Thomas Lubanga Dyilo listens to the verdict in his trial on March 14, 2012. (c) Photo courtesy of the ICC-CPI / Evert-Jan Daniel /ANP.

The verdict is in for the ICC’s first trial. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo has been judged guilty of the war crimes of conscripting, enlisting and using child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). An order of reparations and sentencing will be decided at a later date. Lubanga could possibly face life imprisonment.

The judgement was unanimous and there were several interesting elements in the summary statement, delivered by Judge Adrian Fulford.
1) The prosecution team was slammed for its “lack of proper oversight” in using intermediaries, which the judges determined influenced and manipulated vulnerable witnesses. The testimony of several prosecution witnesses was therefore discarded or not taken into consideration.
2) The judges re-characterized the conflict in Ituri as a non-international armed conflict, which invokes different provisions of the Rome Statute but the criminal conduct remains the same.
3) There was evidence of sexual violence and rape against girls conscripted into the UPC but the judges could not rule on this because Lubanga was not charged for such crimes.
4) Lubanga, as a co-perpetrator, had both intent and knowledge of the UPC’s common plan to conscript, enlist, and use child soldiers under the age of 15 in the Ituri conflict between 2002-2003.

Background: The ICC and the DRC Situation
It’s been seven years since Lubanga was arrested and more than three years since the start of his trial. As a State Party to the Rome Statute, the DRC government self-referred its conflict situation to the ICC in 2004. The prosecutorial team’s subsequent investigation focused in on the Ituri region of eastern Congo where civilians suffered from massacres and sexual violence perpetrated by rival militias and warlords competing for power, ethnic loyalties, and pillaging and enriching themselves.  In line with the prosecutorial strategy of selecting cases that meet the criteria of “sufficient gravity” and identifying those “most responsible” for such crimes, Lubanga’s leadership position in the UPC (Union of Congolese Patriots) militia drew the attention of the Court. He was unexpectedly detained by the DRC in March 2005, transferred to The Hague a year later, and his trial started in January 2009. The ICC has charged three other warlords in the DRC situation. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui are presently and jointly on trial for charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Bosco Ntaganda, accused of war crimes for child soldiers, remains at large.

Targeting Lubanga
The Lubanga case, given it was the first trial, exposed the ICC to a new barrage of skepticism and frustration among international observers and Congolese. There was some legal bungling that caused delays and threatened a trial dismissal and release of Lubanga. Legal scholars have expressed concern that this did not result in a more divided decision among the judges. But the more significant criticism focused on the justifications for the prosecutorial strategy and charges. Many, including the Chief Prosecutor, readily acknowledge that Lubanga is likely responsible for a broader array of crimes that go well beyond using child soldiers, specifically crimes against humanity including massacres, killing of peacekeepers, and sexual violence in Ituri. Ocampo contends, however, that at the time of Lubanga’s arrest the OTP only had enough evidence to proceed with these limited war crimes charges. A related concern is whether he is most responsible for the crimes he was charged with. One of the key arguments for the defense was that Lubanga was not in a position of command responsibility for the military affairs of the UPC, and thus cannot be held accountable for the use of child soldiers.

And what of other perpetrators in the DRC? There are bigger fish. Jason Stearns, author of Dancing in the Glory of Monsters, argues that Lubanga was a “convenient first case” because, while a key actor in the Ituri region, he was expendable to the Congolese and Ugandan militaries engaged in the region. The ICC has been criticized for strategically avoiding any serious investigation or charges for crimes committed under the authority of the DRC, Ugandan, or Rwandan governments for fear of the political fallout or losing their cooperation in ongoing cases. The OTP has made statements that it will not prosecute crimes on all sides simply for the sake of appearing balanced and the uses the gravity criteria to justify its selections – a justification that doesn’t hold up in the broader scope of crimes in the central African region.

Two other cases underscore that the political interests of the DRC government have been unintentionally safeguarded by the ICC. First, as Stearns also mentions, Jean Pierre Bemba was a significant source of opposition in the DRC and with broad public support – that is – until his arrest and transfer to the ICC for his crimes in the Central African Republic. While a justifiable target, Bemba’s arrest has affirmed perceptions among some Congolese that the Court is biased. Second, Ntaganda is still “at large” because he’s protected by the government and therefore “untouchable.” Indicted while still a bad guy warlord (aka “The Terminator”), his potential arrest has become a political problem now that he’s been co-opted by President Kabila into the military (as a commander) under the pre-text of ensuring stability. This article by Mac McClelland for Mother Jones details Ntaganda’s crimes, that go well beyond the use of child soldiers, and why he can enjoy impunity and dinner parties in Goma instead of a prison cell in The Hague. Lubanga’s trial evidence will play a role in any future trial of Ntaganda as he is a co-perpetrator of the same crimes, and was identified as such in the summary statement of the verdict.

Marc Bleasdale/VII (c) 2009

Deterrence Effects?
One possible positive outcome of Lubanga’s trial is the education and deterrence effects on using child soldiers, especially by warlords and non-state armed groups. Human Rights Watch reported, in Selling Justice Short, that the notoriety of Lubanga’s trial has made such individuals aware that using child soldiers is a war crime punishable the ICC. But beyond this, the case has also brought more attention to the instrumental victimization of child soldiers and potentially affected a shift from the use of child soldiers as common place to taboo among non-state armed groups, especially in the DRC. A programme advisor for REDRESS said in January 2011 that there’s “no doubt in eastern DRC about the fact that child soldiering is a crime. Previously people thought that children were doing military service that was somehow legitimized by the state of conflict.”

But broader deterrence effects in the DRC or to prevent atrocities more generally will not result from this case alone nor does it address, in any way, the underlying causes of violence in Ituri. A few lessons can be highlighted from the Lubanga trial if the ICC is to have such an impact. First, the Court needs to counter perceptions that it is unjustly selective in its prosecutions by ensuring that crimes on all sides of a conflict are duly investigated and persons “most responsible” indicted if warranted. Arguably, it has done a better job of this in the Kenya situation. It can also counter these perceptions by increasing its outreach activities – explaining not only the limits on the Court’s capacity and jurisdiction but also its selection of cases. Second, the ICC is not empowered with the capacity to really affect more “positive complementarity,” specifically local capacity building of the rule of law. But international justice advocacy, media attention and donor support can be more focused on ensuring that a broader range of perpetrators are addressed by fair mechanisms of accountability at the national and local level.

Despite the deterrence skepticism, this is a major milestone for the International Criminal Court and a significance contribution to fight against impunity for atrocities.