Ntaganda addresses ICC

The man known as “The Terminator” told the three judges in the courtroom of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague that he was a professional soldier who never attacked civilians and had tried to restore peace during a brutal conflict in eastern Congo. Speaking in his native Kinyarwanda through an interpreter, he said he was not the Ntaganda portrayed by the prosecution.

The former warlord was speaking on the second day of a trial that is expected to last for several months. His comments contrast strongly with the prosecution's portrayal of him as the leader of a rebel militia that murdered, raped and persecuted villagers in the Ituri region of the Democtratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during a brutal conflict there in 2002 and 2003. Ntaganda also denied allegations by prosecutors that he has attempted to influence witnesses. Some 80 witnesses, including former child soldiers, are due to testify against him.

The trial is being broadcast on local radio stations across the DRC. This is the first time his alleged victims have been able to hear the former rebel leader defend his actions.

Ntaganda's own lawyers have expressed doubts that their client could get a fair trial for a number of reasons, including the confidentiality of witnesses and the "Terminator" nickname - which they attribute to his so-called extraordinary fighting skills.

Victims' long wait for justice

Earlier in the day, representatives for both the child soldiers and the victims of civilian attacks told a different story. Dmytro Suprun, the lawyer for more than 1,800 victims described how one woman trying to crawl away from an attack was, together with her baby, cut to pieces with machetes.

Sarah Pellet is the lawyer representing almost 300 child soldiers, who like the attack victims, will remain anonymous and be identified only by numbers. Many of the female child soldiers she represents were used as sexual slaves, she said, only to be shunned by their familes after giving birth to children they often despise.

Speaking through an interpreter, she said the young girls were faced with double victimization. "[They are] victims of rape and sexual violence, some who gave birth to other victims who will never know their fathers and who are constant reminders of terrible acts committed against their mothers."

Many of Pellet's clients participated in the trial of Ntaganda's commander, Thomas Lubanga, who has already been convicted for using child soldiers in the same conflict. But Pellet says her clients are frustrated with a verdict that left out victims of sexual violence and rape. They have beeen waiting for 12 years for justice, she said, and this court was all they have left.

Prosecution claims wealth of evidence

Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda opened the case against Ntaganda on Wednesday by saying that, as one of the highest commanders of the rebel militia Union of Congolese Patriots (UCP), Ntaganda made the most of ethnic tensions to gain power and make a fortune in the mineral-rich Ituri region - what she called one of the DRC's bloodiest corners.

Bensouda said Ntaganda was responsible not only for turning children under the age of 15 into killing machines, but also for rape and sexual enslavement of his own child soldiers. He is the first person ever, she said, to be charged for such a crime in an international court.

The prosecution says its has 8,000 documents, including expert reports, witness statements and video clips. One was played in court on Wednesday that showed Ntaganda visiting his young recruits.

Ntaganda had defied an ICC arrest warrant for years before unexpectedly handing himself over to the US embassy in Rwanda in 2013. Bensouda said he had been able to continue terrorizing Congo's population for a full decade.

Complex case

Ntaganda is regarded by human rights organizations as one of the most brutal warlords in the DRC. Born in 1973 in Rwanda, he first fought on the side of Tutsi rebels under Paul Kagame. In the following upheaval of the two Congo wars, he was active as an officer of the Rwandan army and in a number of pro-Rwandan rebel groups.

On March 23, 2009, Ntaganda's militia - the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) – was integrated into the regular DRC army as part of a peace deal reached with President Joseph Kabila. Just three years later, the group mutinied and Ntaganda's infamous rebel group "The March 23 Movement" (M23) was born.

In 2006 the ICC issued the first arrest warrant for Ntaganda. In March 2013 he gave himself up following international disputes within the M23 leadership.

In contrast to previous trials of Congolese warlords at the ICC, the Ntaganda case is more complex "as the range of acts in which he is said to have been involved is broader," Mariana Pena, a legal officer at the international justice program of the Open Society Justice Initiative in The Hague, told DW. Referring to the allegations that Ntaganda had attempted to influence witnesses, Pena said the ICC has a protection program for witnesses at risk.

The first witness will be called to the stand on September 15.

Lauren Comiteau in The Hague contributed to this report