A former officer in the militia of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) testified this week that child soldiers were among the bodyguards of accused leader Thomas Lubanga. Lubanga, the president of UPC, is on trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 and…
Thomas Lubanga’s defense counsel on Wednesday challenged a former officer in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia about the use of child soldiers and his statements that they were used as bodyguards. Under cross-examination by attorney Jean-Marie Biju-Duval, the witness said he was wary of answering in public, and asked often for the court…
A former child soldier told prosecutors today that he was abducted on three separate occasions by soldiers in Thomas Lubanga’s militia and wounded in battle. “During a war, you have to fight,” said the unnamed witness, who testified in Swahili with digital face and voice distortion. He said he was shot in the leg during…
Prosecutors relied heavily this week on video evidence that appeared to show children in military uniforms with accused militia leader Thomas Lubanga. “I saw them,” an unnamed witness said of the children in the videos. The witness was present at the filming of most of the video clips shown at the International Criminal Court (ICC)…
The prosecution in the case of Thomas Lubanga presented several videos to the court on Tuesday, many of which contained images of what appeared to be small children in military uniform. One particular scene showed a close-up of a large bug crawling on someone’s shoulder. When the camera zoomed out, the person was revealed to…
A video shown in court on Monday depicted defendant Thomas Lubanga visiting a military training camp and delivering a speech to a large group of soldiers and recruits. “The youngest [recruits] were about nine years old,” an unnamed witness told the court, speaking in French with his face and voice digitally distorted. The witness said…
Two weeks after recanting his testimony, a former child soldier took the stand again this week and told prosecutors that he was forced to train and fight in defendant Thomas Lubanga’s militia. “We would jump over bodies,” he said of one battle. “We had killed a lot of people.” The witness said he was in…
Thomas Lubanga’s defense lawyers questioned a witness on Friday about his use of child bodyguards and how he knew they were under the age of 15. “It’s very difficult [to tell],” acknowledged the unnamed witness, a former high ranking official in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), the defendant’s political party. “It could be they…
A former high-ranking official in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) said on Thursday that Thomas Lubanga used children as personal bodyguards. “As president he had bodyguards. There were adults but also young persons serving as bodyguards,” said the man, whose exact role in the UPC was not disclosed. “When you have a young person…
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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