Thomas lubanga dyilo biography template images

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo.

As the first before ICC, the Lubanga trial was a landmark achievement for the Rome Statute system of international justice. The trial did much to highlight the problem of child soldiers and the need to protect children in conflict. The eventual guilty verdict and sentencing sent out a strong message that perpetrators of such crimes could, and would, be held to account.

Thomas Lubanga was accused as a co-perpetrator of the war crime of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 years and using them to participate actively in hostilities. Lubanga was convicted of the war crime of enlisting and using children under 15 to participate actively in hostilities on 14 March During the proceedings, ten former child soldiers testified, as did a number of expert witnesses.

ICC judges found that during the conflict, the FPLC implemented a widespread youth recruitment policy — including children under the age of Following training in military camps, the youths were deployed as soldiers in Bunia, Tchomia, Kasenvi, and Bogoro, and participated in fighting in areas including Kobu, Songolo, and Mongbwalu.

THOMAS LUBANGA DYILO.

Judges further decided that the six years Lubanga had already served in detention in The Hague since March would be deducted from the sentence. Several challenges emerged in the course of the trial, some of which were attributed to the ICC being a fledgling court while others were considered avoidable. To minimize the reoccurrence of such challenges, civil society has been working with the ICC to translate these lessons-learned into a new standard of best practices and strategies.

In their judgement decision, the Chamber also found that the Office of the Prosecutor OTP should not have delegated its investigative responsibilities to intermediaries—people who facilitated contact or provided a link between the OTP and witnesses in the case—a circumstance which had led to some evidence being unreliable. Related legal challenges contributed to delays in the proceedings.

The length of ICC proceedings has been criticized due to its impact on the rights of the accused as well as costs. The Lubanga case spanned six years from arrest to conviction, largely due to two successive suspensions of proceedings. In the first instance July , the prosecution had not made potentially exculpatory evidence available to the defense.

In the second instance July , judges cited the impossibility of a fair trial given that the OTP had failed to disclose to the defense the identity of an intermediary as ordered.