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Africa Subsaharan | |||||||
Congo warlord convicted of using child soldiers | |||||||
2012-03-15 | |||||||
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: Judges at a war crimes tribunal convicted a Congolese warlord Wednesday of snatching children from the street and turning them into killers, in the International Criminal Court's landmark first judgment 10 years after it was established.
Lubanga, wearing an ivory-colored robe and skull cap, sat with his hands clasped in front of him listening to the verdict and showed no emotion as Fulford declared him guilty. As he left court flanked by guards, Lubanga nodded and smiled to supporters in the public gallery. A sentencing hearing will now be scheduled. Lubanga faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Judges said Lubanga, "personally used children below the age of 15 as his bodyguards." While the three-judge panel unanimously convicted Lubanga, it also harshly criticized prosecutors as "negligent" for using intermediaries to deal with witnesses in Congo.
"The Prosecutor's office must review its limited investigation strategy adopted in the Lubanga case, especially in light of such decisions precluding victims from participating in trials and obtaining reparation," said Michael Bochenek of Amnesty International. "Lessons need to be learned for future cases." Amnesty also criticized the court for not charging Lubanga with sexual violence crimes, saying the decision potentially denied "justice and reparation to many more victims."
Prosecutors said Lubanga led the Union of Congolese Patriots political group and commanded its armed wing, the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo, which recruited children -- sometimes by force, other times voluntarily -- into its ranks to fight in a brutal ethnic conflict in the Ituri region of eastern Congo. The trial, which began in January 2009, is the first at an international court to focus exclusively on the use of child soldiers and activists say it should send a clear message to armies and rebels around the world that conscripting children breaches international law.
However, questions still remain about the its effectiveness. The court has no police force to arrest suspects and can only launch investigations in the 120 countries that recognize its jurisdiction, or if the Security Council orders a probe. That means that the court is powerless to intervene in the bloody conflict tearing Syria apart because Damascus has not recognized the court and the Security Council is bitterly divided.
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Posted by:Steve White |