Today, Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court released its decision in the Court's first trial, that of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo. Lubanga was charged with the war crimes of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15, and using them to participate in hostilities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2003. He was convicted as a co-perpetrator.
Naturally, the Chamber's decision is subject to appeal and no doubt there will be one. For now, however, this is a milestone and a victory for the court. This trial took an enormous amount of time to complete, and nearly went off the rails a number of times due to, inter alia, recanting witnesses and the court's castigation of the Prosecution for various failures to disclose evidence to the defence. However, the other trials currently under way appear to be moving at a faster clip. More importantly, this is a shot in the arm for the Court's credibility, which is still the subject of controversy.
I'll resist the temptation to react (for now), in favour of providing links to the decision, a summary of the decision, and the Coalition for the ICC's coverage. Also, here is an interesting critical comment by Thierry Cruvellier. This decision, like everything about the ICC, will be minutely dissected by publicists all over the world in the months to come.
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