Lubanga case: Chamber sets new final deadline for victims to request reparations to 1 October 2021
On 26 March 2021, Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or "Court") decided to extend until 1st October 2021 the deadline for persons wishing to apply for reparations to make themselves known in relation to the reparations ordered by the Chamber for the victims of crimes for which M. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was convicted.
Balancing the various interests at stake, the Chamber considered it reasonable to extend the cut-off date for the Trust Fund for Victims ("TFV"), with the assistance of the Legal Representatives of Victims ("LRVs") and the Office of Public Counsel for Victims ("OPCV"), to finalise and collect the dossiers of potentially eligible direct and indirect victims, residing both within and outside of Bunia, and submit them to the Victims Participation and Reparations Section ("VPRS"), for an additional and final six-month period ending on 1 October 2021.
The conditions of eligibility as direct and indirect victims are detailed in the decision issued on 15 December 2017, where the Chamber noted that hundreds and possibly thousands more victims were affected by the crimes of which Mr Lubanga was convicted.
Victims are encouraged to come forward before the final deadline. For more information, please contact: [email protected]
Background: Thomas Lubanga Dyilo was a founder of the Union des patriotes congolais (Union of Congolese Patriots or UPC) – of which he was once president – and the Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo (Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo or FPLC) – of which he was Commander-in-Chief. On 14 March 2012, Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court found him guilty as co‑perpetrator of the war crimes of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 into the FPLC and using them to participate actively in hostilities between September 2002 and August 2003. On 10 July 2012, he was sentenced to a total of 14 years' imprisonment. On 1 December 2014, the Appeals Chamber confirmed both his conviction and his 14‑year prison sentence.
On 19 December 2015, Mr Lubanga was transferred to Makala Prison in the DRC to serve his sentence. On 15 March 2020, Mr Lubanga was released after having served 14 years of imprisonment.
On 18 July 2019, the ICC Appeals Chamber confirmed for the most part Trial Chamber II's decision issued on 15 December 2017 setting the amount of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo's liability for reparations. On 21 October 2016, the Trial Chamber had also approved and ordered the implementation of a plan submitted by the Trust Fund for Victims for symbolic collective reparations, and, on 6 April 2017, the programmatic framework for collective service-based reparations to victims in relation to the case against Mr Lubanga. On 4 March 2021, Trial Chamber II issued a public redacted version of its decision dated 14 December 2020 in the case against Mr Lubanga which approves the implementation of collective service-based reparations to victims.
For further information on this case, please click here.
For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: [email protected]
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