War Crimes

Prosecutors told the court that they would present the "double face" of the accused, Thomas Lubanga, revealing the manipulative military commander who sought to hide behind a politician's mask.

"Lubanga made children train to kill, Lubanga made them kill and Lubanga let the children die ... in hostilities," prosecution lawyer Ekkehard Withopf said in his opening statement.

Lubanga stands charged with abducting children and forcing them to participate in attacks by the armed wing of his Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) during wars that ravaged the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Thursday's hearing marked the first time prosecution lawyers have presented evidence in a case before judges at the ICC -- the world's first permanent tribunal set up with the goal of helping "end impunity and the gross violations of international humanitarian law" in the area of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

A question of jurisdiction

Putting the tribunal's noble aim into practice has proved difficult. Although the court was created in 1998 with the signing of the Rome Statute, it formally came into being only four years later, after the 60th country had both signed up to and then ratified the treaty.

Currently 102 countries have done so, but there are key omissions from the list, including the United States and Russia, which have both signed but not ratified the relevant treaty.

The administration of US President George W Bush has always been skeptical of the ICC and has backed away from the decision by his predecessor, Bill Clinton, to sign the treaty, citing fears that the court could be manipulated into unfairly prosecuting US citizens for political reasons.

Countries like China, India and Indonesia are not signatories. Israel has withdrawn its initial support, and Jordan is the only Arab signatory. The European Union, on the other hand, has been an active supporter of the ICC. It adopted a common position on the ICC in 2001.

The ICC differs from UN tribunals like those for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in being a permanent court set up in The Hague. It has to rely on national authorities to find and hand over those accused of serious crimes in situations where often the remit of the national authorities does not run, such as under conditions of civil war.

A war criminal or a peace lover?

At the start of the Thursday hearing, Lubanga, wearing bright blue traditional African dress, introduced himself as the former UPC president. Provisionally charged with three counts of war crimes, he has denied all accusations against him.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Lubanga's lawyer Jean Flamme cast his client as a peace-loving politician -- an image hotly disputed by prosecutors.

The hearing also marked the first opportunity for the victims of Lubanga's alleged crimes to address an international court.

"We hope that the presence of the victims will remind the participants that this hearing is not an intellectual exercise between prosecutor and defense, but that the destruction of thousands of young lives will be at the centre of the discussions," Belgian lawyer Luc Walleyn, representing three Congolese families, told the court.

He stressed that the victims still suffered daily from what has happened to them.

"I have nightmares. When I think of some of the things we did I wake up and my ears and my eyes hurt. I hear noises, aircraft and I think other people can hear too and I ask them, but it's just me," Walleyn quoted one of his clients, now barely 15 years old, telling psychologists.

"We represent children whose souls will not rest until justice is done," the lawyer said.

Human rights abuses

Lubanga, 45, and his militia have been named in connection with a long series of human rights abuses in the north-eastern DRC region of Ituri where inter-ethnic fighting over gold mines and other resources has claimed more than 60,000 lives since 1999, according to humanitarian groups.

"The practice of ... using children in warfare represents one of the most brutal and morally troubling crimes against the most vulnerable groups in times of war: children," deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said.

The DRC is among nations with the largest number of child soldiers in the world, the prosecution said. At the height of the war as many as 30,000 children were associated with armed groups.

The confirmation hearing is set to run through November 28, after which the judges must determine whether Lubanga will become the first person to stand trial before the ICC. Their decision is expected late January.