Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court decided unanimously that Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is guilty, as a co-perpetrator, of the war crimes of conscripting and enlisting children under the age of 15 and using them to participate actively in hostilities from 1 September 2002 to 13 August 2003. It is the first verdict issued by an ICC Trial Chamber.

At least 26 people have been killed in attacks by a Rwandan militia group in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Congolese army says. It says several remote villages in South Kivu province have been targeted since the start of January.

In the Congolese countryside, there is said to be $24 trillion worth of precious minerals like tantalum, tungsten, gold and tin. They are used to make everything from light bulbs to airplanes, and have long funded the conflict in the country’s tumultuous eastern provinces.

The tragedy and hopes for peace in the Congo was the focus of a hearing held today by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House Africa, Global Health and Human Rights Subcommittee. Actor Ben Affleck testified about the work of the Eastern Congo Initiative, including his travel to the DRC.

US President Barack Obama has outlined a plan to disarm one of Africa's most feared rebel militias, the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army. LRA leaders initially claimed to be fighting to install a theocracy in Uganda based on the Biblical 10 commandments. But they now roam across parts of Sudan and Central African Republic (CAR), as well as north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

States are failing to control the transport of weapons around the world, says a new report from London-based watchdog Amnesty International. Transport companies registered in China, France, the Russian Federation, Britain and the United States move weapons to countries where they could be used to commit human-rights violations.

The eight staff members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) held since 9 April by an armed group operating in South Kivu province were released today in the Fizi area and handed over to ICRC personnel.

The charcoal trafficking…is an extremely lucrative business. It has an annual turnover of over $30 million. And much of those revenues are going to the armed groups. And these armed groups are responsible for the instability in the eastern Congo, which has been an extremely serious problem for over 15 years.

President Joseph Kabila called for a “moral and patriotic revival” to tackle the different challenges facing the country. He thanked the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) for their continued efforts to rid the country of all militias and armed groups. He urged all Congolese to support them. He said that the Government will intensify its efforts to achieve peace in all corners of the country and stop all sorts of violence against civilians, especially women.

A record number of former Hutu rebels left the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for their home in Rwanda this week, the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the DRC reported today.