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DRC: Unsealed Arrest Warrant and First Arrest - Media Reports and ICC Press Releases

17 Mar 2006

Please find below recent (1) a press release of the ICC, "First arrest for the International Criminal Court", which announces that on 17 March 2006, the ICC "Pre-Trial Chamber I unsealed the warrant of arrest against Mr Thomas Lubanga." The Office of the Prosecutor has also issued a press release, including a quote from ICC Prosecutor Luis-Moreno Ocampo about the severity of these crimes and clarification on the context for this arrest warrant, noting that "The Office of the Prosecutor intends to take a phased approach and this warrant is but the first in a series."

The ICC press release and other related decisions are available on the Court's website. The press release by the Office of the Prosecutor is also available.

(2) Please also find below several articles reporting on this development and that Lubanga, who has been in jail in DRC since 2005, is being transferred to The Hague. Congolese Justice Minister Kisimba Ngoy said Mr Lubanga had been handed over to ICC officials in the capital, Kinshasa, and put on a plane on Friday morning. Christian Palme, of the ICC Prosecutor's Office, confirmed to the BBC News website that Mr Lubanga was on his way to The Hague.

The French Foreign Minister has also welcomed this development, noting that the Court's custody was an "important step in the fight against impunity, which has reigned too long in the Great Lakes region" of eastern Africa and explaining that the transfer was conducted "with the assistance of the French army."

(3) Finally, find below a press release from our member, No Peace Without Justice. More members' press releases will follow once issued.

The documents below have been produced by the ICC and the OTP. The Coalition for the ICC 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.

Please also 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 or pending situations before the Court. The Coalition, however, will continue to provide the most up-to-date information about the ICC.

Esti T. Tambay
Information and Analysis Officer
Coalition for the International Criminal Court

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ICC PRESS RELEASES

1. "First arrest for the International Criminal Court"
The Hague, 17 March 2006

"On 17 March 2006, in Kinshasa, Mr Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, a Congolese national and alleged founder and leader of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) was arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court as part of the judicial proceedings under the Rome Statute (the "Statute"). Thomas Lubanga is alleged to have committed war crimes as set out in article 8 of the Statute, committed in the territory of the Democratic Republic of the Congo since July 2002.

Pre-Trial Chamber I issued a sealed warrant of arrest against Mr Lubanga on 10 February 2006. The Chamber found that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Lubanga had committed the following war crime: conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities. The Chamber also requested that the Democratic Republic of the Congo arrest and surrender him to the Court. The Registrar notified the Congolese authorities of the decision on 14 March 2006, as instructed by the Pre-Trial Chamber.

On 17 March 2006, Pre-Trial Chamber I unsealed the warrant of arrest against Mr Thomas Lubanga.

As provided under article 59 of the Statute, Mr Lubanga appeared before the competent judicial authority in Kinshasa. The Congolese authorities cooperated with the Court in the spirit of the Statute by promptly executing its request. The French Government agreed to cooperate with the Court and, for the purpose of executing the decision of Pre-Trial Chamber I, provided a military aircraft to transfer Mr Lubanga. MONUC also provided support to the operation.

Mr Lubanga is the first person to be arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court since the entry into force of the Statute in July 2002. The Prosecutor of the Court initiated investigations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2004 after the Congolese Government referred the situation in that country to the Court.

The Court issued its first warrants of arrest in July 2005 in the situation in Uganda against five leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army. Investigations are also ongoing in the situation in Darfur which was referred to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by the United Nations Security Council on 31 March 2005."

2. "Issuance of a warrant of arrest against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo"
The Hague, 17 March 2006

"On 12 January 2006, the Office of the Prosecutor submitted an application for the issuance of a warrant of arrest against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. He is alleged to have been involved in the commission of war crimes, namely, enlisting and conscripting children under the age of fifteen and using them to participate actively in hostilities (see articles 8(2)(b)(xxvi) or 8(2)(e)(vii) of the Rome Statute). These are alleged crimes which will have to be proven.

The Prosecutor, Mr Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has said: "The alleged crimes are extremely serious. Throughout the world, children are being trained to become machines of war. Turning children into killers jeopardises the future of mankind." The Prosecutor is seeking to put an end to such crimes, as is his obligation under article 54(1)(b) of the Rome Statute.

The Office of the Prosecutor is currently investigating various crimes committed by a number of armed groups in the Ituri region. In the present case, Pre-Trial Chamber I has examined the evidence and found that it meets the criteria set down in the Rome Statute. The investigation is, however, ongoing and will subsequently lead to other warrants being sought against members of other armed groups active in the Ituri region. The Office of the Prosecutor intends to take a phased approach and this warrant is but the first in a series.

