The Thomas Lubanga trial today adjourned early after prosecutors said they were not ready to cross-examine a new defense witness about some aspects of his testimony. The witness had told the trial that he was a former soldier in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC); prosecutors said the defense had withheld this fact from them.…
Two defense witnesses who testified in Thomas Lubanga’s war crimes trial this week accused intermediaries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) of concocting evidence with the aim of pinning the former Congolese militia leader. According to the witnesses, the intermediaries paraded before ICC officials many children who had never served in the military, and claimed…
The trial of Congolese war crimes accused Thomas Lubanga this week focused on the atrocities which fighters of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) meted out on civilians and child soldiers, and also saw one of the participating victims who gave evidence asking for reparations. According to the testimony of two participating victims, UPC militiamen…
The second victim participating in the Lubanga trial on Friday related how he was tortured at a camp of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), a militia group Thomas Lubanga is alleged by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) to have led. He also told court that UPC commanders ordered him to find for…
A former child soldier on Thursday recalled how he was abducted by militiamen belonging to the group which Thomas Lubanga allegedly led, got tortured at a training camp, and watched his friends get killed in battle “like flies”. The former child soldier was the second participating victim to give evidence at the Lubanga trial. He…
Children who were forced into the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia often found it difficult to return to civilian life in their home communities, a witness told the court on Friday. “You must understand that such children killed, plundered…and raped girls…and old women,” explained the witness, who worked in a demobilization center for child…
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…
An expert on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) told the court Wednesday that militias in the Ituri region often made contradictory statements about the use of child soldiers. The militia leaders would both justify the use of child soldiers and then deny they did it, said Roberto Garreton, a Chilean lawyer and former…
A man known as Witness 15 who was to testify Tuesday against Thomas Lubanga told judges that he had given a false name and statement to investigators. “Shortly after [Witness 15] was called to give evidence, he indicated that he provided the [Office of the Prosecutor (OTP)] with a false name and that the…
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…
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
Search This Site
Archive
Useful Links
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative License.
