Dear readers – please find below a commentary written by Olivia Bueno at the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) in consultation with Congolese activists. The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of IRRI or of the Open Society Justice Initiative. The announcement on July 10 of the first…
Dear readers – please find below a commentary written by Julia Freedson, Senior Policy Consultant with the Children and Armed Conflict Accountability Project at Conflict Dynamics International The views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Open Society Justice Initiative. International and national mechanisms have a bleak track…
Some six years ago, the International Criminal Court started proceedings in the case of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a militia commander from Eastern Congo accused of conscripting, enlisting and using child soldiers. His trial was the first to open at the ICC in The Hague in January 2009; it is now entering its final stages, with the scheduled hearing of final arguments from the prosecution and…
Former child soldiers in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), the group which war crimes accused Thomas Lubanga is alleged to have led, this week recounted stories of torture, whippings and brutal punishments of boys and girls who served in the militia group. Two former child soldiers told the Lubanga trial at the International Criminal…
Many girl soldiers became prostitutes after leaving the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), a witness told victims’ lawyers today. The girls, he said, had been raped by commanders and some had left the militia after becoming pregnant. In many instances, they also tested positive for sexually transmitted infections. “The shame that came with all of…
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…
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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