During a brief public session on Thursday, lawyers pressed a former child soldier on details surrounding his alleged abduction and conscription into defendant Thomas Lubanga’s militia. The unnamed witness told prosecutors on Wednesday that he was at school when he saw soldiers arrive to take children away. He fled to his home, but the soldiers…
Thomas Lubanga’s defense lawyers on Tuesday probed discrepancies in the testimony of a former child soldier between his original statement and his comments in court. On the stand for the third consecutive day, the unnamed witness told prosecutors that he was wounded in a battle with Ugandan soldiers in 2003. A vehicle was called to…
Defense lawyer Catherine Mabille grilled a witness about the 2007 statement he gave to court investigators, during Monday’s brief public session in the trial of Thomas Lubanga. Although the witness confirmed that he had signed the French version of his statement, he claimed that he never initialed it, raising doubts regarding the validity of the…
A former child soldier told prosecutors today that he was abducted on three separate occasions by soldiers in Thomas Lubanga’s militia and wounded in battle. “During a war, you have to fight,” said the unnamed witness, who testified in Swahili with digital face and voice distortion. He said he was shot in the leg during…
Two weeks after recanting his testimony, a former child soldier took the stand again this week and told prosecutors that he was forced to train and fight in defendant Thomas Lubanga’s militia. “We would jump over bodies,” he said of one battle. “We had killed a lot of people.” The witness said he was in…
A former high-ranking official in the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) said on Thursday that Thomas Lubanga used children as personal bodyguards. “As president he had bodyguards. There were adults but also young persons serving as bodyguards,” said the man, whose exact role in the UPC was not disclosed. “When you have a young person…
The former child soldier who earlier recanted his testimony took the stand again today in the trial of accused Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga and told the court, “I am going to tell you the truth.” Two weeks after he first testified, the witness on Tuesday explained how he and five classmates were kidnapped by…
In a dramatic first week of Lubanga’s trial, the Prosecution’s first witness said he lied about being abducted by Lubanga’s forces and taken to a training camp for child soldiers. He also told the court that he was coached by an aid group about what he should say on the witness stand. He’s about to…
The former child soldier who abruptly recanted his testimony nearly two weeks ago will take the stand again on Tuesday, February 10, 2009, presiding Judge Adrian Fulford confirmed today. People present in the courtroom will be reduced to a “bare minimum” to ensure the comfort of the witness, Fulford said. In addition, the witness will not…
A witness in the trial of accused Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga said this week that his 11-year-old son was forced to enlist in Lubanga’s militia and taught to use heavy weapons. “How is it possible for a child who is 11 to carry a weapon [that weighs four kilos]?” the father of the boy…
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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