International Criminal Court to hear first case

The world’s first permanent international criminal court is due to formally begin work today with a landmark hearing.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has been established to try war crimes.

Its first case will see pre-trial hearings against a militia leader from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Thomas Lubanga.

He is accused of conscripting child soldiers and using them in the brutal war in the north-east of the country.

“Regardless of the outcome, this case will expose the destructiveness of forcing children to fight adult wars,” deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said.

The three-week hearing, almost a mini-trial, at the court is meant to determine whether evidence against Lubanga is strong enough to merit a full trial, which could last months. He faces a maximum life sentence if convicted.

The hearing marks the first time prosecutors have presented evidence to a panel of the court’s judges.

Next week, they will call a witness, whose identity has not been released, to testify against Lubanga.

Defence lawyers can challenge the evidence and cross-examine the witness. They call Lubanga a pacifist who attempted to restore calm in Congo’s lawless Ituri region.

Lubanga is the only suspect in the court’s custody. Prosecutors say his case is key to focusing international attention on the widespread practice in Africa and other parts of the world of recruiting child soldiers, often by force.

The United Nations estimates 300,000 child soldiers are involved in conflicts around the world.

After the hearing, judges have 60 days to decide whether to proceed to a full trial, throw out the charges or order prosecutors to amend their charges.

Prosecutors say Lubanga’s Union of Congolese Patriots, known by its French acronym UPC, and its armed wing, the FPLC, recruited children and trained them to kill members of rival tribes. If they refused to fight, they were threatened with execution, his indictment alleges.

Six children, one aged just 10 at the time, are cited in the charges but have not been publicly identified. None will testify at the hearing.

The case is also a milestone for victims of alleged war crimes, marking the first time they will be represented in hearings at an international tribunal.

Attorneys representing victims will be present throughout the case and will be able to make opening and closing statements.

“It is simply a matter of great importance that this court allows victims to be heard and to be given the respect which was stripped from them at the time that they suffered as they did,” said victims’ lawyer George Gebbie.