Facebook icon
Twitter icon
e-mail icon

ICC seeks 30 year sentence for Lubanga

The International Criminal Court is seeking a 30-year jail term, for former Congolese war lord Thomas Lubanga, who was found guilty of recruiting and using child soldiers by the ICC in March this year.

Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said he demanded a "severe sentence".

"The prosecution will request a sentence in the name of each child recruited, in the name of the Ituri region,"

"These children were told to kill and rape. That was the education he [Lubanga] gave these children," Mr Moreno-Ocampo told the court on Wednesday.

Lubanga was the head of the Union of Congolese Patriots and the court held that as such he bore responsibility for the recruitment of child soldiers.

Over 60,000 people are thought to have died during fighting between the Hema and Lendu ethnic groups in DR Congo.

We need your support

Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.

Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view

We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.

For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.