Editing Jean-Pierre Bemba

{{Villain_Infobox
|image = Jean-Pierre Bemba.jpg
|fullname = Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo
|alias = 
|origin =Bokada, Nord-Ubangi, Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)
|occupation = Vice President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2003 - 2006)<br>Leader of the [[Movement for the Liberation of the Congo]] (1998 - present)
|type of villain = Warlord 
|goals = Take control of the DRC (failed)
|crimes = [[War crimes]]<br>[[Genocide]]<br>[[Ethnic cleansing]]<br>[[Terrorism]]<br>Mass [[murder]]<br>[[Rape]]
|hobby = 
}}'''Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo''' (born 4 November 1962) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 17 July 2003 to December 2006. Bemba also leads the [[Movement for the Liberation of the Congo]] (MLC), a rebel group turned political party. He received the second-highest number of votes in the 2006 presidential election. In January 2007 he was elected to the Senate.
==Biography==
Bemba was born in Bokada, Nord-Ubangi. His father, Jeannot Bemba Saolona, was a businessman who was successful under Zairian President [[Mobutu Sese Seko]], and one of his sisters is married to Mobutu's son Nzanga, who was also a candidate in the 2006 presidential election.

The MLC movement started in the Orientale Province of the DRC in 1998 at the beginning of the Second Congo War. Said Bemba of its founding: "I had identified the possibility of launching an armed movement. So I went looking for serious partners. There were two countries in the region that were interested but I chose to present my dossier to the Ugandans. They liked it and so I went in." Little by little, the movement moved into the Équateur province, and established a permanent base in Gbadolite. Like many of the rebel groups at the time, the MLC's goal was to take the capital of Kinshasa.

The Movement for the Liberation of the Congo is the main suspect for perpetrating ''[[Effacer le tableau]]'', an [[ethnic cleansing]] campaign against the Bambuti Pygmy peoples of the DRC. 

This region had been decimated by war and the population was living in great poverty. Équateur was under an embargo: healthcare programs, education, and any kind of social assistance had been abandoned. The population was under constant threat of bombing by government forces, and had stopped producing goods or food. The popularity of Bemba and the MLC was such that over a thousand child soldiers joined up with MLC.

When the MLC troops arrived in Gbadolite, they secured the area and protected the population. Health centres and hospitals re-opened with the MLC securing safe passage for medicine and other supplies. The MLC worked with NGOs and the UN to reopen schools, restart agriculture, economic activity and exportation of goods. The population was able to sell coffee, corn and soya and build businesses.

In 2002, President [[Ange-Félix Patassé]] of the Central African Republic invited the MLC to come to his country and put down a coup attempt. Human rights activists accused MLC fighters of committing atrocities against civilians in the course of this conflict.

He was arrested near Brussels on 24 May 2008 on an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. He was originally charged with three counts of [[crimes against humanity]] and five counts of [[war crimes]] committed by fighters under his command, in October 2010 the ICC reduced the charges to two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of war crimes.

On 21 March 2016, he was convicted on these charges. On 21 June 2016, he was imprisoned on an 18-year sentence in landmark conviction at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and sexual violence. On 28 September 2016, he appealed his conviction alleging a mistrial and citing errors in the trial chamber's analysis of his superior responsibility. 

His 2016 war crimes convictions were overturned following an appeal on 8 June 2018; however, in September, he lost his appeal against his conviction for witness tampering. He was released in June 2018, and returned to the DRC, where he was running for President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the 2018 election, where he was considered to be the strongest opposition candidate. However, he could be barred from the election because, under the laws of the DRC, individuals found guilty of corruption are prohibited from running for president. He has stated that he is willing to back another opposition candidate.
[[Category:Modern Villains]]
[[Category:Political]]
[[Category:War Criminal]]
[[Category:Leader]]
[[Category:Male]]
[[Category:Living Villains]]
[[Category:Corrupt Officials]]
[[Category:Fallen Heroes]]
[[Category:Cowards]]
[[Category:Traitor]]
[[Category:Paranoid]]
[[Category:Terrorists]]
[[Category:Murderer]]
[[Category:Rapists]]
[[Category:Genocidal]]
[[Category:Karma Houdini]]
[[Category:Thugs]]
[[Category:Delusional]]
[[Category:On & Off Villains]]
[[Category:African Villains]]
[[Category:Villains of the Congo Wars]]
[[Category:Brutes]]
[[Category:Warlords]]
[[Category:Democratic Republic of the Congo]]