Former recruiter of child soldiers on trial

Lubanga trial set to test ICC

Lubanga has been accused of using child soldiers to fight in his Union of Congolese Patriots [AP] Thomas Lubanaga, the leader of an armed group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is set to go on trial on war crimes charges in the first case to be tried before the International Criminal Court. Lubanga, will face trial in The Hague on Monday accused of recruiting hundreds of child soldiers to fight in his Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) in the civil war in the country's eastern Ituri region between September 2002 and August 2003. He is also accused of leading an armed group that committed atrocities during a conflict that led to the deaths of 60,000 people. Humanitarian groups say the conflict has also created hundreds of thousands of refugees since 1999. The trial is being seen as a crucial test for the tribunal, as it tries to establish itself as a means of bringing war criminals to justice. The fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri region has centred around control of one of the most lucrative gold-mining territories in the world. Much of the fighting there has been between the UPC, composed mainly of ethnic Hema, and people from the Lendu ethnicity, laregly represented by a group called the Nationalist and Integrationist Front. Child soldiers The trial, the first at the court since it came into operation in July 2002, is set to open with a statement by Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC's chief prosecutor, followed by lawyers for 93 alleged victims and then the defence. IN VIDEO Lubanga goes on trial at ICC The first witness, a former child soldier, is expected to take the stand on Wednesday, followed by his father. The prosecution has listed 34 witnesses, including former child soldiers, ex-members of groups involved in the Ituri fighting. The prosecution also plans to call on an array of experts in such speciality areas as determining the age of a child from x-rays of bones. Lubanga, who is being held at a UN detention centre in the seaside suburb of Scheveningen in The Hague, has been declared destitute by the court, which is paying for his defence team. The International Criminal Court is the world's first permanent tribunal to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The trial is expected to last between six and nine months.