The Katanga Case
Background
On 7 March 2014, Trial Chamber II found Germain Katanga guilty of the crime against humanity of murder, and the war crimes of murder, attack against a civilian population, destruction of enemy property, and pillaging committed on 24 February 2003 during an attack on Bogoro in the Province of Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Liability amount and funds raised
The liability of Mr Katanga was set at USD 1 million in the Trial Chamber’s Order for Reparations. The totality of the award has been complemented by the TFV Board of Directors including by use of EUR 70,000 from the Netherlands earmarked for individual reparations awards, and EUR 130,000 to collective awards, and other reparations resources, in particular contributions by Germany in 2018 and 2019, up to a total of EUR 600,000. Unrestricted contributions of other States Parties to the Rome Statute were used to complete the award.
Programme implementation and achievements
In its Order for Reparations of 24 March 2017 issued against Mr Germain Katanga, the Trial Chamber ordered both individual and collective reparations to 297 victims identified and found eligible by the Trial Chamber.
Out of the total of USD 1 million ordered by the Trial Chamber in its Order for Reparations for the benefit of victims of Germain Katanga, USD 74,250 was allocated towards individual reparations and USD 919,462 was allocated towards collective reparations.
In accordance with the victims’ wishes, specific modalities of collective reparations were designed in such a way as to benefit victims on an individual basis to the extent possible.
Out of the total USD 919,462 allocated towards collective reparations, US$ 775,500 was directed towards housing, education, and income-generating activities; US$ 88,312 was set aside for psychological support; and US$ 55,650 was provided to compensate victims living abroad, as only victims residing in the DRC were able to access the specific collective measures.
For the purposes of implementing collective reparations, victims were divided into categories to determine the budget they would be able to allocate to the different modalities based on the harms they endured. Psychological assistance is not accounted for in the victims’ personal budget, and was open to all identified victims whom the TFV’s psychologist team was able to contact.
|
Category I: loss of home, livestock, and psychological harm
|
135 victims: 127 DRC + 8 resettled
|
USD 3,450 |
|
Category II: loss of home or equivalent material loss, and psychological harm
|
76 victims: 71 DRC + 5 resettled
|
USD 2,850 |
|
Category III: loss of family members and minor material loss, and psychological harm
|
67 victims: 59 DRC + 8 resettled
|
USD 1,200 |
|
Category IV: loss of personal affairs
|
6 victims: 1 DRC + 5 resettled
|
USD 600 |
|
Category V: psychological harm * Not quantified for specific victims but as a lump sum for all victims |
13 victims: 8 DRC + 5 resettled
|
Zero impact on the cost of package |
|
Sub-Category: loss of (a) family member(s) / physical harm suffered |
|
Augmentation of USD 600 |
Victims were free to allocate parts of the budget that had been determined for them to specific modalities of reparations in accordance with their needs and preferences. Similarly, victims were also free to select specific income-generating activities they would like to benefit from. Victims were also able to amend their choices and opt for other modalities or types of income-generating activities at any stage of the implementation of reparations.
The Trust Fund has worked in close collaboration with the relevant ICC Registry sections and the legal representatives in the case to directly implement the individual and collective reparation awards ordered in this case.
The Trust Fund has reported to the Trial Chamber on the progress made in the implementation of reparations on a quarterly basis.
Individual reparations
The individual reparations consisted of awards of symbolic compensation in the amount of USD 250 for each victim.
The TFV completed the disbursement of individual symbolic payments to victims between 2017 and 2018. The awards were directly disbursed to the victims by TFV staff in their places of residence or as close to them as possible in order to mitigate security risks for victims to the extent possible.
Sums in lieu of collective reparations for victims who have been resettled outside of the DRC
The TFV also handed in symbolic sums of money in lieu of collective reparations to victims who had been resettled outside of the DRC in their places of residence due to budgetary and security limitations.
Missions were organised in 2017 and 2018 to Uganda, Europe and the USA, in order to facilitate the implementation of the awards in person to the 31 victims who had resettled and/or were located outside of the DRC.
