Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. March 14, 2012 ICC Finds Congolese Warlord Guilty VOA News Thomas Lubanga, center, awaits ICC verdict in The Hague, Netherlands, March 14, 2012. Photo: AP Thomas Lubanga, center, awaits ICC verdict in The Hague, Netherlands, March 14, 2012. The [1]International Criminal Court has found Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga guilty of sending children into battle, in the court's first verdict since it was established a decade ago. Presiding Judge Adrian Fulford said the court unanimously found that the evidence, including video footage and witness testimony, proved Lubanga and his co-perpetrators knowingly conscripted children 15 years old and younger. The judge said Lubanga recruited the children to fight for the armed wing of his group, the Union of Congolese Patriots, during the Democratic Republic of Congo's civil war in 2002 and 2003 Thomas Lubanga * Founder and president of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), an ethnic Hema militia * Founder and commander-in-chief of UPC's military arm Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (FPLC) that fought in the Hema-Lendu conflict in the DRC's gold-rich Ituri region ending in 2003 * Arrested in 2005 and imprisoned in the capital, Kinshasa * Transferred to the Hague in 2006 under an ICC arrest warrant * Earned a degree in psychology from the University of Kisangani * Born in 1960 in the DRC's northeastern Ituri region Lubanga, who faces up to life in prison and can appeal the verdict, will remain in custody until his sentencing at a later hearing. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said Tuesday the verdict sets a precedent that shows the world is on guard against crimes against humanity. "The world was united at Nuremberg, but we learned that 'never again' requires that we are not waiting for a new Hitler," said Moreno-Ocampo the day before verdict. "So [the] decision on Lubanga, who was a local militia leader, is critically important." Lubanga was the first suspect to be tried by the world's permanent war-crimes tribunal, which was set up in 2002. Lubanga's trial got underway in 2009, three years after his arrest. Rights groups praised the verdict. Amnesty International said the conviction shows the International Criminal Court "can bring the world's worst offenders to justice for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes." Human Rights Watch said the verdict is "an encouraging sign that international justice is up and running." Meanwhile, authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say a top commander from a different rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), has surrendered amid a "major military operation" mounted by the Congolese army and United Nations peacekeepers. U.N. spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai said Tuesday that Lt. Colonel Bizimana, or Idrissa Muradadi, and three of his bodyguards, turned themselves in to the U.N. mission in South Kivu. Mounoubai said Bizimana is the first high-level rebel to surrender to the U.N. disarmament program, and he said he thinks it will lead more rebels to turn themselves in. "It is excellent news because we think that the surrender of Idrissa will also have a demoralizing effect on the troops and we are expecting to see a lot of the FDLR [rebels] surrender in the coming days," said Mounoubai, adding that he believes the development shows the joint-U.N. and Congolese operation in South Kivu is starting to work. "There is a major military operation going on right now by the FARDC [Congo's national army], supported by the MONUSCO [U.N. stabilization mission in the DRC], and we believe that this has something to do with the surrender of Mr. Bizimana, because I think they start feeling the heat of this operation now." The FDLR was established by ethnic Hutus who took part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide of Tutsis and fled to Congo after the killing spree was stopped. The group has been accused of committing atrocities in the eastern DRC. References 1. http://www.icc-cpi.int/NR/exeres/A70A5D27-18B4-4294-816F-BE68155242E0.htm .