International Criminal Court to Try Congolese Militant
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is about to embark on its first case. The Court was created pursuant to an international treaty adopted in Rome, Italy in 1998, but did not take effect until 2002, when 60 countries had signed on. Today, 104 countries have become parties to the treaty; the United States is not among them.
The International Criminal Court is an independent institution, although it maintains a "cooperative relationship" with the United Nations. As a court of last resort, the ICC will not act if the government of an individual nation has undertaken prosecution, unless the proceedings are deemed to be a sham designed to shelter the criminal from meaningful prosecution. Thus, more than four years after it came into being, the ICC is just preparing to hear its first case.
The ICC is structured similar to American courts, with prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys arguing both sides of the case.
Last week, ICC judges found that there was sufficient evidence to proceed with prosecution of Congolese militant Thomas Lubanga. Lubanga is accused of agreeing with other high-ranking military officials to use minors to further their war effort.
In their preliminary hearing, prosecutors presented evidence that children as young as ten had been grabbed off the street and sent to Lubanga's camps, where they were drugged and trained in the use of firearms. Lubanga's Union of Congolese Patriots is said to have used children as body guards, spies, couriers and decoys during 2002 and 2003.
Lubanga's attorney, Jean Flamme, has indicated that it will take him about a year to put together a serious defense in the case. Prosecutors, who have invested significant time and resources in investigating and building their case already and presented their preliminary evidence last fall, hope to go to trial later in 2007.
Although the court is an independent institution, it preserves many of the same rights and processes inherent in the American criminal justice system. The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and has the right to present a defense himself or through counsel of his choosing. Upon conviction, the Trial Chamber may issue a sentence of a specified term of up to thirty years, or a life sentence. The Chamber also has the authority to order reparations to victims.