International court starts first war crimes trial

[struggle4progress]

Source: Reuters

Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:50am EST

By Aaron Gray-Block

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - A Congolese militia leader will be the first suspect to go on trial at the International Criminal Court on Monday, in a test of the credibility of the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal.

Thomas Lubanga, who founded and led the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) in Congo's eastern Ituri district, is accused of enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 to kill members of the Lendu ethnic group during the 1998-2003 war.

Ethnic violence in the Ituri region between the Hema and Lendu and clashes between militia groups vying for control of mines and taxation have killed 60,000 people since 1999.

Lubanga, 48, denies the charges and his defense counsel declined comment ahead of the trial, which begins more than six years after the Hague-based ICC was set up ...

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE50O0O320090125?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

[razors edge]

1. Six years for the first trial,

give it up, it ain't working.

[struggle4progress]

3. Of course, the world's many war criminals will be happier if we adopt that view

[razors edge]

8. They don't appear to be unhappy right now, do they?

This is an attempt to treat the symptom, not prevent the condition. As such it is doomed to failure.

I wish it were otherwise, but it isn't.

[struggle4progress]

10. Why not search current news for "war crimes"? The phrase pops up frequently now.

[razors edge]

13. I don't need to.

State sanctioned murder is still murder, no matter the what the convoluted justification may be.

These murderers good, those murderers bad, its a bullshit context to begin with.

This is democratic republic, and these types of things are tolerated to a great extent, google American Indian if you want some real context on the situation.

Personally I would go for more frequent use of the simple rail, lamp post or tar, but we live in a more civilized society that requires us to convict a so called leader, re convict after an appeal, and then build a club fed to house them in if you get that far.

Hows Bernie Maddof doing?

[Optical.Catalyst]

2. I want the International Criminal Court to appoint a prosecutor for Bush

I want an International Criminal Tribunal for Bush in the next six months. His illegal war in Iraq and the detention center in Guantanamo have been in operation for years, plenty of time to collect evidence.

[stillcool]

4. It might happen...

but it will take a long time. Who has had access, and has been gathering evidence about these detainee's or torture, or the incidents of war crimes over the last 7 years?

[tritsofme]

7. The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute.

The ICC has no jurisdiction.

[BanTheGOP]

11. Isn't it high time...

...to rectify this omission? President Obama should make it a PRIORITY to sign onto the world court treaty!

[tritsofme]

12. DOA in the Senate.

More than likely.

I hope however, that the president does take steps to work with and cooperate with the court.

[BanTheGOP]

14. Harry Reid needs a Rahm Emanuel Death Stare poring daggers at him...

...and revive this extremely important legislation that would internationalize our war crimes. We HAVE the votes to follow through, and the repugs that try to filibuster this legislation will find themselves on the sidelines extremely fast.

[tritsofme]

15. 66 votes to ratify a treaty.

I can't imagine they would try to push such a controversial measure through by majority vote.

[saigon68]

9. Time to indict Mr "Bring Em On"

[Jefferson23]

5. Some day, Bush and Cheney, Yoo and Addington, I want to read that

headline for these criminals too.

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Damn, that headline...

got my hope up :)

[oberliner]

16. International court begins with Congo trial

Source: AP

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – A Congolese warlord pleaded not guilty to recruiting child soldiers and sending them to fight and die in ethnic battles as the International Criminal Court began its historic first trial Monday.

The trial of Thomas Lubanga has been hailed as a legal landmark by human rights activists because it is the first international criminal prosecution to focus solely on child soldiers.

Wearing a dark suit and red tie, Lubanga showed no emotion as his French lawyer, Catherine Mabille, said he pleaded not guilty to using children under age 15 as soldiers in the armed wing of his Union of Congolese Patriots political party in 2002-03.

Lubanga's militia "recruited, trained and used hundreds of young children to kill, pillage and rape. The children still suffer the consequences of Lubanga's crimes," prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told a three-judge panel in his opening statement. "They cannot forget what they suffered, what they saw, what they did."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090126/ap_on_re_af/eu_international_court_congo

[LeftishBrit]

17. The use of child soldiers is just sickeningly evil

Even if the children survive, they will be permanently damaged psychologically. There are lots of disgusting things that happen in war, but the deliberate use of children as pawns is one of the worst!