The International Criminal Court will make its first decision since commencement of work in 2003. The world's first permanent penal tribunal is competent for criminal offences of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. In its eagerly anticipated verdict, it will pass judgment on the alleged war criminal Thomas Lubanga.
Lubanga faces two war crimes charges for having recruited child soldiers under the age of 15 years to, who were supposed to serve as fighters in the second Congolese civil-war from 1998 to 2003.
The prosecution assumes that that the militia under Lubanga's control, abducted children from their homes, schools and football fields, some of theme even under the age of 11, before they were carried to military training camps. While the boys amongst them underwent cruelty and beats, the girls faced a live as sex slaves for the militiamen.
Sentence after difficult course of the process
After issuing an international arrest warrant, the alleged founder of the Union of Congolese Patriots party and chief commander of its military wing was handed over to the ICC by the Congolese authorities. The hearings started in January 2009, with closing arguments finishing in August last year. Lubanga pleaded not guilty.
Actually, the trial was supposed to have initiated the proceedings in June 2008, but abated them after having ruled that prosecutors retained illegaly evidence in favour of the defendant. Lubangas defense lawyers blamed the prosecution meanwhile to have fabricated false witnesses. At least nine of the alleged child-soldiers would have been in school over the period of the worst pretended atrocities in the East Congolese Ituri-Region.
In case of conviction, Lubanga is at the risk of serving a life sentence. In addition, he can be obligated to provision of compensatory performance to the victims in the Ituri region - an area holding some of the world's most lucrative mineral resources.