Congolese warlord Lubanga found guilty

15 Mar 2012, 7:16 am   -   Source: AFP
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The International Criminal Court convicted a Congolese militia leader of using child soldiers in a brutal conflict, its first verdict since starting work almost a decade ago.

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The International Criminal Court convicted a Congolese militia leader of using child soldiers in a brutal conflict, its first verdict since starting work almost a decade ago.
   
Thomas Lubanga, 51, was found guilty, six years after his arrest, of  abducting children as young as 11 and forcing them to fight and commit atrocities in a bloody war in a gold-rich region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
   
The judgment of the court, set up to try war crimes and crimes against humanity, was hailed by the UN and world powers, including the United States.
   
"It is an historic moment and an important step in providing justice and accountability to the Congolese people," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
   
Rights groups also praised the decision, saying it sent a strong message to those who force young children to kill -- including Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony, now the target of an international online activist campaign.
   
UN leader Ban Ki-moon called the ICC verdict "an important step forward" in making sure that "perpetrators of crimes against children in situations of armed conflict are brought to justice."
   
In Geneva, UN rights chief Navi Pillay called it a "major milestone in the fight against impunity."
   
The warlord, who has denied the charges against him, will be sentenced at a date yet to be determined.
   
He risks 30 years in jail or, if judges decide the crimes are exceptionally grave, even life in prison.
   
The DRC urged the court to impose an "exemplary" sentence to deter "all of those who have chosen war and murder, so that all these people know that genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity will always be tried".
   
"Today's verdict is a testament to the ICC's commitment to hold to account those persons who force young children to become both the tools and victims of conflict," added Britain's Foreign Office Minister for Africa, Henry Bellingham.
   
At the court itself, Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, who funds a public information campaign in the DRC about the trial, witnessed the verdict and said she hoped it would "provide some measure of comfort for the victims".
   
"It sends a strong message against the use of child soldiers," the actress, movie director and rights activist added in a statement after watching proceedings from the front row of the public gallery.
   
Presiding Judge Adrian Fulford read the verdict finding Lubanga guilty of "conscription and enlisting children under the age of 15 and used them to participate in hostilities" in fighting that lasted from 1998 to 2003.
   
Prosecutors earlier told the court that militia under Lubanga's control had abducted children from their homes, schools and football fields to serve as soldiers, and that young girls were used as sex slaves.
   
In closing arguments last year, ICC deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said child soldiers were "used to rape and pillage", adding: "Those who have no visible scars on their body keep the scars that will remain within."
   
Lubanga -- thought to be the founder of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), and chief commander of its military wing -- was sent to The Hague in 2006 and put on trial in early 2009.
   
 "Today's verdict will give pause to those around the world who commit the horrific crime of using and abusing children, both on and off the battlefield," said Amnesty International's Michael Bochenek.
   
Alpha Sesay, international legal officer at the Open Society's Justice Initiative, said the ruling would send a strong message to others who used child soldiers, including Uganda's Kony.
   
Kony, leader of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army, has been the subject of an intense online campaign this month to bring him to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
   
During the trial, Lubanga's lawyers accused the prosecution of fabricating evidence and claimed that witnesses were paid to give false testimony.
   
Judge Fulford rapped the prosecution team, saying it had failed in some instances to verify testimony.
   
During 204 days of hearings, prosecutors called 36 witnesses, the defence 24, and three people testified for Lubanga's victims.
   
The ICC has issued four arrest warrants for crimes in the DRC and is investigating seven cases, all in Africa.
   
Two militia leaders, Germain Katanga, 33, and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, 41, who fought against Lubanga, are facing trial before the ICC on similar charges.
   
Former UPC chief Bosco Ntaganda, a Lubanga ally, has yet to be arrested to face the court on war crimes charges.
  

War Crimes , International Criminal Court

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