One of the aims of the Office of the Prosecutor is to carry out investigations and to contribute to preventing the commission of crimes in the region. The investigation is being conducted independently and in conjunction with efforts to bolster the activities that need to be undertaken now in order to put an end to the grave crimes being committed by these groups. The objective is to protect the civilian population living in the region.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo referred the situation to the Office of the Prosecutor in March 2004 and the investigation began in June 2004. The Office set up a multinational and multidisciplinary team which has since carried out over 60 missions in the region.

At the outset of the investigation, Ituri was singled out as being one of the most violent regions in the DRC. The investigation made it possible to identify several groups responsible for the violence. The Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo (FPLC) emerged as one of the militias which had committed the worst atrocities. The FPLC is the military wing of the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC).

It should be noted that the policy of the Office of the Prosecutor is to focus its efforts and resources on investigating and prosecuting those persons who bear the greatest responsibility. The Office has thus shaped its investigation accordingly. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo founded the UPC in September 2000 and became its president. In September 2002, he set up the FPLC as the military wing of the UPC and became its commander-in-chief.

During the fighting in Ituri, more than 8,000 civilians have died and in excess of 600,000 others have been displaced. In 2002, the FPLC seized control of Bunia and parts of Ituri in Orientale Province. Young children - boys and girls alike - were taken from their families and forced to join the FPLC. They were taken away and trained in camps set up for this purpose.

As president of the UPC and commander-in-chief of the FPLC, Thomas Lubanga Dyilo exercised de facto authority. He had ultimate control over the adoption and implementation of the UPC's and FPLC's policies and practices, which consisted, amongst other things, of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of fifteen years into the FPLC and using them to participate actively in hostilities. He was aware of his unique position within the UPC and the FPLC and made active use of it. These are allegations which have yet to be proven.

UNICEF estimates that some 300,000 children are involved in more than 30 conflicts worldwide. Children are used as fighters, messengers, porters and cooks and for forced sexual services. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an estimated 30,000 children are associated with armed groups, according to UNICEF.

Recent information indicates that armed groups operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are still forcing thousands of children - some of whom are no older than ten - to fight and to commit atrocities."

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B. MEDIA COVERAGE

1. Reuters, "Congo hands first suspect to Court" - 17 March 2006

"Congo sent a militia leader suspected of ordering the killing of nine U.N. peacekeepers last year to the International Criminal Court on Friday, making him its first prisoner, the court said.

The suspect, Thomas Lubanga, leads the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), an ethnic militia now registered as a political party and accused of widespread human rights abuses in eastern Congo's lawless Ituri district.

"Thomas Lubanga Dyilo ... was arrested and transferred to the International Criminal Court ... Thomas Lubanga must answer for war crimes," the International Criminal Court (ICC) said in a statement.

Lubanga, who left aboard a French military plane, was expected to arrive in The Netherlands later on Friday. [...] and Lubanga is the first suspect to be delivered into its custody. [...]

Lubanga's UPC, dominated by the Hema ethnic group, stands accused of widespread human rights violations in Ituri, where a range of foreign and local militias have raped, looted and murdered civilians during and since Congo's 1998-2003 war.

"The Chamber found that there were reasonable grounds to believe Lubanga had committed the following war crime: conscripting and enlisting children under the age of fifteen years and using them to participate actively in hostilities," the ICC said in its statement.

Lubanga was arrested in March 2005 in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, where he had moved more than a year earlier and registered the UPC as a political party.

His arrest was part of a U.N. crackdown after nine Bangladeshi U.N. peacekeepers were killed in February 2005 in the deadliest attack on the world body's biggest peacekeeping force.

U.N. military sources said Lubanga was suspected of ordering the attack from Kinshasa. Other militia leaders also accused of involvement have been arrested and detained in Kinshasa. [...]"

2. BBC News, "DR Congo rebel faces Hague trial" - 17 March 2006

"The leader of a Democratic Republic of Congo militia has been handed over to the International Criminal Court to face trial on war crimes charges.
Thomas Lubanga becomes the first person arrested on an ICC warrant.

The court, based in the Dutch city of The Hague, said he would face three charges related to the use of children in armed groups. Mr Lubanga was arrested a year ago after nine Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers were killed in the volatile Ituri area. [...]

