NAIROBI

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday ruled out cancelling arrest warrants for LRA rebel commanders, saying the leaders, and not the warrants, are an obstacle to peace.

“It is time to marginalise, isolate and arrest individuals sought by the court. The international community must not support them,” said the court’s deputy prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, in a statement.

“People such as Joseph Kony or Ahmed Haroun committed unspeakable atrocities. They are a stumbling block to lasting peace and security.”

In 2005, the Hague-based criminal court indicted five LRA commanders, including its chief, Joseph Kony and his deputy, Vincent Otti, on a number of charges such as murder, rape and enslavement of children. One of the indicted commanders has since died.

The court also charged Haroun, Sudan’s secretary of state for humanitarian affairs, over atrocities committed in the country’s western region of Darfur.

Although the LRA is engaged in peace talks with the Government, Kony has vowed never to sign a final peace accord unless the warrants are withdrawn.

Elders from the North and some Government officials have called on the criminal court to support traditional forms of justice in a bid to speed up peace and reconciliation.

But Bensouda said the warrants are here to stay, since “peace and justice can work together.”

“The ICC is not an impediment to peace. The warrants issued by the court have contributed tremendously to making the perpetrators of these crimes negotiate with the Government,” she told the BBC. She said the idea of withdrawing the warrants because peace talks are on going was not the correct position to take.

The international court’s position came up during a visit by the LRA peace team to the war-torn northern Uganda to collect the public’s views on issues of accountability and reconciliation in the peace talks, which are key to ending the conflict.
AFP