On August 7, 2012, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a decision according to which the ICC Trust Fund for Victims would secure reparations for the victims of Thomas Lubanga, aconvicted leader of the militia of the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is the first decision of its kind since the establishment of the ICC in 2002. The Court has recommended a set of reparative measures and delegated their application to the Fund for Victims, which will perform this task in collaboration with victims’ associations.
According to the ICC decision, the Trust Fund for Victims, in consultation with victims and local communities, will first assess which reparative measures would be adequate and necessary, and will then apply them. The ICC emphasized that reparations should include measures of restitution, compensation, rehabilitation and other measures (issuing certificates to the victims of the violence they had suffered, promoting the publicization of the facts established by the court in the case against Lubanga, etc.). All victims, regardless of whether they testified in court, will have the right to reparation. The right to reparation is to be recognized in the cases of both direct and indirect victims. According to the ICC, indirect victims are the families of direct victims, the communities in which they lived and the people who helped the victims and tried to prevent the crimes.
The Trust Fund for Victims was established by the ICC Statute and is being funded by donations from states and individuals.
On March 14, 2012, the ICC rendered a judgment convicting Thomas Lubanga for the recruitment of children under the age of 15 to participate actively in armed combats in the region of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the period from September 1, 2002 through August 13, 2003. Thomas Lubanga was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
The ICC decision in the English language is available here.
