An elderly Italian priest appeared in a Paris courtroom on Tuesday, seemingly downplaying the alleged role of former rebel leader Roger Lumbala.
Lumbala, 67, faces accusations of complicity in crimes against humanity during the Second Congo War, one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts since World War II.
Witnesses from Mambasa and Epulu testified that Lumbala’s forces looted towns, beat, maimed, killed, and raped civilians during the 1998-2003 fighting.
Under questioning, 86-year-old priest Silvano Ruaro, who led a Catholic mission in Mambasa, suggested Lumbala held no military responsibility in the attacks.
“When the fighters arrived, they claimed to belong to Jean-Pierre Bemba’s group, not Lumbala’s,” the priest told the court in measured testimony.
He added that although Lumbala was an ally of Bemba, his influence over military operations or political decisions seemed negligible at the time.
Arrested in France in 2020, Lumbala has been held in Paris pending trial under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
At the opening of his trial, Lumbala denied wrongdoing, questioned the French court’s authority, and described himself as a former trade minister and lawmaker.
Prosecutors argue Lumbala allowed fighters from his Uganda-backed Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists (RCD-N) to pillage, execute, rape, and mutilate civilians with impunity.
Charges focus on the RCD-N’s 2002-2003 operations in northeastern Congo, targeting the Nande and Bambuti pygmy communities along Uganda and South Sudan borders.
UN investigators say the campaign aimed to seize the region’s gold, diamonds, and coltan, while rape was used strategically as a weapon of war.
Lumbala insists he commanded no troops and participated only as a politician, distancing himself from the militia’s violence and resource-driven campaigns.
If convicted, he could face life imprisonment, leaving a contested chapter of Congo’s brutal war under global scrutiny and judicial reckoning.
