The International Criminal Court (ICC) was scheduled yesterday to deliver its first verdict, deciding the fate of former rebel commander Thomas Lubanga, who is accused of using child soldiers.
Lubanga was set to face judges in The Hague at 10am as the ICC hands down its first verdict since July 2002, when it was launched to try the world’s worst war criminals.
Lubanga, 51, faces two counts of conscripting and enlisting child soldiers under the age of 15 to fight for his militia during a bloody four-year war in the remote Ituri region in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Photo: EPA
Humanitarian NGOs have said that about 60,000 people were killed from 1999 to 2003 when the war ended.
First transferred to The Hague in 2006, the alleged founder of the Union of Congolese Patriots and chief commander of its military wing went on trial in January 2009. Arguments closed in August last year.
During the trial, prosecutors alleged that Lubanga’s role in the conflict was driven by a desire to maintain and expand his control over Ituri, one of the world’s most lucrative gold-mining territories.
Lubanga has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If found guilty of exceptionally grave crimes, he could be jailed for life.
His lawyers accused the prosecution of fabricating evidence with the help of intermediaries used by the prosecution to find witnesses, and claimed that individuals were paid to give false testimony.
Judges also rapped ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo for abusing court processes and ignoring judges’ orders when he refused to hand Lubanga’s defence team the name of one intermediary, citing security concerns.
Moreno-Ocampo’s team in return told judges that Lubanga “was guilty beyond reasonable doubt” of enlisting child soldiers.
Prosecutors alleged that the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo militia under Lubanga’s control abducted children as young as 11 from their homes, schools and soccer fields.
They were taken to military training camps, where they were beaten and drugged. Girls among them were used as sex slaves, prosecutors told the court.
During 204 days of hearings, prosecutors called 36 witnesses, the defense 24 and three -represented victims.
The ICC has issued four arrest warrants for crimes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since opening its doors in 2003 and is currently investigating seven cases, all based in Africa.
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