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Stay on the proceedings in Lubanga case: ICC Press Release and Related News

18 June 2008

Dear all,

The International Criminal Court (ICC) announced today that Trial
Chamber I imposed a stay on the proceedings of the case The Prosecutor
v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Please find below the Court's Press Release as
well as a related newswire article.

Both the Press Release and the Chamber's decision can be found on the
Court's website at: http://www.icc-cpi.int

Please take note of the Coalition's policy on situations before the ICC
(below), which explicitly states that the CICC will not take a position
on potential and current situations before the Court or situations under
analysis. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most
up-to-date information about the ICC.

Warm regards,
Oriane Maillet
CICC Communications
[email protected]

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I. ICC PRESS RELEASE

NB: This document has been produced by the ICC. The CICC Secretariat
distributes it as part of its mandate to keep member organizations and
individuals informed about developments related to the ICC. The document
does not reflect the views of the CICC as a whole or its individual
members.

"Trial Chamber imposes a stay on the proceedings of the case against
Thomas Lubanga Dyilo", ICC Press release (ICC-CPI-20080616-PR324-ENG),
16 June 2008, http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/381.html

"On 13 June 2008, Trial Chamber I imposed a stay on the proceedings of
the case The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Unless this stay is
lifted the trial process in all respects will remain at a halt. In these
circumstances, the Chamber scheduled a hearing on Tuesday 24 June 2008
at 14.00 in order to consider the release of the accused.

Trial Chamber I delivered its "Decision on the consequences of
non-disclosure of exculpatory materials covered by Article 54(3)(e)
agreements and the application to stay the prosecution of the accused,
together with certain other issues raised at the Status Conference on 10
June 2008", following the Chamber's oral announcement on 11 June 2008
that the trial would not commence on 23 June 2008.

The Chamber came to the conclusion that the prosecution had incorrectly
used Article 54 (3) (e) of the Rome Statute which allows the Prosecutor,
exceptionally, to receive information or documents, on the condition of
confidentiality, which are not for use at trial but solely for the
purpose of generating new evidence. The Chamber concluded that this
misuse has had the consequence that a significant body of exculpatory
evidence has not been disclosed to the accused, thereby improperly
inhibiting the opportunities for the accused to prepare his defence.

In this case over 200 documents, which the prosecution accepts have
potential exculpatory effect or which are material to defence
preparation, were obtained from information providers, such as the
United Nations, with agreements not to be disclosed.

The judges concluded that the disclosure of exculpatory evidence in the
possession of the prosecution is a fundamental aspect of the accused's
right to a fair trial.

Background information

On 17 March 2006, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the founder and leader of the
Union des patriotes congolais (Union of Congolese Patriots) was arrested
and surrendered to the Court upon a warrant of arrest issued by
Pre-Trial Chamber I at the request of the Prosecutor.

On 29 January 2007, Pre-Trial Chamber I confirmed the charges brought by
the Prosecutor against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, namely war crimes
consisting of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15
into the FPLC, the military wing of the Union des patriotes congolais
(UPC), and using them to participate actively in hostilities in Ituri,
from September 2002 to 13 August 2003.

The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is the first case to arise from
the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); the second
case is The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga & Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, and
the third case is The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda. Investigations are
ongoing in the DRC.

13.06.2008 - Decision on the consequences of non-disclosure of
exculpatory materials covered by Article 54(3)(e) agreements and the
application to stay the prosecution of the accused, together with
certain other issues raised at the Status Conference on 10 June 2008
ICC-01/04-01-06/1401 - Original: English
http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/cases/ICC-01-04-01-06-1401-ENG.pdf"

II. RELATED NEWS ARTICLE

i. "War crimes court reprimands prosecutor, will consider release of
ex-Congo warlord", The Associated Press, 16 June 2006,
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/06/16/europe/EU-GEN-International-Co
urt-Congo.php

"The International Criminal Court says it will consider releasing a
Congolese former warlord, reprimanding prosecutors for withholding vital
information to the defense.

... The judges have indefinitely postponed the trial, the court's first.

Their ruling published in The Hague on Monday says prosecutors have some
200 documents they have refused to disclose to the defense. They include
evidence that could help establish Lubanga's innocence or mitigate his
crimes.

The prosecution said it was entitled to keep the evidence confidential.
But the judges ruled Lubanga was being denied a fair trial."


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