An armed group he led is accused of crimes, including rape, summary executions, mutilation and cannibalism during a deadly civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
French prosecutors also accuse Lumbala of “participating in a group formed to prepare for war crimes”.
The UN investigation “confirmed a pattern of looting, killing and raping as tactics of war” in 2002 for RCD-N forces in the Beni area, in the northeast of Ituri.
“Summary executions targeted the Nande ethnic group and the pygmies, who were forced to flee into the forest for the first time to escape persecution,” said the UN report.
“The victims reported several cases of mutilation followed by acts of cannibalism,” added the report.
Between October 12 and 29, 2002, RCD-N soldiers allegedly killed 173 civilians and committed “acts of cannibalism”, the report says. An unknown number of civilians were maimed while soldiers raped a “large number” of women and children.
The report links other incidences of mutilation, rape and cannibalism to the ‘Clean the blackboard’ operation.
The French judiciary has jurisdiction to try cases of crimes against humanity committed abroad against foreign victims, if the perpetrators are present in French territory or residing in France.
In 1996, splinter groups led by Laurent Kabila – and strongly supported by Rwanda and Uganda – rebelled against endemic corruption. They entered the country’s capital, Kinshasa, in May 1997, and Kabila declared himself president.
Internal and external dissatisfaction with Kabila gradually grew until 1998, when a new rebel group – again supported by Rwanda and Uganda – was formed and a second conflict broke out.
In January 2001, Kabila was murdered by one of his bodyguards and his son, Joseph Kabila, took over. Under young Kabila, foreign forces gradually departed and the Congolese parties managed to reach an agreement for a transitional national government that included the three main belligerent groups, a series of minor movements by ex-rebels and representatives of civil society and opposition policy.
Lumbala became minister of this government between 2004 and 2005.
Correction: This story has been updated to include the correct image of Roger Lumbala. ‘