International Criminal Court

Pre-Trial Chamber I commits Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for trial

The Hague, 29 January 2007

ICC-CPI-20070129-196-EN

Translation Swahili
ICC-CPI-20070129-196-SW

Situation: Democratic Republic of the Congo
Case: Prosecutor v. Mr Thomas Lubanga Dyilo

Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court has confirmed the three charges brought by the Prosecutor against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo for the period from September 2002, when the Forces Patriotiques pour la Libération du Congo (FPLC) was founded, to 13 August 2003. Pre-Trial Chamber I therefore referred the case for trial before a Trial Chamber, whose bench will be announced by the Presidency of the Court.

The Presiding Judge of Pre-Trial Chamber I, Judge Claude Jorda, gave an oral summary of the decision at a public hearing held today in The Hague.

The Chamber decided that there is sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is criminally responsible as co-perpetrator for the war crimes of enlisting and conscripting of children under the age of fifteen years into the FPLC, the military wing of the Union des Patriotes Congolais (UPC) and using them to participate actively in hostilities in Ituri (Democratic Republic of the Congo) from September 2002 to 13 August 2003.

The Chamber noted that there were substantial grounds to believe that after its creation, the FPLC allegedly recruited children and that this was a systematic practice known to the Hema population, and involved a large number of children. The Chamber found that there was sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that after military training, the children were deemed fit for combat and that FPLC commanders then put them on the frontline to fight.

The Chamber found that there was sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that when the FPLC was created in early September 2002, there was an agreement or common plan between Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and other high-ranking FPLC commanders. The purpose of the plan was allegedly to further war effort by voluntarily or forcibly recruiting minors into the ranks of the FPLC, subjecting them to military training and causing them to participate actively in military operations and using them as bodyguards. The Chamber found that there was sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Thomas Lubanga Dyilo assumed an essential general coordinating role in the implementation of the common plan and that he personally exercised other functions in the implementation of the common plan and that he was aware of the importance of his role.

According to Pre-Trial Chamber I, although the agreement or common plan did not specifically target children under the age of fifteen, but young recruits in general, in the normal course of events, its implementation would entail the objective risk that it would involve children under the age of fifteen.

The Chamber found that there was sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to believe that Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and other high-ranking FPLC commanders shared knowledge of this and that all of them accepted the result.

General Information on the case of The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo:

Contact details

ICC Public Information Office, Sonia Robla, Head, +31 (0)70 515-8089 or sonia.robla@icc-cpi.int

ICC Public Information Co-ordinator in DRC, Paul Madidi, +31 (0)6 46 16 86 79,
+243 99 80 11 403 or paul.madidi@icc-cpi.int

ICC Office of the Prosecutor, Florence Olara, Public Information Liaison,
Florence Olara, +31 (0)70 515 8723 or florence.olara@icc-cpi.int

Defence Counsel, Jean Flamme, +31 (0)70 515-9105 or j.flamme@pandora.be