The sentence of the Congolese warlord Germain Katanga has been reduced and will end in January 2016. Such is the decision taken on 13 November by the judges of the International Criminal Court. ASF is considering the consequences of this decision for the future of cases before the Court and especially for the participation of victims in proceedings. Victims and the Congolese authorities are also afraid of the destabilising effect of Mr Katanga’s return to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

ASF welcomes the conviction of a senior commissioner of the Congolese National Police for crimes against humanity. In its ruling on 31 October 2015, the Military Court of Kindu sentenced Colonel Amuri Pia Abraham to 15 years in prison for the rapes, torture and imprisonments carried out by his men in several villages in May 2012. This decision, the first conviction of its kind in the province of Maniema, demonstrates the commitment of the Congolese judicial system to continue the fight against the impunity of perpetrators of crimes against humanity in the DRC.