Congolese Justice Minister Kisimba Ngoy said Mr Lubanga had been handed over to ICC officials in the capital, Kinshasa, and put on a plane on Friday morning.

Christian Palme, of the ICC Prosecutor's Office, confirmed to the BBC News website that Mr Lubanga was on his way to The Hague. [...]

The French foreign ministry said the French military had helped with his transfer, without giving any details. [...]

Several teams of ICC investigators have been sent to Ituri in recent months where more than 50,000 people have died since the inter-ethnic war began in 1999. [...]"

3. Financial Times, "Congo militia leader handed to Hague Criminal Court" - 17 March 2006


"A Congolese militia leader suspected of being involved in the death of nine UN peacekeepers and mass atrocities in northeastern Congo was handed over to the International Criminal Court on Friday. [...]

The ICC issued a sealed arrest warrant against Mr Lubanga in February for enlisting children aged under 15-years into his forces and using them to "participate actively in hostilities."

The ICC prosecutor will seek to bring further charges against him, an ICC official said.

"He was the leader of a militia with a long track-record of brutality against civilians and was suspected of being involved in the death of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers last year," said Kemal Saiki, a spokesman for the UN mission in Congo. [...]

4. Sapa News Agency, "France Praises International Criminal Court's Indictment Of Congolese Rebel" - 17 March 2006
http://www.andnetwork.com/app?service=direct/0/Africa/$StorySummary$1.$DirectLink$2&sp=l24779

"France's army helped transfer Congolese rebel Thomas Lubanga to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, were he has been indicted for war crimes, the French Foreign Ministry said today.

The Foreign Ministry praised the court's custody of Lubanga as an "important step in the fight against impunity, which has reigned too long in the Great Lakes region" of eastern Africa.

The Ministry's statement said Lubanga was transferred from Kinshasa to court in The Hague, Netherlands, "with the assistance of the French army." It offered no specifics. [...]"

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C. MEMBERS PRESS RELEASES

1. No Peace Without Justice, Press Release, "ICC issues DRC warrant against Thomas Lubanga; Charges include recruitment and use of child soldiers" - 17 March 2006

"The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued the first arrest warrant for the DRC, alleging the recruitment and use of child soldiers, a war crime prohibited under the Rome Statue of the ICC. No Peace Without Justice welcomes this historic event as a step toward ending impunity in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and as a signal of growing international determination to end the use of child soldiers. [...]

The near global ratification of the Additional Protocols of the Geneva Conventions and the Convention of the Rights of the Child has established customary law prohibiting the recruitment or use of child soldiers under the age of fifteen. This applies to both state and non-state entities, regardless of whether they have ratified these instruments. Since the early 1990s, there has been a push to raise the minimum age, with numerous international treaties recommending that state parties prohibit the use or recruitment of children in the armed forces below the age of eighteen. Despite these positive steps, child soldiers are currently used in more than thirty countries.

Statement by Sergio Stanzani and Gianfranco Dell'Alba, President and Secretary-General of NPWJ:

"Since 2002, the number of children recruited to national armies and other armed groups has increased alarmingly.

By some estimates, children under age fifteen comprise forty percent of armed forces. Many children volunteer as a means of seeking protection, while others view the army as a last resort after their families are killed, but the majority of child soldiers have been forcibly recruited, abducted from their homes and schools. The boys are mainly used as front line soldiers and often suffer higher casualty rates than adult soldiers: they are forced to commit human rights abuses against civilians, sometimes even killing their own family members. Girls are forced into sexual slavery: those who survive the repeated rapes suffer severe psychological and physical harm.

"The prohibition of the recruitment and use of child soldiers under age fifteen in the Rome Statute signals the gravity of this crime; the issue is given greater weight by these arrest warrants. However, the crime of conscription should not be viewed in isolation: the recruitment or use of child soldiers is inextricably linked with overall strategies of warfare that violate international humanitarian law. The charge of conscription should be included in each and every indictment where there is evidence it has been committed, to underscore the pervasive recruitment or use of child soldiers. We hope and believe that the ICC will follow these arrest warrants with further indictments for the serious crimes committed against the people of the DRC.

"The focus of these indictments on the recruitment and use of child soldiers makes it likely that some children will testify against those named in the warrants. We strongly urge that all appropriate measures are employed for the protection of their safety, physical and psychological well-being, dignity and privacy, as required by the Rome Statute. All children affected by this conflict, and particularly children who appear before the ICC, should also be provided with services for their recovery and reintegration. Today's warrants are a significant advance towards enforcing the rights of all children affected by conflict."

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