Dear readers – please find below a commentary written by Olivia Bueno at the International Refugee Rights Initiative in consultation with Congolese individuals. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the International Refugee Rights Initiative or of the Open Society Justice Initiative. For watchers of the International…
A former child soldier in the group which war crimes accused Thomas Lubanga allegedly led today described a meeting Mr. Lubanga attended with the top commanders of the armed militia of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC). ‘Witness 297’ told court that he was grabbed from his school by soldiers led by Floribert Kisembo and…
Defendant Thomas Lubanga visited military training camps to boost the morale of young recruits, a former child soldier told prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week. “I saw the president on two occasions,” the unnamed witness told the court. “The first time he came, he asked about our situation in general. The second…
The fourth day of testimony by an unnamed witness in the trial of Thomas Lubanga proceeded almost entirely in closed session on Tuesday, as judges cited concerns that sensitive information might be made public. The testimony was closed when Lubanga’s defense lawyer, Catherine Mabille, asked the witness about statements he gave to the prosecution early…
The Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia received arms from Rwanda when supplies from Uganda became unreliable, a witness at the Thomas Lubanga trial said on Wednesday. The witness also recalled seeing “hundreds” of child soldiers being trained at camps run by the UPC. Bosco Ntaganda, a Congolese who remains free despite an ICC warrant…
The structure and hierarchy of Thomas Lubanga’s political party, the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), was described by a former member who testified today in Lubanga’s trial at the International Criminal Court. Speaking in Swahili with his voice distorted to protect his identity, the witness told the court that he joined the Lubanga’s UPC in…
While renegade leader Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) top the list of Ugandans indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), some suggest that the ICC needs to look more closely at Uganda’s earlier role in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Indeed, it is becoming increasingly possible that Ugandans could eventually appear…
Bosco Ntaganda’s days of freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may be numbered – but only if President Joseph Kabila responds to international pressure for the militia leader to be arrested. That pressure is steadily increasing as the testimony of former child soldiers continues to point to Ntaganda’s key role in the militia…
Two former child soldiers in Thomas Lubanga’s militia this week told the International Criminal Court about the first time they killed in battle and how they are haunted by the memories. Testifying in Swahili, both said fear of being shot by their commanders stopped them from fleeing the gruesome conditions of their training and at…
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…
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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