The ICC is to sentence the former Congolese warlord later for recruiting and using child soldiers.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands, yesterday March 14, 2012 found former Democratic Republic of Congo warlord, Thomas Lubanga, guilty of recruiting and using child soldiers between 2002 and 2003.

The BBC reported that the three judges in a unanimous decision said the evidence proved that as head of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) and its armed wing, 51-year-old Lubanga bore responsibility for the recruitment of child soldiers who participated actively on the frontline. Lubanga, who was arrested in 2005, could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment as the court cannot impose the death penalty.

The Associated Press quoted Presiding Judge Adrian Fulford as saying the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Thomas Lubanga was guilty of crimes of conscripting and enlisting young children under 15 and using them to participate actively in hostilities. Putting on an ivory-coloured robe and skull cap, Lubanga sat with his hands clasped in front of him listening to the verdict and showed no emotion as Judge Fulford declared him guilty. Actress and activist Angelina Jolie, who watched the hearing from the public gallery, said the verdict was a victory for the former child soldiers who now know that there is no impunity for what they suffered.

It is the court's first verdict since it was set up 10 years ago. Lubanga who will be sentenced at a later hearing, headed a rebel group during an inter-ethnic conflict in a gold-rich Ituri region of DR Congo and was accused of using children as young as nine as bodyguards, sex slaves and fighters. The trial, which began in January 2009, is the first at an international court to focus exclusively on the use of child soldiers and activists say it should send a clear message to armies and rebels around the world that conscripting children breaches international law. The United Nations estimates that tens of thousands of child soldiers are still fighting in conflicts around the world.

According to the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa in Johannesburg, the people of Ituri have been anxiously waiting for the verdict. A recent report by the International Refugee Rights Initiative notes that the security situation in the area has significantly improved since the ICC got involved in the case.