Appeal judges at the International Criminal
Court on Monday upheld the conviction of
Congolese war criminal Thomas Lubanga and
confirmed his 14-year prison sentence,
bringing to a close the permanent war crimes
court's first case.
The milestone risks being overshadowed by
the slow pace of justice at the institution - set
up more than a decade ago to prosecute the
gravest international crimes in countries
unable to deliver justice themselves.
Lubanga, 53, who had been on trial since
2006, was convicted two years ago of war
crimes for using child soldiers during a
conflict in the mineral-rich Ituri region in the
north-east of the Democratic Republic of
Congo in 2002-2003.
He will serve his sentence in one of the ICC's
122 member states. The eight years he has
spent in jail count towards his sentence. He
could become eligible for early release after
two-thirds of his sentence, meaning he could
go free next year.
Activists hailed the ruling, which Brigid Ender
of the pressure group Women's Initiative for
Gender Justice hailed as a "significant
milestone" in global efforts to end impunity
for war crimes.
The court, which has a budget of around 100
million euros ($125 million) a year, has
concluded just three cases since it was set up
in 2002, convicting Germain Katanga, a fellow
Congolese warlord, and acquitting another,
Mathieu Ngudjolo.
Lubanga had asked appeals judges to find that
video evidence showing child soldiers in his
army, the Union of Congolese Patriots, was
not reliable, bringing former soldiers to testify
that they had been adults at the time of the
conflict.
Worldbulletin.
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