Arusha, April 25, 2012(FH) -The International Criminal Court (ICC) will hear oral submissions for sentencing in the case of Congolese former militia leader, Thomas Lubanga, on June 13, 2012.<\/p>\n
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On March 14, 2012, a Trial Chamber found Lubanga guilty of conscripting and using child soldiers to fight in Ituri (Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo) from September 1, 2002 to August 13, 2003.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The prosecution and legal representatives of victims now have to file submissions by May 14, 2012, on the relevant evidence presented during trial that may be applicable to the sentence. Furthermore, they should present their views on the appropriate sentence to be imposed on the convict, taking into consideration, among others, any specific aggravating and mitigating factors<\/p>\n
The Defence should respond by May 28, 2012, and, in addition, notify the Chamber as to whether it will seek authorization to present new evidence during the sentencing hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Handing down its first ever verdict, the ICC unanimously found that Lubanga had participated in a \"common plan to build an army\" and control Ituri politically and militarily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Such plan, the three judges concluded, led to the conscription of children under 15 into the troops of the Union des patriotes congolais(UPC) and its armed wing the Forces Patriotiques de lib\u00e9ration du Congo (FPLC). Lubanga was president of the UPC at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They found that others including Floribert Kisambo, Bosco Ntaganda and several tribal leaders also played a role in this plan, but that Lubanga was their superior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lubanga was arrested in Kinshasa in 2005 and transferred to the ICC in The Hague in March 2006. His trial began on January 26, 2009. \u00a0<\/p>\n
FK\/NI\/GF<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arusha, April 25, 2012(FH) -The International Criminal Court (ICC) will hear oral submissions for sentencing in the case of Congolese former militia leader, Thomas Lubanga, on June 13, 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"ji_location":[],"class_list":["post-24389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hirondellenews"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n