Former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba was sentenced Tuesday to 18 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic.
The International Criminal Court convicted Bemba of murder, rape and pillaging between October 2002 and March 2003, when forces under his command were sent to CAR to quell a coup attempt.
The court found the crimes "to be of serous gravity," noting that some of the rapes were committed "against particularly defenseless victims" and "with particular cruelty.