Withdraw ICC Bill, former minister pleads
Former minister Owiny Dollo has appealed to Government to withdraw the bill on the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was tabled in Parliament last week.
By Henry Mukasa
Former minister Owiny Dollo has appealed to Government to withdraw the bill on the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was tabled in Parliament last week.
He said the bill could jeopardise the peace process.
The bill is meant to inscribe the Rome Statute into Ugandan law. Uganda is a signatory to the statute, which forms the basis for the creation of the ICC.
“The bill excludes possibilities of alternative justice, which we are clamouring for. It applies ordinary Ugandan laws, which is not helpful to the peace process,†Dollo told The New Vision from DR Congo, where he was meeting the LRA leadership.
“Traditional justice does not mean you are abandoning justice,†he said. “It is a trade-off. The ICC justice is harsh. You don’t abandon justice but neither do you go for the harsh option.â€
He suggested that the bill be postponed until after the conclusion of a peace agreement, taking into account the outcome of the talks.
Dollo was called to Garamba to explain the ICC indictments to the LRA leadership. “Your defence before the ICC lies in what we call double jeopardy,†he advised Kony and Otti. “You can say: I was already tried, don’t try me again.â€
In July last year, the ICC indicted five LRA leaders of whom one has in the meantime died, and issued warrants of arrest against them.
The LRA leaders demand the warrants of arrest against them to be withdrawn as a condition for any peace settlement.
Before the indictments came into being, the LRA leaders enjoyed the possibility of amnesty for five years under the 1999 Amnesty Act but failed to come out.
Former minister Owiny Dollo has appealed to Government to withdraw the bill on the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was tabled in Parliament last week.
He said the bill could jeopardise the peace process.
The bill is meant to inscribe the Rome Statute into Ugandan law. Uganda is a signatory to the statute, which forms the basis for the creation of the ICC.
“The bill excludes possibilities of alternative justice, which we are clamouring for. It applies ordinary Ugandan laws, which is not helpful to the peace process,†Dollo told The New Vision from DR Congo, where he was meeting the LRA leadership.
“Traditional justice does not mean you are abandoning justice,†he said. “It is a trade-off. The ICC justice is harsh. You don’t abandon justice but neither do you go for the harsh option.â€
He suggested that the bill be postponed until after the conclusion of a peace agreement, taking into account the outcome of the talks.
Dollo was called to Garamba to explain the ICC indictments to the LRA leadership. “Your defence before the ICC lies in what we call double jeopardy,†he advised Kony and Otti. “You can say: I was already tried, don’t try me again.â€
In July last year, the ICC indicted five LRA leaders of whom one has in the meantime died, and issued warrants of arrest against them.
The LRA leaders demand the warrants of arrest against them to be withdrawn as a condition for any peace settlement.
Before the indictments came into being, the LRA leaders enjoyed the possibility of amnesty for five years under the 1999 Amnesty Act but failed to come out.