These awards were also directly disbursed to the victims by the TFV staff in their places of residence or as close to them as possible due to security risks.
Additionally, a victim who had resettled outside of the DRC during the implementation of reparations also benefitted from the remainder of their reparations in cash in 2021.
Collective reparations
From 2018 to 2023, the TFV worked in close collaboration with the relevant Registry sections and the legal representatives in the case to directly implement the four modalities of collective reparations provided for in the Order for Reparations which are housing support, educational support, income-generating activities and psychological support for the 297 eligible victims, of which 266 were originally located in Ituri Province, DRC.
Educational support
Between 2018 and 2021, the TFV has completed the implementation of the educational support modality by supporting 338 dependents of victims for a total cost of USD 44,856.63.
Income-generating activities
Between 2019 and 2023, the Trust Fund provided 253 victims with items of their choice to allow them to perform income-generating activities, such as the setup of small restaurants, bakery businesses and butcher’s shops, tailoring, cereal and grain milling, carpentry, logging, the sale of clothing and the sale of pharmaceutical products.
Housing support
Between 2021 and 2023, the TFV provided 57 victims with housing support in the form payments in one to two instalments for the construction and renovation of houses and the purchase of plots of land.
Psychological support
To facilitate the implementation of psychological support, the TFV hired a clinical psychologist previously appointed as an expert in the Katanga proceedings in 2015 to develop a content-driven roadmap and way forward to provide the victims with comprehensive psychological support, given the amount available for this reparation modality and the general lack of readily available psychologists in Bunia (and more generally Ituri) who could provide counselling sessions to the significant amount of victims eligible for reparations. The TFV also hired a psychologist based in the DRC who assisted the TFV clinical psychologist in the implementation of psychological support for the benefit of victims.
The TFV and its psychologist team, in consultation with the LRV, have selected resource persons from the local population who, following their training in post-traumatic stress disorder management provided by the TFV psychologist team, have provided interested victims with counselling sessions as of 2022. The resource persons are encouraged to continue providing support to the victims and other members of the local community on a pro bono basis after the end of the programme, in order for the programme to have a lasting positive effect on the victims’ and the local community’s wellbeing.
In spite of several challenges, including the negative impact of the deteriorating security situation on the well-being of victims, it was reported that interventions carried out as part of the implementation of the Katanga reparations psychological support modality had a very positive impact overall: in general, 78% of victims experienced an improvement of their mental health, thereby representing a considerable reduction in post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.
Independent evaluation of the impact of reparations implemented in the Katanga case
An independent external evaluation was carried out to assess the impact of the Katanga reparations by independent researchers from the University of Edinburgh.
Beneficiaries of the Katanga reparations and other individuals who had suffered similar harm in a different context to the Katanga programme beneficiaries took part in the evaluation process in Bunia, Bogoro and Kasenyi/Tchomia in the DRC.
The evaluation showed that around 81% of the target population answered "rather yes" to the question of whether they felt the process had led to reparation, and 79% of the target population answered "rather yes" to the question of whether they felt the process had delivered justice.
The process also included exchanges with several other categories of stakeholders, including the Trust Fund for Victims, the International Criminal Court and Legal Representatives of Victims.
A presentation of the evaluation results to victims and other relevant stakeholders was presented at a side event organised by the Trust Fund for Victims at the ICC during the 23rd Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Symbolic ceremony marking the end of the implementation of reparations
On 24 April 2024, a ceremony was convened in Bunia, Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo, by the International Criminal Court and the Trust Fund for Victims, with the support of the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and in the presence of Ambassadors and representatives from Belgium, Germany, the European Union, Senegal and the Netherlands, to mark the completion of the implementation of reparations in the case The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga.
More than 200 of the 297 beneficiaries were present at the ceremony.
Final Report in the case
The TFV is pleased to inform that on 2 December 2024, the TFV filed its Final Narrative and Financial Reports on the implementation of the Katanga Reparations Programme before ICC Trial Chamber II. The Katanga reparations programme is the first reparations programme to be completed at the ICC.
This report includes: