The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor says the sexual crimes, which were "routinely" committed by soldiers commanded by Thomas Lubanga, should be one of the factors judges should consider to hand him a "very severe joint sentence."
The fact that Mr. Lubanga was an educated person and had the powers to stop the use of child soldiers but instead encouraged their participation in armed conflict should also be among the aggravating factors, according to a sentence request prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed on May 14, 2012.
Mr. Lubanga is the first person to be found guilty by the ICC since its founding in 2002. On March 14 this year, judges found him guilty of three war crimes of conscripting, recruiting, and using child soldiers in an armed conflict in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Sentencing hearings will take place on June 13.