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Former DRC militia leader found guilty of war crimes by ICC
The United Nations estimates tens of thousands of child soldiers are still fighting in conflicts from Africa to Asia and Latin America.
“The guilty verdict against Lubanga is a strong warning to military commanders in the DRC and elsewhere: using children as a weapon of war is a serious crime that can lead them to the dock,” said Geraldine Mattioli-Zeltner of Human Rights Watch.
The first verdict is a coming of age for the court set up to prosecute war crimes suspects in countries unable or unwilling to try them.
So far, prosecutors have opened seven investigations and have just five suspects in custody, including former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and former DRC Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba.
However, questions still remain about its effectiveness.
The court has no police force to arrest suspects and can only launch investigations in the 120 countries that recognize its jurisdiction, or if the Security Council orders a probe.
The inability of the court to have suspects arrested turned into a global online sensation last week with the release of the Kony 2012 video by US activists, which highlighted the case of notorious Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony, the first person indicted by the court who remains a fugitive more than six years later.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
