Civil society and the international community must unite in order to address the greatest challenge with the Lubanga trial: the lack of public information on the ground. Far too many segments of the population here, and victims of UPC force’s cruelty in particular, are not receiving adequate information about this historic trial. Sadly, the trial runs the risk of being exploited by those seeking to twist information and misinform. In Goma and in Bukavu, for example, we have heard false rumors that the Prosecutor’s Office has no additional witnesses and that Lubanga will be let go in the near future.

In response to this troubling trend, the Congolese Coalition for the ICC in the South-Kivu (CN-CPI) convened a 10 February meeting with various national and international actors fighting against impunity in South-Kivu to exchange views. Participants expressed overall dissatisfaction with the amount and level of penetration of the Court’s public information efforts on the ground. As an example, victims and witnesses in the Kivus and in the township of Kisangani have virtually no access to information on the hearing.

There has been widespread agreement that the Court’s Public Information and Documentation Section (PIDS) should quadruple its efforts on the ground to reverse the rampant misinformation. Participants also came up with a set of recommendations for PIDS, namely that PIDS must make DVDs or CD summaries more readily available so the CN-CPI and others can organize viewings; PIDS must also make the various decisions handed down in the Lubanga trial publically accessible so that magistrates, lawyers, students and Congolese researchers alike may be better informed and inspired by the proceedings. While the consistently high-quality work of Radio Okapi was underscored, participants emphasized the need for radio programs on the ICC to reach more rural media outlets.

While the ICC field office in Kinshasa is experiencing some success with the distribution of its audio visual summaries, much work remains in terms of improving and expanding access to public information. And yet the ICC alone cannot satisfy the demand for information day to day. Robust outreach must be regarded as a high priority by all actors fighting against impunity.

Descartes MPONGE MALASI
South-Kivu focal point for the Congolese Coalition for the ICC (CN-CPI)

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Today the world celebrates International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers. Ajedi-Ka/Projet Enfants Soldats, an NGO working to rehabilitate child soldiers in eastern DRC, denounces the use of child soldiers in the DRC army as a crime—a crime which must not only be denounced, but which also must lead to the judgment and punishment of those responsible.

The use of child soldiers in the DRC army is unacceptable. Children belong in schools, not armies. Children have an inalienable right to an education and the Congo needs nothing more than children who can become managers and take part in building our nation. Those who recruit children for armed conflict—whether it is through so—called voluntary or involuntary means-must stop this practice immediately and be brought to justice in conformity with the articles of the Rome Statute which makes the recruitment of child soldiers under the age of 15 punishable by international criminal law.

As for the trial of the Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, allegedly responsible for enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15 years into the Forces patriotiques pour la liberation du Congo and using them to actively participate in hostilities, we are waiting for an equitable justice to be delivered in service of the ongoing fight against impunity. The case of Thomas Lubanga must serve as an example for those who continue to commit all manner of human rights violations. We hope that the sentence rendered in The Hague ensures that justice reigns in our country and that impunity ends in the Congo.

Neuilly Apendeki is a program officer at the Congolese NGO Ajedi-Ka/ Projet Enfants Soldats.

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Since the Lubanga trial opened on 26 January, we in the Congo have been closely watching proceedings unfold at the International Criminal Court. The trial’s opening sparked keen interest among victims affected both directly and indirectly by the successive abuses of power that the DRC has come to know. But the retraction of the statement made by an ex-child soldier witness who fought in Thomas Lubanga’s army, the U.P.C., has resulted in diminished interest among Congolese observers.

To us it is clear that Mr. Lubanga–incarcerated in The Hague, thousands of miles away from his stronghold–still wields great influence in Ituri where his supporters continue to almost blindly obey him. This was perhaps never more the case than when the Court announced it would suspend his trial. Large numbers of people in Ituri prepared for the return of “the liberator” as some referred to him.

Last week’s incident also highlights the fact that the Prosecutor’s office did not give sufficient guarantees to the witness, in terms of his own security and the security of his loved-ones who live in Ituri. His loved-ones could have easily been targets of retaliation by Lubanga’s followers who stand ready to receive their leader should he ever be released.

We have always expressed our concerns about the quality as well as the quantity of evidence that the prosecution holds and the way the victims and witnesses were selected. We hope that this episode is only a minor incident and that the rest of the trial will continue normally because in the end, the court is gambling with its credibility during this first, most historic of trials.

Freddy Kitoko is a Congolese lawyer with the Lubumbashi Bar and member of the human rights organization, African Association of Human Rights (ASADHO)

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