THE UNITED Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, has urged all countries to do “everything in their power” to help arrest LRA leader Joseph Kony and his commanders indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The UN boss also wants the nations to arrest two Sudanese accused of crimes against humanity in Darfur.
Ban told the sixth Assembly of States Parties meeting of the ICC, held at the UN headquarters in New York, that since the court was launched in July 2002, only two indicted individuals had been arrested and transferred to The Hague for trial.
“There are still a number of outstanding arrest warrants that have to be executed,” he stated.
“I urge all member states to do everything within their powers to assist in enforcing these warrants.”
Cooperation was the most important determinant of success for any international tribunal, Ban Ki-Moon pointed out.
“The arrest and surrender of indicted individuals can only be undertaken by states, even where peacekeeping operations have been mandated to assist with the task.”
In July 2005, the ICC issued warrants of arrest for Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti and three of his commanders, Dominic Ongwen, Okot Odhiambo and Raska Lukwiya. However, only three are still alive.
Raska Lukwiya was killed during a battle with the UPDF in August 2006, while Otti was executed by Kony on October 2, according to com anders who defected recently.
