Angelina Jolie gave the trial of a Congolese warlord a celebrity edge on May 19, when she represented the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR in The Hague, Holland. The movie star sat in a courtside booth at the International Criminal Court during the trial of Thomas Lubanga, who is charged with using child soldiers to carry out vicious killing raids. Jolie, the UNHCR’s goodwill ambassador, called the case “a landmark trial for children” and paid tribute to the former child soldiers who were among those testifying against Lubanga. She said, “After watching the proceedings from the viewing booth, I stood up and found Thomas Lubanga Dyilo looking at me. I imagined how difficult it must be for all the brave young children who have come to testify against him.” Jolie was a guest of the court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who she briefly met with during her low-key, private visit to the Netherlands. Lubanga has pleaded innocent to charges of recruiting and using child soldiers in tribal conflicts in 2002 and 2003. His is the first international trial to focus solely on child soldiers.
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