The International Criminal Court on Monday upheld Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga's conviction for using child soldiers in his rebel army, handing down its first-ever appeals verdict.
"The Appeals Chamber by majority confirms the conviction decision and rejects the appeal," presiding judge Erkki Kourula said at the court based in The Hague.
The ICC convicted Lubanga in March 2012 of war crimes, specifically for using minors in the conflict in the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
He was found guilty of abducting children as young as 11 from homes, schools or football fields and forcing them to fight and commit atrocities.
The initial verdict marked the first-ever conviction at the ICC, the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal, since it opened its doors more than a decade ago.
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The verdict was attended by Hollywood actress and campaigner against the recruitment of child soldiers, Angelina Jolie.
Four months later, the former militia commander Lubanga, now 53, was sentenced to 14 years for his part in a war in the gold-rich northeastern Ituri region, where rights groups say some 60,000 civilians were killed between 1999 and 2006.
Lubanga's lawyers appealed both verdict and sentence, saying his right to a fair trial had been violated because prosecutors failed to disclose evidence in time that could have bolstered the defence case.
ICC judges also failed to establish that soldiers younger than 15 were present in the military wing of Lubanga's Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), his lawyers said, referring to video footage of alleged child soldiers.
But judge Kourula on Monday slapped down seven grounds of appeal raised by Lubanga, saying that a common plan by UPC leaders to establish their dominance in the mineral-rich Ituri region "directly led to the crimes that are at issue".
Prosecutors who had sought a 30-year sentence also appealed, saying 14 years was "too light to reflect the gravity of his crimes" including abuse of authority and cruel treatment and sexual violence committed against children.
