A Congolese warlord accused of conscripting, training and arming hundreds of child soldiers is guilty beyond "any possible doubt" of war crimes, prosecutors told the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday.

In the debut trial of the ICC, prosecutors this week began summing up evidence against warlord Thomas Lubanga and a verdict is expected early next year. The permanent war crimes court in The Hague, the Netherlands, is where Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam could eventually go on trial if captured, and where there is mounting pressure to bring to trial those responsible for crimes against humanity in Syria.

But the ICC faces numerous hurdles. Its budget is under pressure and it has no international police force to arrest war crimes suspects, so some of its prize targets remain at large.

Lubanga's trial has been bogged down in procedural and other issues, leading to criticism about the length of trials, and lack of results. Lubanga's alleged crimes took place during the Democratic Republic of Congo's 1998-2003 conflict. He was handed over to the court in 2006 and went on trial in 2009.

Angelina Jolie
Actress Angelina Jolie, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations' refugee agency UNHCR, watched Thursday's proceedings from the public gallery, as a team of prosecutors rattled off evidence from witnesses including former child soldiers identified by number rather than name for their own protection.

"I am attending it just as a concerned citizen of the world who cares about children," Jolie said. "This is such an extraordinary moment for international justice, but more than that, for all the children around the world. I think the results of this case may hopefully make a difference in the lives of so many boys and girls."

Child soldiers
The court was shown video footage of Lubanga dressed in military uniform and flanked by his top commanders addressing children at a training camp. Urging the recruits to fight, he told them he had come to encourage them and that they were "blessed" to be enlisted and trained.

"This video is a taped confession by Thomas Lubanga," said Fatou Bensouda, deputy prosecutor, adding that Lubanga systematically recruited children under the age of 15 as soldiers. "They were used to fight in conflicts, they were used to kill, rape, and pillage," she said.

Sex slaves
Other witnesses whose evidence was cited described how child recruits were taught combat tactics, given uniforms and weapons, and sent off to fight. One described an entire unit of children under the age of 15 who served as bodyguards, another said he saw children as young as nine or ten at Lubanga's residence, armed with Kalashnikovs, while another described how young girls were raped by fellow soldiers or handed over to commanders to be their sex slaves.

Charges denied
Lubanga, an ethnic Hema, has denied charges he enlisted and conscripted children under 15 to his Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) movement to kill members of the rival Lendu tribe in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). He says he was a politician rather than a warlord, and had never played an active role in the UPC'S militia.

Source: Reuters