A French court on December 15 sentenced former Congolese rebel leader Roger Lumbala to 30 years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity committed during the Second Congo

War, a ruling hailed by rights activists as historic.

Judges found Lumbala guilty of masterminding a campaign of atrocities between 2002 and 2003, including rape and torture carried out by fighters under his command in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Human rights groups said the verdict marked the first time a national court has secured a conviction for crimes against humanity under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows states to prosecute grave international crimes regardless of where they were committed.

Activists described the decision as a major step forward in the fight against impunity for crimes committed during one of Africa’s deadliest conflicts. Photo by Irene2005 from Cary, North Carolina, USA, Wikimedia commons.