Congo child soldiers awarded $10M compensation in landmark ruling

International war crimesjudges awarded $10 million USin compensation on Friday to childsoldiers recruited by convicted Congolese warlord Thomas Lubangathe largest reparation of it kind.

The International Criminal Court said Lubanga was liable topay the full amount to his young victims and their relatives, but added it recognized there was no way he would be able toafford it.

It said part of the payment would be made by a courttrust fund for victims andthe fund should ask for contributionsfrom the government of Congo.

Lubanga was convicted in 2012 of committing war crimesfor recruiting and using children in his Union of Congolese Patriots militia, sending them to kill and be killed during fighting in Congo's eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003.

Aid agencies estimated that 5.4 million people died as aresult of war and ensuing hardship inCongo between 1998 and 2007 more than in any other conflictsince the Second World War.

The court in The Hague said the payment would fundpsychological support and job training programmes for 427 victims identified during the proceedings.

It acknowledged that many more children had been conscriptedas soldiers. "Further evidence established the existence of hundredsor even thousands of additional victims affected by Mr. Lubanga's crimes," the court said in a statement.

The judges awarded $8,000 per person, or $3.4 million in total, forthe 427 victims recognized so far, with an additional $6.6 millionfor potential future awards.

The court said it would monitor Lubanga's financialsituation as he served out the remaining year of his sentence to see howmuch he might be able to contribute.

In March, the ICC ordered another Congolese convict, formermilitia leader Germain Katanga, to pay $1 million in damages to victims.