14 03 12 HRW – ICC: Landmark Verdict a Warning to Rights Abusers
(The Hague, March 14,
2012) – The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) guilty verdict against rebel
leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for recruiting and using child soldiers in
hostilities is a first step in bringing justice to the tens of thousands of
children forced to fight in conflicts, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and
elsewhere, Human Rights Watch said today. The verdict highlights the need to
urgently arrest Lubanga’s co-accused, Bosco Ntaganda, who is currently a general
in the Congo army in Goma, eastern Congo, and continues to evade
justice.
“The verdict against Lubanga is a victory for the thousands of
children forced to fight in Congo’s brutal wars,” said Géraldine
Mattioli-Zeltner, international justice advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.
“Military commanders in Congo and elsewhere should take notice of the ICC’s
powerful message: using children as a weapon of war is a serious crime that can
lead them to the dock.”
The ICC
judges found Lubanga guilty “beyond reasonable doubt” of the war crimes of
conscripting, enlisting, and actively using children under the age of 15 in
hostilities in the Ituri district during 2002 and 2003. Lubanga was the leader
of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), a rebel group implicated in many
serious human rights abuses, including ethnic massacres, torture, rape, and the
massive recruitment of children, some as young as seven. Congolese authorities
transferred Lubanga to the ICC in March 2006. His trial began in January
2009.
Hearings will be scheduled in the coming weeks to determine
Lubanga’s sentence and reparations for victims. The court should take all
necessary steps to ensure that affected communities in the DRC learn about the
judgment and next steps, Human Rights Watch said.
The judgment also
included sharp criticism of how the Office of the Prosecutor conducted its first
case. The judges noted the prosecution’s failure to verify its evidence
carefully, which led to the discrediting of several witnesses. The judges also
discussed the role of “intermediaries” – individuals who assist the Office of
the Prosecutor to contact victims and witnesses – which was scrutinized during
the trial amid defense claims that some of them may have coached and bribed
witnesses to lie.
“The Lubanga case
highlights at every phase the need for improved field investigations conducted
directly by members of the Office of the Prosecutor,” Mattioli-Zeltner said.
“The prosecutor and the court as a whole should draw important lessons from this
first experience to improve the delivery of justice. Victims deserve nothing
less.”
The Lubanga trial has
contributed to raising awareness about the plight of children forced to go to
war. Children were so prevalent in Lubanga’s Union of Congolese Patriots that
the force was known as “an army of children.” All parties to DRC’s war in Ituri
used children as soldiers. Children are still in the ranks of armed groups and
the Congolese army, and in some areas of Congo children are being actively
recruited, including by force.
Many of
these children are involved in armed combat either in the Kivu provinces of
eastern Congo or in northern Congo, including by the Lord’s Resistance Army
(LRA), a Ugandan rebel group. Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA and his
lieutenant, Okot Odhiambo, are also wanted on arrest warrants by the ICC for
abducting children and forcing them to participate in the hostilities in
northern Uganda, among other crimes. Dominic Ongwen, another LRA leader active
in northern Congo is also wanted by the ICC on other charges of war crimes and
crimes against humanity. The LRA continues to commit abuses in the remote border
region of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan. A 30-minute video
calling for Kony’s arrest published by the campaign group Invisible Children
last week has been viewed by over 80 million people to
date.
“The ICC guilty verdict
against Lubanga should be a stark warning to Joseph Kony who continues to send
children into combat,” Mattioli-Zeltner said. “African and international
efforts to apprehend Kony and other LRA leaders wanted by the ICC should be
urgently stepped up.”
Worldwide, children
participate in armed conflict in at least 15 countries. In addition to Lubanga,
six other people have been charged by the ICC with the crime of recruiting and
using child soldiers.
The United Nations,
local organizations, and Human Rights Watch have documented many other grave
crimes committed by Lubanga’s militia, though these were not part of the ICC
prosecutor’s case. The narrow scope of charges brought by the prosecutor against
Lubanga does not reflect the extent of the suffering endured by victims of his
forces, Human Rights Watch said.
“Despite this important judgment on the
use of child soldiers, victims of other atrocities at the hands of Lubanga’s UPC
troops have yet to see justice,” Mattioli-Zeltner said. “This verdict should not
be an excuse to ignore other grave crimes committed by the UPC and other armed
groups in Congo, and it underscores the importance of prosecuting others for a
fuller range of serious crimes, including Ntaganda.”
The former UPC chief
of military operations, Bosco Ntaganda, is also wanted by the ICC for recruiting
and using child soldiers in Ituri, the same charges as those brought against
Lubanga. Ntaganda is now a general in the Congolese army and lives openly in
Goma, eastern Congo, where he is regularly seen at the top restaurants and on
the tennis court. He is currently serving as deputy commander of military
operations in eastern Congo and troops under his command continue to commit
grave abuses, as Human Rights Watch has documented.
