Congolese Liberation Movement
|
Movement for the Liberation of the Congo
Mouvement de libération du Congo |
|
|---|---|
| Leader | Jean-Pierre Bemba |
| The 2006 Presidential election candidate | Jean-Pierre Bemba |
| Founded | April 5, 2003 |
| Headquarters | 6, Avenue du Port, Gombe, Kinshasa |
| Ideology |
Nationalism, Populism, Liberalism |
| Colours | Blue, Yellow |
| Seats in the National Assembly |
22 / 500
|
| Seats in the Senate |
14 / 108
|
| Website | |
| http://www.mlc-rdc.org/ | |
The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo (French: Mouvement de Libération du Congo, or MLC) is a political party in Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo that fought the government throughout the Second Congo War. It subsequently took part in the transitional government and is one of the main opposition parties.
During the war, the MLC was backed by the government of Uganda and controlled much of the north of the country, in particular the province of Équateur. It was led by former businessman, Jean-Pierre Bemba, who became vice-president following the 2002 peace agreement. The town of Gbadolite was the headquarters of the MLC. The group was the primary supported by Uganda during the war, while the rival Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) was dominated by Rwanda.
The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo is the main suspect for perpetrating Effacer le tableau an ethnic clensing against Pygmy peoples.
The MLC was found guilty of committing war crimes during fighting in the Central African Republic between 2002 and 2003 as a result of General François Bozizé's attempted coup against the government of then-President Ange-Félix Patassé. The MLC interceded at the behest of President Patassé's government and committed numerous acts of murder, rape, pillaging, and torture over the course of the conflict while attempting to suppress the coup attempt. The leader of the MLC, Jean Pierre-Bemba, was arrested in 2008 near Brussels and charged with three counts of crimes against humanity and five counts of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was convicted of two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes.Mr. Bemba is currently serving an 18 year sentence for these crimes.
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