Court Told of Witness Ruse

Defence witness says he pretended to be ex-combatant to get food and money. By Wairagala Wakabi

A defence witness in the war crimes trial of alleged Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga said this week he participated in a programme for ex-combatants, even though he had never been a soldier.

Lubanga is on trial at the International Criminal Court, ICC, over the alleged use of child soldiers in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, between 2002 and 2003.

The witness, speaking with voice and face distortion, told the court he assumed the identity of a friend who was unable to continue with a training programme that was being offered by the Congolese National Commission for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration of ex-combatants, CONADER.

“On the third day [of the programme for ex-combatants], I went to continue with the rest of the programme since he was absent,” the witness said.
“He had other very important business to take care of and that is why he requested me to go and continue with the programme.”

Prosecuting lawyer Manoj Sachdeva asked the witness why he had misled CONADER and pretended to be an ex-combatant.

The witness replied that, after the war, there was a lot of suffering and many people did not have food.

“I was told that I could go there, show the card and get stuff,” he said. “So I went there… If I had had resources at the time, if I had had means to live, I wouldn’t have done that.”

The witness said that he received a photo identity document from the programme on April 1, 2005, the day after he joined.

“We came to receive the card as well as the sums of money that were paid to us,” he said. “Then we received all the items which I mentioned.”

The witness was also questioned about funding that he and other demobilised fighters sought from a donor agency for their motorcycle taxi project.

The witness said the funds meant for their project were misappropriated, but he did not say in public session who misappropriated the money.

Judge Adrian Fulford announced that, although the witness had previously indicated he would testify without protective measures, in the end he asked for protection.

The judge said the witness had said that he needed protective measures to shield him against possible reprisals which could arise if members of his community learned that he had testified at the trial.

Later, a new defence witness was introduced, who, defence lawyer Caroline Buteau said, would give all his evidence behind closed doors.

“In view of the protective measures that have been requested by the witness and in view of the contents of his testimony, the whole of the examination-in-chief will be in private session,” Buteau said.

Although it has been common for both prosecution and defence witnesses to give some evidence in private session, only rarely has a witness provided all their major evidence in this way.

IWPR's weekly updates of the Thomas Lubanga trial are produced in cooperation with the Open Society Justice Initiative of the Open Society Institute, OSI. Daily coverage of the trial can be found at http://www.lubangatrial.org/