As Invisible Children attracts a mixture of apposite criticism, chagrin that others might be seen to care more than people who really care and suspicion that this is going to be yet another American power/resources grab, another item out note has come from the region.
Thomas Lubanga – whom I discussed here – has added to his well-deserved distinction in 2005 of being the first to be arrested on an ICC warrant by being the first to be convicted under its auspices. There were concerns that the narrowness of the charges against him related solely to his use of child soldiers as young as 10 on the front line and as his bodyguard between 2002 and 2003, instead of his wider involvement in the Ituri Conflict which is much more easily shown.
The approach has paid off, and he faces a sentence of in excess of 25 years; although I would hope this increases the likelihood of further investigations into his role in the Ituri Conflict.
The Kony2012 production undoubtedly deserves criticism, not least because of the terror it caused amongst still traumatized inhabitants of Northern Uganda at a recent viewing. Yet, just as it was criticized for reasons such as Kony’s ‘lack of profile’ in 2012, so could Lubanga have been described as merely a former warlord following his arrest in 2005.