WUNRN
The
Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice is an international women’s human rights
organization advocating for gender-inclusive justice and working towards an
effective and independent International Criminal Court (ICC)
International
Criminal Court - Congo - Child Soldiers - Gender Issues
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Case Complexities - Importance as Legal Precedent
With
the completion of the first trial before the International Criminal Court
(ICC), please find here
an article by the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, reflecting on some of
the gender issues for child soldiers in the case against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
(Lubanga). This case arose out of the ICC investigation into the Situation in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Mr Lubanga, President of the Union des patriotes congolais (UPC) and commander-in-chief of the Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo (FPLC), was taken into custody by the ICC on 17 March 2006 and faces charges relating to the enlistment and conscription of child soldiers and forcing their participation in the armed conflict in Ituri, DRC.
This is the first international criminal trial ever held on the conflict in eastern DRC and it is the first case to focus exclusively on child soldiers.
One 25 and 26 August 2011, the ICC held the closing arguments in this case. The Judges are now deliberating and are expected to render their decision on the innocence or guilt of Mr Lubanga in the next 3-5 months.
Drawing on information from the Women’s Initiatives’ documentation and victims participation programmes, this article is a reflection on the absence of explicit charges for gender-based crimes in this case, the experience of child soldiers including girls within the UPC/FPLC militia, and the gender dimensions embedded within the crimes for which Mr Lubanga is accused.
Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice