Wednesday, 10 February 2010- Defence Witness 04: "Child soldiers were enlisted in the UPC but it wasn´t Thomas Lubanga who recruited them."
There is a serious allegation which affects the heart of the Prosecution case: that false testimonies were fabricated by intermediaries that collaborated with the Office of the Prosecutor.
There are two competing accounts. On the one hand, we have prosecution witnesses who claim to have been child soldiers. On the other hand we have a group of Defence witnesses who claim that these individuals are not telling the truth. Central to the disagreement are the OTP intermediaries who, the Defence alleges, have played a corrupt role in this case. According to the Defence, they are responsible for instigating or assisting so-called Witness in giving false testimony before the Court. It is now the time for the Prosecution to explain to the Chamber how they plan to deal with these allegations.
If the Prosecution plans on calling these intermediaries to testify when will it happen? Before or after the Defence case? If statements have to be taken prior to their testimony in court that information will have to be disclosed to the Defence in a timely manner. How then to proceed? There is plenty of confusion in the Chamber.
Ms. Nicole Samson, upon request of Judge Fulford, explains the Prosecution´s strategy. The OTP has interviewed two intermediaries linked to their witnesses. The name of one of them, "intermediary 321", has been disclosed to the Defence. However, the identity of the second one has remained confidential. "No specific allegation has been made against him," says the Trial Attorney, "the Prosecution has decided not to interview this person again... [But] certainly we wish to call intermediary 321. He will be called following the Defence case."
Witness 04 enters the room. "Claude Django Nyeke," he gives his full name to the lawyers. He dresses in a suit and tie which make him look older than his twenty years. Witness 04 testifies publicly and without protective measures. The Defence has said before that the "excessive" protective measures granted to prosecution witnesses has harmed the public nature of the trial.
Witness 04 told the Judges yesterday that he had lied about being a child soldier with the UPC. "Mr. Dudu knew very well I was not a child soldier. And his own son never served as a child soldier," said Witness 04 during his testimony. "He wanted me to say I was a child soldier. He said what I had to say, but it was difficult to accept that."
Yesterday almost his entire testimony was heard in private. Today Ms. Nicole Samson refers back to some of the answers Witness 04 gave. "Mr. Witness yesterday you said there were children who were enrolled as child soldiers because they didn´t have anything to do, they were street children," says Ms. Samson. According to the witness these children, aged between twelve and fourteen joined Lubanga´s armed group voluntarily. "People were not forced to become child soldiers. They were street children, they saw their peers who were soldiers carrying weapons and as a result went to enlist," says the witness. "I cannot say it was Thomas [Lubanga] who went through the town requesting the children to become child soldiers, they did it of their own volition," he says. "I agree that child soldiers were enlisted in the UPC but it wasn´t him who enlisted them."
Witness 04 knows Thomas Lubanga. Both are Hema. He also lived in Bunia during the conflict where Mr. Lubanga was once a well known tradesman. "During the war, Thomas Lubanga became somebody very important," says Witness 04. The war that the witness refers to broke out in Ituri in 1999 when two ethnic groups, the Hema and the Lendu starting fighting one another and crimes against civilians occurred on a massive scale.
The Witness' own family were victims of this inter-ethnic conflict. "My mother died during the war. Those who killed my mother were Wa-lendu," says the witness. "We were at home. I heard the noise. I went to the bedroom and I hid under the bed. They killed my mother and the baby. They said they had to burn down the house." Witness 04 fled with his three brothers and the corpses remained there.
Ms. Samson notices the witness doesn´t feel well. He seems to whimper. The Trial lawyer says she does not want to go into any more detail about the family tragedy. She just wanted to confirm the information she had received from an intermediary about certain family members who were deceased. Witness 04 leaves the room.
The staff of the Victims and Witnesses Unit and the psychologists who had assessed Witness 04 indicate he is able to continue giving evidence. The witness himself insists that he is ready to go on.
Mandro camp. According to the Witness, children voluntarily joined the military training at Mandro. Those recruits "without talent" for war were free to return to their homes. This seems to contradict other witness accounts which suggest that recruits were threatened with death if they dared to flee. Witness 04 says he has learned that the Chief of Staff Floribert Kisembo was amongst the commanders in Mandro. "I did not see the commanders with my own eyes," he says. "Mr. Witness, did you hear what [the commanders] told people to do at the training camp?" asks Ms. Samson. "I don't know, I have never been in a training camp" he replies.
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