Angelina Jolie was in The Hague yesterday to witness the conviction of a Congolese warlord for his part in abducting and training children as child soldiers.
The International Criminal Court found Thomas Lubanga guilty of violently kidnapping children and turning them into killers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“The delivery of the ICC’s first verdict is an important moment for the court, for the DRC and for the rule of law,” said Jolie, who has been funding a public information campaign in the DRC. “Most of all, it sends a strong message against the use of child soldiers.”
She added that the conviction was a victory for the former child soldiers. “This is their day – where these children will feel there is no impunity for what happened to them, for what they suffered,”
Thomas Lubanga now faces the rest of his life in jail.
