Child Soldier First Witness at the ICC

A former Congolese child soldier told the ICC at the trial of Thomas Lubanga that armed troops plucked him off the street on his way home from school and sent him to a military camp.

The witness, whose name and age were not released, told the International Criminal Court he was in the fifth grade of primary school in the town of Fataki, eastern Congo, when he was involuntarily recruited. He was the first witness to appear at the trial of former Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga following opening statements on the previous two days by the prosecution and defense.

However, later in the day, retracted his testimony on Wednesday, prompting a probe into witness protection. Having testified in the morning that he was recruited by the accused Thomas Lubanga's militia and taken to a training camp, the witness later told the court in The Hague his evidence had been incorrect.

Lubanga's trial is the first since the court was created in 2002 as the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, and the proceedings are being closely watched for the precedents they are setting. Lubanba is charged with "enlisting and conscripting children under the age of 15" into his militia and "using them to participate actively in hostilities."