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Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui was born on 8 October 1970 in the Likoni locality of the groupement of Ezekere, Ituri district, in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is of Lendu ethnicity, from the Njotsi clan. Ngudjolo is married and has six children. Before engaging in military activities he studied medicine and worked as a nurse.
According to the Prosecution, after the UPC's takeover of Bunia in August 2002, he became involved with Lendu combatants south of Bunia who were known as the Front des Nationalistes et Intégrationnistes (FNI).
In or around August 2006, the media reported that Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui had signed a peace agreement with the Government of the DRC. Ngudjolo declared that he and his fighters had been granted amnesty; were being integrated into the Congolese army, the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC); and would be deployed in Ituri district.
In October 2006, he was awarded the rank of colonel in the FARDC. Prior to his transfer to the Court, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui had been sent to Kinshasa for military training as part of the integration process of President Kabila's DRC government.
Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui was arrested by the Congolese authorities and surrendered to the ICC on 6 February 2008. He was still a member of the FARDC at the time.
The Prosecution submits that Germain Katanga, alleged commander of the Force de Résistance Patriotique en Ituri (FRPI), and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, alleged former leader of the Front des Nationalistes et Intégrationnistes (FNI), are criminally responsible for the crimes committed during the assault on Bogoro village on 24 February 2003. It is argued that this attack was part of a widespread and systematic attack carried out jointly by the FNI and the FRPI against the Hema population in Ituri. Both alledged leaders are accused of three crimes against humanity (murder, sexual slavery and rape) and seven war crimes (using children under the age of 15 to take an active part in hostilities; deliberately directing an attack on a civilian population as such; willful killing; destruction of property; pillaging; sexual slavery and rape).
This is the second trial in the context of the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo - referred to the ICC by the Congolese Government on 3 March, 2004.
Source: ICC decision on the confirmation of charges. Situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the case of the Prosecutor v. German Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui
