Johan Swinnen), and from MONUC, US diplomat William L. Swing, Bemba survived an assassination attempt by the Presidential Guard bombing his residence in Gombe. The ambassadors were forced to seek refuge in a cellar. Kabila and Bemba faced each other in a second round, held on 29 October. The electoral commission announced the official results on 15 November, naming Kabila the winner with 58.05% of the vote; Bemba's supporters have alleged fraud.
On 27 November 2006, the Supreme Court of the DRC rejected the fraud charges brought by Bemba, and confirmed Kabila as the new elected Congolese President. A day later, Bemba said that he disagreed with the court's decision, but that "in the greater national interest and to preserve peace and to save the country from chaos and violence", he would participate in the system by leading the political opposition. He did not attend Kabila's swearing-in ceremony on 6 December. On 8 December, the MLC announced that Bemba would run for a Senate seat from Kinshasa in the January 2007 senatorial election, and he succeeded in winning a seat.
Arrest and trial
On 24 May 2008, Bemba was arrested near Brussels. He was handed over to the ICC on 3 July, 2008 and transferred to its detention centre in the Hague. He was the only person arrested in connection with the ICC's investigation in the Central African Republic. The Supreme Court of the Central African Republic found no basis to pursue cases against Bemba and former CAR President Ange-Félix Patassé.
The trial of Bemba began on 22 November 2010 and lasted four years. The prosecutor was Fatou Bensouda. Two more years passed before the verdict was given.
On 21 March 2016, he was convicted on two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes. ..... The trial evaluated a theory of criminal responsibility related to whether a remote commander who failed to prevent or punish crimes was liable for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
On 21 June 2016, the ICC sentenced Bemba to 18 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC). In March 2017 he was sentenced to an extra year in prison and fined 300,000 euros ($324,000) by the ICC for interfering with witnesses in his trial.
Appeal
On 28 September 2016, Bemba served the ICC appeals chamber with an appeal against his 18-year conviction citing numerous procedural and legal errors in the judgment, and alleging a mistrial. The appeal centered on whether Bemba had a fair trial, with concerns about the need for greater specificity in criminal charges. The conviction was overturned on 8 June, 2018 by Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert. She said he cannot be held responsible for the actions of his men, and that the lower court "ignored significant testimonial evidence that Bemba's ability to investigate and punish crimes in the CAR was limited".
The court ruled that because the Rome Statute which sets the court's rules does not limit the amount of time a person can spend in prison awaiting trial, Bemba was not entitled to compensation. It called on member states to review urgently the relevant provisions in the statute No such review has yet taken place.
On 4 May 2017 Bemba had also filed an appeal against his conviction for interfering with witnesses, alleging factual and legal errors on the part of the trial chamber and illegal investigative activity by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor.
2018 to present
On 1 August 2018, Bemba returned to the DRC after 11 years of exile and imprisonment. He attempted to run for President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 2018 election, and was considered by some to be the strongest opposition candidate. He was barred from running after a review conducted by the country's Independent National Electoral Commission. He joined other opposition leaders in an agreement to support candidate Martin Fayulu, who became the subject of a dispute over the election's results—winning according to journalists analyzing data apparently leaked from the electoral commission and the Catholic Church's observation mission, but losing to Félix Tshisekedi according to the election commission's official results. As of 2023, Bemba was active in national DRC politics. On 23 March 2023, Tshisekedi named Bemba Minister of Defence in a cabinet reshuffle.
See also
In Spanish: Jean-Pierre Bemba para niños
- Effacer le tableau
