US Government Praises Lubanga Conviction as "Historic" for Holding Criminals Accountable

By Anjie Zheng

The White House Office of the Press Secretary released a brief statement extolling the ICC's conviction of Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga on March 14. National Security Council Spokesperson Tommy Vietor said the decision shows that the "international community is united in its determination to end the repugnant practice of using child soldiers."

In a press release that elaborated the US' position, Victoria Nuland, spokesperson for the US Department of State, hailed the ICC's first decision as "an historic and important step in providing justice and accountability for the Congolese people."

The trial, she said, underscored that the conscription and use of child soldiers is "an issue of paramount international concern." Additionally, she highlighted the deterring effects of the guilty verdict, saying "This conviction puts perpetrators and would-be perpetrators of unlawful child soldier recruitment and other atrocities on notice that they cannot expect their crimes to go unpunished."

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was convicted on March 14 of war crimes of conscripting, enlisting, and using child soldiers between July 2002 and December 2003 during the Ituri conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He has not yet been sentenced, although the Prosecutor has noted that he will seek "close to the maximum" sentence possible.

ICC in the Media, Update #62

The past week has marked significant milestones in the ICC's history and, as a result, the Court garnered a great deal of media attention. As we reported earlier this week the ICC judges found Thomas Lubanga guilty of using child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This decision marks the first completed trial and verdict for the decade-old Court.

After the conviction was announced, the ICC Prosecutor reportedly made a statement that he will seek close to the maximum sentence of 30 years in jail for Lubanga. Angelina Jolie was also present at the verdict of Lubanga, and made the following statement.

After the conviction reportedly the Office of the Prosecutor will ask President Joseph Kabila to hand over army general Bosco Ntaganda, who was indicted by the ICC along with Lubanga and who faces new charges of mass rape and murder. Many have expressed renewed interest bringing Ntaganda to justice in the wake of Lubanga's conviction, particularly because he allegedly has been permitted to live with impunity in a large villa in the city Goma for the six years following his indictment. Reportedly last week a UCLA professor and six of his students obtained the following video of Ntaganda's compound after seeing him drive past in a series of heavily armed Jeeps.

In the Libya case reportedly Abdullah el-Senussi, the former intelligence chief of Muammar Gaddafi wanted by the ICC, was arrested on Saturday debarking from a flight in Mauritania. Reports indicate that Senussi was traveling under a fake Malian passport. Officials from France have said that the arrest was a joint effort between France and Mauritania. Officials from Mauritania have said that both France and the ICC have sought Senussi's extradition, and reportedly on Sunday Libya issued an arrest warrant at Interpol. This week in Washington, D.C. George Clooney and a number of other high profile individuals were arrested at the Sudanese Embassy protesting potential war crimes committed in Sudan by the government, led by ICC indictee Omar al-Bashir. In the Kenya case, on Friday the Pre-Trial Chamber judges rejected requests by the "Kenya Four" to appeal their decision to send the suspects to trial. In the Ivory Coast investigation a Court official reportedly told the media on Wednesday that ICC investigators may have found mass graves in a small western town. On March 9, 2012 five new ICC judges were sworn in following their election last December. They include Howard Morrison of the U.K., Anthony Carmona of Trinidad and Tobago, Olga Carbuccia of Dominican Republic, Robert Fremr of Czech Republic and Chile Eboe-Osuji of Nigeria. Photo credit: RFI.

AMICC's Members React to Lubanga Verdict

Following the historic first verdict of the International Criminal Court today, several of AMICC's 36 member organizations have issued statements in response, including:

Amnesty International USA

Citizens for Global Solutions
- press release
- blog post

Human Rights Watch

Washington Working Group on the ICC

World Without Genocide

Find out more information about AMICC membership.

ICC Convicts Lubanga in First Ever Verdict

The ICC video of the verdict announcement.

By Anjie Zheng

The International Criminal Court announced its landmark first verdict in the case, The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo today, finding the accused guilty of conscripting, enlisting and using child soldiers under the age of 15 in armed conflict during the 2002-2003 Ituri conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The decision is a long-awaited achievement for the young Court and a major milestone in the fight against international impunity.

The case is the first in a permanent international court to focus on the issue of child soldiers. Children under 15 years, and some as young as seven, were abducted and used as militants, cooks, porters, sex slaves, and personal bodyguards to Mr. Lubanga.

The Lubanga trial began in January 2009 and concluded in August 2011. Its length was due, in part, to two stays in the proceedings: (1) when the Prosecutor failed to disclose potentially exculpatory information to the defense and (2) when the the Prosecutor refused to disclose the identify of an intermediary who had helped collect evidence. In delivering the verdict, Presiding Judge Adrian Fulford harshly criticized the Prosecutor for his "negligence in failing to verify and scrutinize material sufficiently before it was introduced." This inattentiveness "led to significant expenditure on the part of the Court."

The Chamber ultimately withdrew the testimonies of three victims and six witnesses, holding that the evidence they presented was unreliable. The Judge's strict guidelines regarding evidence is a clear example of due process enforcement and a commitment to ensure a fair trial. As this was the first trial by the ICC, the procedural diligence required of the Office of the Prosecutor is likely to set precedents for the future.

The judgment issued today was only in English. Once the French version is released, the accused is entitled to appeal the verdict within 30 days. There will be separate hearings to determine the length and location of incarceration, as well as the details of victims' reparations. Although the Lubanga case is not over, the conclusion of the trial is the culmination of a historic effort to establish a permanent international criminal court that tries perpetrators of the worst crimes.

AMICC will be issuing an advocacy paper on the Lubanga trial in the coming days. In the meantime, refer to background on the case by the ICC and CICC, as well as analyses by Human Rights Watch, Lubangatrial.org, and Citizens for Global Solutions.


Thomas Lubanga Dyilo at the announcement of the verdict.
Photo credit: ICC-CPI/Evert-Jan Daniel