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Amnesty – 2002

A Ninja rebel faction, led by renegade pastor Frederic Bitsangou and operating primarily in the southern Pool region, was given a deadline of one month to disarm in exchange for amnesty in November 2002. The faction had an estimated 10,000 combatants. Only a tiny portion of that group (371 soldiers) surrendered their arms in exchange for amnesty.¹ Nevertheless, Congolese credited Sassou-Nguesso with securing peace through amnesty provisions to enemy fighters.²

Further detail on the effectiveness of amnesty provisions on securing peace was not available.

1. “Tiny fraction of Republic of Congo rebels trade arms for amnesty, military police say,” Associated Press, December 19, 2002.
2. “Republic of Congo holds first presidential race since war’s end,” Associated Press, March 2002.