Angelina Jolie Attends Trial At The Hague

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Angelina Jolie sat in a courtside booth Tuesday at the International Criminal Court and watched the trial of a Congolese warlord charged with using child soldiers.

In a statement released by the court, Jolie, a mother of six, said the case against Thomas Lubanga is a "landmark trial for children" and paid tribute to the former child soldiers who travel to the court's seat in The Hague to testify.

"After watching the proceedings from the viewing booth, I stood up and found Thomas Lubanga Dyilo looking at me," Jolie said. "I imagined how difficult it must be for all the brave young children who have come to testify against him."

Tuesday's visit was Jolie's second to the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal in less than two years. The goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said children deserve special protection during wars.

"Using children in conflict is a heinous crime and destroys the very fabric of a society," she said.

Jolie also met with the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, during her private visit to the court.

Lubanga, founder and former leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots political movement and its armed wing, has pleaded innocent to charges of recruiting and using child soldiers in tribal conflicts in 2002-2003.

His is the first international trial to focus solely on child soldiers. It started in January and is expected to continue throughout this year.

The United Nations estimates up to 250,000 child soldiers still fight in more than a dozen countries.

Comments

[StringOfLights]

Say what you want about Jolie... This story only appeared on HuffPo because she was there, and it was in the Entertainment section. That should say something about our values. We only report on war crimes committed against children because a celebrity was in the courtroom.

[wietog]

Wow.

[Wanjiru]

..cosign 100%

PS: she's also a home-wrecker and a bad example for her children.

.

[schatsie]

really, i am not found of Aniston and find that Angie's adopting children on her own to be a very heartwarming thing... and feel sorry about her mother's recent death... The last few years have not been that easy for her....She does look stunning in that dress at Cannes....

[schatsie]

Bingo....

[toxicbrainpoison]

Well, you're hearing about it aren't you? Stop complaining.

The work she has done for children abroad has opened the eyes of a lot of celebrity obsessed fools. She's doing good work and its not for her publicity its for theirs.

[professoramy]

I'm amazed that there is so much nasty focus on Angelina among the comments. Yes, she does bring attention to matters so horrific that most of us would rather turn aside than explore. I honor her for forcing attention on these children. And this is only one of many such instances over the years. There are plenty of so-called celebs who take up these pages with their ridiculous cookbooks or latest variation of an abs crunch. Please!

[Madmac]

George, Dick and Donald, you can go there to see how it's done

[reno1190]

WOULD LOVE TO SEE BUSH/CHENEY TRIED AT THAT COURT, JUST A THAUGHT" WAR CRIMINALS"

[reno1190]

SORRY THOUGHT

[schatsie]

We all agree with you...

[ToddlerJ]

Many like to poo-poo Angelina for her actions outside hollywood productions, but how many would even be aware of this trial had she not brought her attention to it? While her presence may dilute the importance of the story, at least she attracts some media types willing to produce a story for the wires!

[BilCon]

Angelina Jolie is one of the few celebrities that I truly respect. Regardless of her political philosophy, which she keeps fairly close to her chest, she knows and advocates for what she truly believes in, not just what is popular at the moment. (It doesn't hurt that she mainly speaks out for children's issues, which are close to my heart as well)

It is true, sadly, that if she weren't involved, this issue might not see the light of day.

I wish her the best of luck, and hope that this trial reduces, if not totally removes, the practice of sending children to die before they have had a chance to live.

[GeorgeOwells]

It’s shocking to know that there are 250,000 child soldiers fighting in more than a dozen countries according to UN estimates. We need a universal movement to stop this. Kudos to Angelina Jolie. She is quite a humanitarian. We need more people like her who can stand up against such crimes. I got an alert of this news on http://www.trackle.com/catalog/news?p=p2

[kendra]

Come on, you think this HS dropout can process what's going on there?
She's just beefing up her humanitarian resume.

[reno1190]

I KNOW MANY WITH MASTERS WHO DONT HAVE A CLUE,TO QUICK TO JUDGE DONT YOU THINK

[levoyageur]

what have u done lately that help other people? i dont think u need a college diploma for humanitarian mission. you are just jealous.

[Balzac]

She's bringing her glamor to international criminal proceedings. This should help prepare the public for Bush administration prosecutions at the Hague.

[Akat1973]

Love Angelina -or hate on her- but I am personally gald she is bringing attention to this issue.This is horrid and we all should care.I can think of a few spoiled actresses out there who could give voice to a cause,or as in this case to children.

[phillymonster]

Sorry, Angelina is the biggest joke out there. She is cruel to children and now, according to this article, dogs...


http://www.examiner.com/x-7494-LA-Gossip-Examiner~y2009m5d14-Angelina-Jolie--Now-a-Pyrenees-named-Angel-causes-problems-on-film-set

[senorlou]

Oh yeah, this chick is just horrible to kids. That why she went out to some godforsaken parts of the world and adopted a bunch of them to live like royalty in Hollywood. What a horrible, cruel thing to do. Surely those children would have been better off at their local orphanage or on the street fending for themselves.

[littlerabbit]

It's all a big photo op. Donate money instead of raising a bunch of super-consumers.

[mollymac]

Funny, you didn't respond to the animal part. Selective reading maybe?

[TigersEye]

I'd trust an animal's instinct regarding Ms. Jolie, the dog isn't capable of being brainwashed by her PR firm.

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

Yikes.

[lioness39]

She doesn't want to get upstaged. Remember that old movie adage: don't work with animals or children for that's all the movie goers will see or something to that effect. She's such a hoax.

[lifescientist]

Oh my. If I used this link as a source of "facts", I'd probably be fired.

[tora]

She tries and does more than the rest of us think twice about doing. So who are we to judge? She's far more dignified than the rest of Hollywood.

[writer10027]

You're joking, right?

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

Oh? You do more than her?

[Dimitra Ekmektsis]

I'm glad someone got angry about child-soldiers, even if it was an actress.

[mysterio419]

"After watching the proceedings from the viewing booth, I stood up and found Thomas Lubanga Dyilo looking at me,"- jolie.

hopefully, by the end of the year u will see che.ney in that same place where Dyilo stood.. amen

[Dimitra Ekmektsis]

hehe...

[TiffanyHusseinBanned]

OT: Is anyone watching the Housewives?

[Rebholution]

Good for her...she does what she can because she can...and every little bit counts.