ICC: Congolese national arrested for war crimes

19 March 2006

Congolese national arrested for war crimes in first transferto UN-backed court

A Congolese national accused ofconscripting child soldiers has become the first defendantarrested for trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC)established to ensure the prosecution of individualscommitting war crimes, a United Nations spokesman saidtoday.

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, the alleged founder andleader of the group known as Union des Patriotes Congolais,was transferred by the authorities of the DemocraticRepublic of Congo (DRC) under the international agreementknown the Rome Statute, which established the court with itsentry into force in July 2002.

The 18 judges of the ICChave jurisdiction over the most serious internationalcrimes, including genocide, mass murder, enslavement, rape,torture and war crimes, and the Court only steps in whencountries themselves are unable or unwilling to investigateor prosecute. States as well as the UN Security Council canrefer situations to the ICC for investigation.

The ICCProsecutor initiated investigations in the DRC in 2004 afterthe Congolese Government referred the situation in thatcountry to the Court, which issued a warrant of arrestagainst Mr. Lubanga on 10 February, finding that there werereasonable grounds to believe he had conscripted childrenunder the age of 15 for active participation in hostilities,a war crime.

The Congolese authorities then arrested himin Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC.

Because the ICC sjurisdiction only covers crimes committed after itsestablishment, it issued its first warrants of arrest inJuly 2005 against five leaders of the Lord s Resistance Army(LRA), also accused of conscripting child soldiers and othercrimes in Uganda.

An ongoing investigation is alsofocussing on the situation in Sudan s Darfur region, inwhich untold thousands have died and millions have beenterrorized and displaced, and which was referred to the ICCProsecutor by the UN Security Council in March2005.

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