The FAPC was formed in March 2003 by Jérôme Kakwavu, a former member of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC).

At the Bunia office of the Union of Congolese Patriots, an interim president is in place because the regular party leader has been arrested on suspicion of massacring civilians.

It was well known, the letter said, that Mr. Lubanga, leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots, a violent militia, "has committed numerous other serious crimes, including murder, torture and sexual violence."

The Second Congo War began in 1998, but Ngudjolo did not become involved until 2002, when the Union of Congolese Patriots took control of Bunia.

On November 19, Mai-Mai militia fighters calling themselves Resistance Congolese Patriots fired on APCs carrying UN peacekeepers.

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots, and other militia leaders were arrested by Congolese authorities and imprisoned in Makala, Kinshasa.

He founded and led the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) and was a key player in the Ituri conflict (1999-2007).

In July 2001, he founded another rebel group, the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC).

The Hema-dominated Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) seized control of Bunia, the district capital, in August 2002.

Mr. Lubanga, 45, was the founder and leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots, one of the most dangerous militias in the Congo's northeastern Ituri district.