Written question asked by Mark Oaten (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 20 May 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 June 2009. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Monday, 1 June 2009 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Democratic Republic of Congo: War Crimes

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether his Department has met the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Democratic Republic of Congo to discuss the indictment of Bosco Ntaganda by the International Criminal Court in the last six months.

Answer: It is the responsibility of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Government, and not of the UN mission in DRC, to bring Bosco Ntaganda before the International Criminal Court.Our ambassador in Kinshasa discussed the arrest warrant at a meeting with the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Alan Doss, in January 2009. He received assurances that the UN mission would support the DRC Government in carrying out the warrant.Mr. Doss met my noble Friend the Minister for Africa, Asia and the UN, Lord Malloch-Brown, during his visit to the UK in May 2009. The arrest warrant was one of the issues they discussed. Mr. Doss has instructed his staff not to deal with Mr. Ntaganda.

Secondary information