Thomas Lubanga fr

Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was the founder and president of the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC) and the founder and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo (FPLC). He is charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the basis of individual criminal responsibility with enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 and using those children to participate actively in hostilities. These crimes were allegedly committed in the Ituri region in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Thomas Lubanga was arrested on 19 March 2005 and imprisoned in Kinshasa, DRC. On 20 March 2006, Lubanga made his initial appearance before the ICC. On Monday 16 June, Trial Chamber I at the International Criminal Court imposed a stay on proceedings, which was subsequently lifted 18 November 2008.

After several delays, the trial of Lubanga began on the 26 January 2009 at Trial Chamber I of the ICC.

Thomas Lubanga is the first accused to face trial before the ICC.

On 8 July 2010, Trial Chamber I ordered to stay the proceedings because the Court considered that the fair trial of the accused is no longer possible due to non-implementation of the Chamber’s orders by the Prosecution.

On 15 July 2010 Trial Chamber I ordered the release of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, concluding that there are no longer grounds to keep him in detention.  The enforcement of the decision to release the accused was delayed pending the outcome of a Prosecution appeal.

The Lubanga trial at the ICC

All cases related to the situation in DRC