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DRC rebel leader gets 14 years

July 10, 2012

The International Criminal Court has handed a 14-year jail term to former Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga. Prosecutors wanted the 51-year-old to receive a 30-year sentence.

https://p.dw.com/p/15UaC
epa03302294 Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga listens the first-ever sentence delivered by The International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague, the Netherlands, 10 July 2012. Lubanga, 51, was convicted in March 2012 of war crimes, specifically for using child soldiers in his rebel army in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2002-03, in the ICC's first verdict since it started work a decade ago. Lubanga was sentenced to 14 years in prison. EPA/JERRY LAMPEN / POOL
Thomas Lubanga verurteilt Kongo Den Haag Internationaler StrafgerichtshofImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Thomas Lubanga was sentenced to 14 years in prison at the ICC in the Hague on Tuesday for war crimes committed in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2002 and 2003.

Judge Adrian Fulford handed down the sentence, also clarifying that Lubanga's time already spent in detention since 2006 would be deducted from the term.

"Taking into account all the factors … the court sentences Mr Lubanga to 14 years," Fulford said in an address that focused on Lubanga's recruitment policies as a militia leader.

"The crimes of conscripting and enlisting children under 15 and using them in hostilities are undoubtedly very serious," Fulford told the court in the Netherlands. "The vulnerability of children mean that they need to be afforded particular protection that does not apply to the general population, recognized in various international treaties."

Prosecutors had asked that Lubanga receive a far longer sentence of 30 years, saying the rebel leader was guilty of further crimes - their stance earned a sharp rebuke in the judge's closing statement.

Den Haag: 14 Jahre Haft für Lubanga # lubanga23c # 11.07.2012 01 Uhr # Journal (englisch)

"Mr Lubanga was put under considerable, unwarranted pressure by the conduct of the prosecution," Fulford said, singling out allegations of sexual crimes against children as an example where the prosecution had failed to provide adequate proof or demonstrate Lubanga's complicity.

Lubanga founded the Union of Congolese Patriots in 2001 and was the commander of its military wing the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC). The groups were primarily composed of the Hema ethnic group and their fight for land and resources quickly escalated into ethnic warfare towards the end of the Congo wars.

Lubanga's arrest followed the deaths of nine United Nations peacekeepers from Bangladesh with the body's Congolese mission, called MONUC at the time. The FPLC had been implicated in the killings.

The 51-year-old Lubanga had pleaded not guilty to the charges in his trial, which began on January 26, 2009 and finished on August 26 last year.

msh/jm (AFP, dapd, dpa, EPD)