Freedom House Welcomes Conviction of Congolese Warlord by International Criminal Court

Freedom House welcomes the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s guilty verdict for Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga, who recruited and used children as young as nine years old as personal bodyguards and soldiers in 2002 and 2003.  This is the first verdict handed down by the ICC since it was founded ten years ago, demonstrating that the institution does have the power to bring some of the world’s worst human rights offenders to justice.  Freedom House urges the ICC to seize this opportunity to increase its efforts in arresting, trying and convicting those who commit mass atrocities.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has long been torn by undemocratic governance, corruption, and brutal violence stemming from regional and ethnic conflicts.  Freedom House has rated the Democratic Republic of Congo “Not Free” in Freedom in the World every year since 1980.  In recent years, opposition politicians, human rights activists, and the press have been the targets of attacks and harassment, as evidenced by the murder of a cameraman in April 2011 and the suspicious death of a leading human rights activist in June 2011.  Lubanga was the first person to be arrested with an ICC warrant and was taken into custody six years ago. His trial took more than three years to complete.  Currently the ICC oversees 14 other cases, three of which are at the trial stage.
 

Learn more: 

Freedom in the World 2011: Democratic Republic of Congo
Freedom of the Press 2011: Democratic Republic of Congo
Countries at the Crossroads 2010: Democratic Republic of Congo