The first-ever trial at the International Criminal Court has begun at The Hague.
Congolese militiaman Thomas Lubanga stands accused of recruiting hundreds of children under 15 to fight in the armed wing of his Union of Congolese Patriots in the civil war in the eastern Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo between September 2002 and August 2003.
Humanitarian groups say inter-ethnic fighting and violence involving militia groups in Ituri, centred on control over one of the most lucrative gold-mining territories in the world, has claimed some 60,000 lives since 1999 and created hundreds of thousands of refugees.
The trial of 48-year-old Mr Lubanga, transferred to The Hague in 2006, will start with an opening statement by ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, followed by lawyers for 93 alleged victims and then the defence.
The first witness, a former child soldier, is expected to take the stand on Wednesday, followed by his father.
The prosecution has listed 34 witnesses, including former child soldiers, ex-members of militia groups involved in the Ituri fighting, and an array of experts in such speciality areas as determining the age of a child from bone x-rays.
Mr Lubanga’s defence team has not indicated how many witnesses it intends to call.
The trial is expected to last between six and nine months.
Mr Lubanga is being held at the United Nations detention centre in Scheveningen in The Hague.
