Bede Djokaba Lambi Longa took the stand for the third day to undergo cross-examination by the prosecution in the trial of Thomas Lubanga for recruitment, conscription, and use of child soldiers in the Ituri District of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during 2002 and 2003. The prosecutor focused his questioning on the original nature…
Dear readers – please find below a commentary written by Olivia Bueno at the International Refugee Rights Initiative in consultation with Congolese activists. 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. Last week, Congolese President Joseph…
A lawyer who represents a group of victims participating in the Thomas Lubanga trial has said victims are concerned about the adverse consequences that could arise from the order for the release of the former Congolese rebel leader. In submissions to appeals judges, Luc Walleyn stated that if the stay of proceedings in the trial…
The Thomas Lubanga trial today heard evidence from a defense witness who testified via video link from Ituri province in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Before the start of her testimony, all of which was to be given in closed session, Judge Adrian Fulford advised that since the witness was vulnerable, questions should be…
A defense witness in the war crimes trial of former Congolese leader Thomas Lubanga said today that he lied to the country’s demobilization authorities that he had served as a solider. ‘Witness 23’ said he went on to take part in a demobilization exercise for former combatants. The unnamed witness, the eleventh called by the…
The first witness to appear for the Thomas Lubanga defense told court today that although his son never served in any military group, an organization which had promised to give the boy a job later started passing him off as a former child soldier. According to the testimony, the unnamed organization also duped the child’s…
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…
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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