Setback for war crimes trial

A former Congolese child soldier withdrew his evidence against an alleged warlord today, throwing the first trial at the International Criminal Court into confusion.

The witness, whose name and age were not released, was the first witness in the case of Thomas Lubanga, who is charged with recruiting youngsters under age 15 and sending them into battle in the Ituri region of eastern Congo in 2002-2003.

After testifying in the morning that he was recruited by Lubanga’s militia as a small boy and taken to a training camp, he later changed his story.

Constantly under Lubanga’s glare from the accused sitting a few feet away, the youngster began displaying hesitation after less than an hour in the witness box.

Pressed by the prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on whether he had indeed attended a military training camp, he replied: “No.” Lubanga could not hide a smile.

Mrs Bensouda then sought a delay of the trial for an investigation overnight into “concerns the witness has about protective measures ... what happens after he gives his testimony and returns home.”

“We are convinced it has an effect on the testimony the witness is giving now,” she told the three judges who are trying Lubanga trial on charges of recruiting hundreds of children under 15 to fight in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s five-year civil war, which ended in 2003.

Sir Adrian Fulford, the presiding judge, granted the prosecution time “to find out whether something has happened that could destabilise ... the witness in such a way that he would deviate from the evidence.”

Until his change of mind, the witness had been giving testimony in Swahili from behind a screen to protect him from public view, although Lubanga, as well as the judge, prosecutors and defence lawyers could see him.

His voice and face were electronically distorted on screens in the public gallery and his name has been withheld for his protection.

Lubanga, 48, stared intently at the witness, who initially told the court that “Thomas Lubanga’s soldiers” had recruited him one day as he was walking home from school with friends.

“They had UPC uniforms ... and rifles,” he said, referring to Lubanga’s Union of Congolese Patriots.

“There were more of them than my friends and me together.”

● This account is based on news agency reports. A transcript of the day’s proceedings appeared here 48 hours after the hearing.

Posted at January 28, 2009 10:43 PM