Posts Tagged ‘Bunia’


January 22, 2010

Victim: I Pinpointed UPC’s Enemies, Then Soldiers Shot Them

By Wairagala Wakabi

A former child soldier in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) told court on Friday that one of his roles was to identify the militia group’s enemies, and then those enemies were shot by other UPC soldiers. Testifying as a victim in the trial of former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga, the witness said he…

January 21, 2010

Another Victim Narrates His Abduction

By Wairagala Wakabi

Another former child soldier who is participating as a victim in the trial of former Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga today testified about his conscription into the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), and the roles he played as a member of the militia group. He said UPC fighters abducted him while he was returning home…

July 10, 2009

Witness Says Ntaganda Killed Child Soldier

By Rachel Irwin

A child protection specialist this week told the International Criminal Court that ICC fugitive Bosco Ntaganda executed a young recruit who tried to escape. Christine Peduto, who worked for the United Nations Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC), was testifying at the trial of Thomas Lubanga who is charged with recruiting children in…

June 23, 2009

Commanders Impregnated Female Recruits

By Rachel Irwin

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…

June 19, 2009

Witness Was Prisoner of UPC

By Rachel Irwin

 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…

June 12, 2009

Court Hears Child Soldiers Wanted Revenge

By Rachel Irwin

Children joined Thomas Lubanga’s militia to avenge the murders of family and friends, a witness told prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) this week. “They had just arrived from their homes,” explained the unnamed witness, identified as a former soldier in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) who also trained young recruits. “Many had…