The International Criminal Court (ICC) handed down an Appeal Judgment this afternoon that effectively excludes crimes of sexual slavery and inhuman treatment from the on-going trial of rebel leader Thomas Lubanga, from Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Thomas Lubanga is on trial in The Hague for recruiting and actively using children under 15 years as soldiers in his rebel group, the UPC, during the conflict in North Eastern DRC in 2002-3. However, it is widespread knowledge that girls were also recruited and used by rebel groups, including the UPC, as soldiers as well as sex slaves or “wives”. “They have the added burden of cooking, cleaning and sex service on top of soldiering,” clarified one witness during the on-going trial.

Girls as young as 11 were kidnapped brought to camps and allocated to commanders who systematically and brutally abused them. “Commanders would get them pregnant, and these girls had to leave the camp and go to the village” explained another witness. Girl victims have testified in closed sessions due to their extreme vulnerability.

Through the ICC’s innovative procedure, which has allowed 97 former child soldiers to be represented in the Court process, victims’ lawyers filed an application trying to have sexual slavery and inhuman treatment recognised as part of the case. This would begin to break the silence about the use of girls by rebel groups and it would also allow girls to benefit from reparation that the ICC and its pioneering Trust Fund for Victims might award if there is a conviction. If this trial is about the active use of children in hostilities, it must recognize the experience of girls. It is a shame the Prosecutor failed to include sexual violence charges from the outset. Nonetheless, there should be a mechanism to modify the scope of the prosecution if facts come to light during the trial, as they have here.

By Mariana Goetz
Program Adviser, REDRESS