The Application of International Criminal Law to Resource Exploitation: Ituri, Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Published in: Natural resources journal Vol. 47; no. 1; pp. 225 - 245
• Main Author: EZEKIEL, AARON
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Albuquerque University of New Mexico School of Law 01-01-2007; UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO, SCHOOL OF LAW
• Subjects: Armed conflict; Conflict; Crime; Crimes against humanity; Criminal law; Criminal prosecution; Democratic Republic of Congo; Ecology; Environment; International Criminal Court; International criminal law; Investigations; Natural resources; Prosecuting attorneys; Resource exploitation; Resource management; Resource utilization; Statutory law; Student Article; War crimes; Wealth; Ituri Congo-Democratic Republic of Congo
• ISSN: 0028-0739; 2640-2149

Control of natural resources has been a powerful motivator for internal and international armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for more than a century. In June 2000, the U.N. Security Council established a Panel of Experts on the Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which especially focused on conflict in Ituri Province and elsewhere in northeastern DRC since 1998. During 2003 and 2004, the atrocities committed in this conflict became the focus of the first formal investigation by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This article, following the work of the U.N. Panel and non-governmental organizations, argues that investigation and prosecution of the natural resource crimes is both possible under the ICC Statute and should be at the center of the prosecution as it is central to the ongoing conflict.