ICC keen on Kony probe

Sep 27, 2005

The International Criminal Court (ICC) will not investigate or try the war crimes committed in northern Uganda prior to July 1, 2002, officials have said.

By Anne Mugisa and Dennis Ojwee
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will not investigate or try the war crimes committed in northern Uganda prior to July 1, 2002, officials have said.

They said over the weekend that the court would also not hand down death sentences to those convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The head of the ICC’s Public Affairs Unit, Claudio Perdomo, told journalists in Kampala that investigations into the atrocities in the Kony war that has lasted 19 years are still on. She, however, said the Court was mandated to investigate crimes committed only in the last three years.

Perdomo said the Court would not try all the people accused of crimes, especially children. She said those who committed crimes before they attained 18 years of age would not be answerable for those crimes.

She said the Court would determine who the masterminds of the atrocities were and try them and punish them on conviction.
“Not every party accused will be tried,” Perdomo said. “Children cannot be tried and neither will those who committed crimes be answerable for things they did when they were under 18 years,” she said.
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