“With
Lubanga found guilty, Ntaganda’s continued freedom from arrest is an all the
more shameful betrayal of the victims,” Mattioli-Zeltner said. “The Congolese
authorities should immediately arrest Ntaganda and turn him over to the
ICC.”
The ICC’s docket in relation to the DRC – currently limited to one
other trial involving two leaders of an armed group that opposed the UPC in
Ituri – fails to address the causes and extent of horrific crimes endured by
civilians throughout eastern Congo. If the ICC is going to contribute
meaningfully to ending impunity in the Congo, the Office of the Prosecutor
should bring additional cases, in particular against those who armed, financed,
and directed armed groups in eastern Congo, Human Rights Watch said.
The trial of Lubanga is the first case to reach the
judgment phase at the ICC. The court began operations in 2003. Two other trials,
in relation to the Congo and the Central African Republic, are under way and
charges have been confirmed in two more cases.
To read a Questions and Answers document on the
Lubanga case and verdict, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/29/dr-congo-qa-first-verdict-international-criminal-court
To view a Human Rights Watch special webpage on the
Lubanga verdict, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/topic/international-justice/lubanga-trial
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on the
Democratic Republic of Congo, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/drc
For more Human Rights Watch reporting on the
International Criminal Court, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/category/topic/international-justice/international-criminal-court
For more information, please contact:
In
The Hague, Géraldine Mattioli-Zeltner (English, French): +49-151-4650-8928
(mobile); or mattiog@hrw.org
In The Hague, Anneke van
Woudenberg (English, French): +44-771-166-4960 (mobile); or woudena@hrw.org
In New York, Param-Preet
Singh (English): +1-212-216-1281; or +1-917-586-1140 (mobile); or singhp@hrw.org
Issues Raised in the First ICC Trial
As
the first trial at the ICC, the Lubanga case broke new ground in interpreting
the court’s treaty and procedures. This was the first international trial in
which victims were allowed to participate in court proceedings beyond the role
of witnesses – an important innovation under the ICC treaty. Victim participants
made a positive contribution in this trial, but this first experience provided
lessons for future trials, Human Rights Watch said.
Because of security
concerns, most witnesses had some form of protection and significant portions of
the trial were held in closed hearings. The trial highlighted the risks
encountered by victims and witnesses who engage with the court and the
importance of an effective protection program at the ICC, Human Rights Watch
said.
The first trial at the ICC had to contend with many difficult legal
and procedural questions. One such issue brought to the fore in the trial is the
court’s use of “intermediaries –individuals and organizations who, in the case
of the Office of the Prosecutor, assist with contacting victims and witnesses.
Given that the ICC operates with limited resources in various country situations
with different cultural and language backgrounds and precarious security
conditions, resorting to intermediaries is often unavoidable for the court to
execute its mandate effectively. These intermediaries make an essential
contribution to the work of the ICC and face important challenges in doing so.
The Lubanga trial showed that the relationship between intermediaries and the
court needs to be well supervised and regulated, Human Rights Watch
said.
There were a number of hitches in the trial, and many observers and
victims expressed concern that the
trial took too long. The ICC has come under increasing pressure from member
countries to improve its efficiency.
Lessons learned from the Lubanga
trial – taking into account its unique character as the court’s first trial –
should be carefully considered by court officials, Human Rights Watch said.
Other trials under way at the ICC are already running more
smoothly.
Background
Ituri is one of the areas
worst affected by Congo’s devastating wars. Competition for the region’s
lucrative gold mines and trade routes – and the resulting money, guns, and power
–was a major contributing factor to the fighting. In their ruthless battles for
gold, armed groups such as Lubanga’s UPC often targeted civilians.
A
localized armed conflict between Hema and Lendu ethnic groups that began in 1999
was exacerbated by Ugandan military forces who occupied the area from 1999 until
2003 and by the broader Congolese war. Backed by foreign armies, local militias
multiplied and the conflict among them resulted in the slaughter of at least
60,000 civilians across Ituri. Most of the victims were killed during ethnically
targeted violence.
In addition to the DRC, the ICC prosecutor has opened
investigations in six other country situations: northern Uganda, the Darfur
region of Sudan, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya, and Côte d’Ivoire.
The prosecutor is also conducting preliminary
examinations in a number of other situations, including Afghanistan,
Colombia, Georgia, Nigeria, and Honduras.
Ida Sawyer
Chercheuse et Chargée de Plaidoyer RD
Congo
Human Rights Watch
+243 (0)99 86 75 565 | +243 (0)81 33 78
478
ida.sawyer@hrw.org
www.hrw.org/fr/drc