New York, 10 July 2012 – “With today’s sentence of Thomas Lubanga, a historic international judgement comes to an end signalling to the world that child recruitment no longer goes unpunished,” the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy said.

On Tuesday, the International Criminal Court sentenced Thomas Lubanga Diylo to 14 years of imprisonment for the war crime of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 into the Forces patriotiques pour la liberation du Congo (FPLC), and using them to participate actively in hostilities. The sentence will be reduced by the time already spent in detention.

It is crucial that the full harm suffered by victims and their families is recognized. During the trial, ample evidence was provided to the Court on sexual violence and other ill-treatment suffered by boys and girls, violations which are often a direct and inherent consequence of their involvement with armed groups.

“We hope that the full damage and losses suffered by children and their families will be reflected and addressed in the up-coming reparations process,” SRSG Coomaraswamy concluded.

For further information:

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Contact:

Laurent Dutordoir
Associate Expert in Political Affairs
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
for Children and Armed Conflict
Tel: +1 917 367 3563
dutordoir@un.org

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