A witness who admitted to providing false information to investigators has requested that his new statement be kept confidential, even from defendant Thomas Lubanga. “Confidentiality as regards the public, that is no problem,” said Catherine Mabille, Lubanga’s lead lawyer. “Confidentiality as regards the defense is impossible.” The witness, identified by the number 15, confessed to…
Children who were forced into the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia often found it difficult to return to civilian life in their home communities, a witness told the court on Friday. “You must understand that such children killed, plundered…and raped girls…and old women,” explained the witness, who worked in a demobilization center for child…
During the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the first for the International Criminal Court, challenges to effective witness protection have become apparent. The court, and in particular presiding Judge Adrian Fulford, has been active in its approach to witness protection. However, short and long-term problems plague the witness protection program, and will demand diligence and…
Young female recruits were frequently raped by commanders in Thomas Lubanga’s militia, a former soldier in the Union of Congolese Patriots, UPC, told the court this week. “I used to see women who were taken by force,” said the witness, who trained young recruits at the Mandro centre, not far from the Ituri city of…
A protected witness testified at the International Criminal Court (ICC) entirely in closed session on Thursday. While his role was not disclosed, he spoke very briefly about the Ituri conflict in open court on Wednesday before the proceedings adjourned. “When I set up my activities in [Ituri] in 1998 … there was latent conflict there,…
Defense lawyers questioned a witness today on why he repeatedly hid his weapon after leaving the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC). “If you were caught with your weapon, they would take it from you and you would be arrested,” the witness told Marc Desalliers, one of Lubanga’s lawyers. The witness, who continued his testimony from…
Commanders in Thomas Lubanga’s militia impregnated young female recruits, a former soldier in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) told prosecutors on Tuesday. “[The commanders] took girls and would get them pregnant, and then these girls had to leave the camp and go [back] to the village,” said the witness, who trained young recruits at…
The Institute for War and Peace Reporting Netherlands, IWPR, in partnership with Open Society Justice Initiative has been meeting with local actors in the DRC to understand how much they know about the International Criminal Court, ICC, and the trial of Thomas Lubanga. The impressions so far in North Kivu province from both civil society…
A former soldier in Thomas Lubanga’s Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) told the court on Friday that he was arrested and held prisoner at the militia’s headquarters in the city of Bunia. “We were locked into the rooms and the guard [was] there to make sure we could not get away,” said the witness, who…
A protected witness scheduled to testify this week against accused Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga told judges that he had given a false name and statement to investigators. The witness was the second for prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to recant testimony in the Lubanga trial. The first witness ultimately testified, and the…
Thomas Lubanga on trial at the International Criminal Court. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is the first person to be tried by the International Criminal Court. A former rebel leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lubanga is accused of conscripting, enlisting, and using child soldiers. More
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