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DRC warlord to stand trial
29/01/2007 22:23 - (SA)
The Hague - Judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered on Monday an alleged Congolese warlord to be tried on charges he recruited child soldiers and sent them into battle, making him the first suspect to stand trial at the permanent war crimes court.
A three-judge chamber found evidence was strong enough to "establish substantial grounds to believe" that Thomas Lubanga was responsible "for war crimes consisting of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15", said presiding Judge Claude Jorda of France.
These children were forced to take part in armed conflicts, the court found.
Lubanga, now being held in a Dutch jail, faces three charges of recruiting and deploying child soldiers in the bloody conflict in the Ituri region of eastern DRC in 2002-2003. He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted.
DRC's government applauded the announcement.
"Even though the court's decisions come from outside our borders, it's a strong signal for our nation to fight impunity," said Congolese human rights minister Madeleine Kalala. "It's now up to us to fight impunity here inside our country."
Most not charged with crimes
Lubanga is just one of many warlords accused of egregious acts over years of civil war and lawlessness in DRC.
Most have not been charged with crimes. One - Floribert Ndjabu - has been jailed in DRC. The ICC prosecutor has said he is continuing his investigation and may end up indicting others.
"In fairness to the prosecutor he has to start somewhere," said Anneke Van Woudenberg, a DRC researcher at Human Rights Watch. "We expect future arrests to be made."
Prosecutors expect Lubanga's trial to start later this year.
They say Lubanga's militia, the Union of Congolese Patriots, known by its French acronym UPC, and its armed wing the FPLC, plucked children off the streets and forced them to fight. Other children volunteered to fight or were sent to brutal training camps by their parents.
Lubanga, wearing a lime green embroidered robe, showed little reaction as Judge Jorda read out the decision on Monday. Earlier he told judges he had some complaints about his conditions of detention, but did not outline what they were.
Lubanga's lawyer says he is an innocent patriot who sought to end plundering of resources and bring peace to his mineral-rich region.
In a statement issued before the decision was publicised, lobby group No Peace Without Justice welcomed Monday's hearing as a "step toward ending impunity in (DRC) and as a signal of growing international determination to end the use of child soldiers".
Case a landmark for the ICC
New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Monday that it has gathered hundreds of testimonies documenting abuses by Lubanga's fighters as well as other militias, and called for the ICC to pursue other cases.
The Lubanga case was a landmark for the ICC, which was formally established in 2002 to prosecute suspects believed most responsible for atrocities around the world.
Lubanga was arrested in March 2005 by authorities in Kinshasa as part of a crackdown aimed at restoring order to Ituri in the aftermath of the slaying and mutilation of nine UN peacekeepers. A rival warlord has been arrested in DRC and charged in the peacekeeper killings.
Lubanga was transferred last March to the ICC's detention unit inside a Dutch jail near the North Sea coast. He is the only suspect in the court's custody.
He is the first person to be charged at an international court with using child soldiers, and prosecutors intend the case to send a message that arming and using children to wage wars will not be tolerated.
The United Nations estimates that about 300 000 child soldiers are involved in conflicts around the world.
- AP
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