ICC to hold first trial on DR Congo crimes

The hearing behind closed doors will be the first time that the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which began operations almost three years ago, will formally focus on a specific war crimes investigation.

In June last year ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announced that he would open his first official investigation into what he called "serious crimes" including mass killings, rapes and torture allegedly committed in the DRC.

The investigation into crimes committed particularly in the northeastern Ituri region is ongoing but last month the judges assigned to oversee the pre-trial procedure announced that they would hold a hearing on March 15.

Ituri has remained a hotbed of ethnic strife and clashes among armed militias since the vast country emerged from its last war of 1998-2003, which claimed around three million lives according to surveys by some human rights organisations.

The government in Kinshasa has undertaken to cooperate in preparing the case, which will focus on human rights abuses in Ituri, where relief and rights organisations have recently reported that rape, brutality and extortion by civilians of militia groups are routine.

At the procedural hearing the judges plan to discuss issues related to the protection of victims and witnesses and the preservation of evidence, court documents show.

The hearing sparked a conflict between Moreno Ocampo and the judges after the prosecutor filed a document earlier this week outlining his position that said the so-called status conference is unauthorised and threatens the impartiality of the court.

On Wednesday the judges dismissed his arguments and turned down his request for a hearing on whether the judges have the authority to call a procedural hearing.

The hearing will be held in closed session which means no press or public can attend and it is unclear if any information relating to the hearing will be issued Tuesday.

The ICC, based in The Hague, became a legal reality in July 2002 despite fierce US opposition to the court. It is the world's first permanent tribunal mandated to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court can only prosecute crimes committed after July 1, 2002 and only if the crimes were committed by nationals of countries that have given their backing to the court or were perpetrated on the territory of signatory states.