14 years in prison for using child soldiers

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court sentenced a Congolese warlord to 14 years in prison on Tuesday, a watershed moment for the 10-year-old tribunal and a potential landmark in the struggle to protect children during wartime.

Judges found Thomas Lubanga guilty in March of recruiting and using children in his Union of Congolese Patriots militia — sending them to kill and be killed during fighting in Congo's eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003. Tuesday's announcement was the first time the tribunal had sentenced a convicted war criminal.

 

"The vulnerability of children means they need to be afforded particular protection," Presiding Judge Adrian Fulford said at the sentencing hearing.

Human rights activists hailed the decision.

"This sentence sends out a stark warning across the world to those engaged in the use of child soldiers that their criminal actions will land them in prison," said Armel Luhiriri of the Coalition for the ICC, a non-government group that supports the court and its efforts to end impunity for the world's worst crimes.

Prosecutors had asked for a 30-year sentence, but said they would be willing to cut it to 20 years if Lubanga offered a "genuine apology" to the victims of his crimes. Lubanga did not offer an apology.

In a statement, prosecutors said the sentence, "sent a clear message to perpetrators of crimes: You will not go unpunished." Prosecutors are considering whether to appeal the sentence as too low.
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