Dear Readers, The following commentary first ran in Legal Eye on the ICC, a regular e-letter produced by the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, an international women’s human rights organisation that advocates for gender justice through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and works with women most affected by the conflict situations under investigation by the…
For the third day of cross-examination, defense witness Bede Djokaba Lambi Longa persisted in denying nearly all suggestions by the prosecution that Thomas Lubanga or the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) had a military role in Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) before September 2002. He continued his denial in the face of contradictory documents…
Prosecutor Olivia Struyven cross-examined militia leader Bede Djokaba Lambi Longa, who has been testifying for four days in the trial of Thomas Lubanga. Mr. Lubanga is charged with recruiting, conscripting, and using child soldiers in the Ituri Region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2002 and 2003. Ms. Struyven’s line of questioning was…
The Lubanga trial recommenced on Wednesday after a three week hiatus with the defense calling two witnesses, both of whom said they were former soldiers in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), the group that prosecutors at the International Criminal Court allege was led by Thomas Lubanga. According to the defense, the testimony of both…
Lawyers for victims participating in the war crimes trial of former Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga have today questioned two defense witnesses who testified via video link from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the defense, the testimony of both witnesses was intended to discredit evidence given by one of three participating victims…
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…
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…
Some recruits in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) training camps were just five years old, according to a witness in the continuing trial of accused Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga. The witness told judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague that the UPC leadership thought such young recruits made good soldiers…
A witness in the Thomas Lubanga trial on Friday said children were rounded up from the streets of Bunia and conscripted into the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) militia. The children ranged from eight- to 15-years-old, he said. Bunia is the largest town in the Ituri region of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and…
Thomas Lubanga was the minister of defense and commander-in-chief of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), a witness said on Thursday. As UPC president, Lubanga appointed the group’s ministers and broadcasted their names on the local radio station, he said. Once the group took control of Bunia, Lubanga named himself the defense minister. “So, he…
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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