Sebutinde the fearless judge
She will send you to the gallows without butting an eyelid. Not that she is a sadist, she is only doing her job. On Thursday, Justice Julia Sebutinde, the Presiding Judge of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, sentenced three rebel militia commanders found guilty of murder, rape and enlist
By Nigel Nassar
She will send you to the gallows without butting an eyelid. Not that she is a sadist, she is only doing her job. On Thursday, Justice Julia Sebutinde, the Presiding Judge of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, sentenced three rebel militia commanders found guilty of murder, rape and enlisting child soldiers during the country’s 10-year civil war to 50 years in jail.
Sebutinde ordered that Alex Tamba Brima, 35, and Santigie Borbor Kanu, 42, be jailed for 50 years each, while Brima Bazzy Kamara, 39, was sentenced to 45 years behind bars.
Their sentences were the first ever handed down by the court, which is trying the main perpetrators of the war crimes committed during the West African country’s 1991-2001 conflict.
However, deep down in her heart, Lady Justice Sebutinde is a compassionate and kind person — at least from what she has told the press.
But do not be duped by those virtues as to expect soft landing, if you turn up on the wrong side of the law. If the verdict is supposed to read ‘guilty’, do not expect it to mutate into an overnight miracle of some sort — not in Sebutinde’s court, not in a million years.
She is candid, thorough and courageous — virtues that have placed her way up on a pedestal.
And if you take a random man-on-the-street opinion check about her, no doubt, a response pregnant with respect is what you will most likely elicit from more than half your respondents. But be sure not to ask the Police or Uganda Revenue Authority, they might not exactly be objective in judging her for reasons we all know too well (read on if you do not).
Like a soccer fan would say, Sebutinde is ‘big size’.
And if she were a movie star, she would definitely be on the hotshot A-list of Hollywood goddesses for such star-studs as Oceans 11, 12 and 13.
Not that she is the best thing that ever occurred to justice in Uganda, but the ‘no-nonsense’ adjudicator has walked a praise-worthy line up there.
That is why many will concur that Sebutinde is not your ordinary African woman, rather, a value-added one with a premium to her name, all portrayed through the rare courage and heroism that she exudes as she goes about her duties.
A British-trained lawyer with a Masters degree from the University of Edinburgh, Sebutinde was called to the Uganda Bar in 1979. She had from 1978-1991 worked within the Ministry of Justice and risen to the level of Principal State Attorney / Principal Legislative Counsel.
Her dossier grew stronger during her 1991-1996 assignment with the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, as a legislative consultant.
It was during then that she was seconded to the newly-independent Republic of Namibia, winning herself attachment to the Ministry of Justice as a legislative expert.
While there, she broke the male patriarchy by changing the Marriage Equality Act, which required women to seek their husband’s consent before opening up bank accounts. It made her a hero among Namibian women. For someone who was cut out to excel in her specialty, an assignment in Uganda was brewing.
Appointed Judge of the High Court of Uganda in 1996, Sebutinde’s judgmental clout got more pronounced as she was more at home than overseas.
She became the spur-of-the-moment judge, known for being a woman to take at her word, and that, whom you will not attempt to bribe to make her swing a court case in your favour.
Little wonder that when allegations of corruption within the Uganda Police Force, the Ministry of Defence and the Uganda Revenue Authority blew up the lid between 1999 and 2003, Sebutinde became the definite chair of the three high-level commissions, which investigated the allegations.
With an ‘in-your-face’ approach, the commissions unearthed heaps of filth within these organisations, ultimately leading to the sacking of several cagey officials involved, and the sealing off of the loopholes that used to let corruption through.
So who said some of those still in these offices to date will give an honest comment about this mother of two, who is the reason they are probably not cashing in on a shady deal?
She won herself admirers and enemies alike. While the admirers praised the reports for their thoroughness, the haters regarded Sebutinde as simply a tool by the Government to claim credit in the fight against corruption. But she stood her ground and continued with her job.
In fact, the flagship section of Africa Almanac.com listed her as one of Africa’s top 100 people in 2001 for her outstanding fight against corruption. She was on the list with South Africa’s peace negotiator, Nelson Mandela, for greatly impacting the lives of a large number of people.
A criminal will love to hate her for her lack of compromise with them. But she does not need the judging anyway.
For someone who is tagged ‘Your Honour’, a title you will bestow upon her even when you hate her, Sebutinde, like a Ugandan would say, has reached, or is already there — do not ask where. And now with her current assignment with the United Nations as the elected Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber II in the Sierra Leone Special Court, Sebutinde’s star continues rising.
Succeeding Justice Richard Lussick, who ended his one-year term as Presiding Judge on January 17, 2007, Sebutinde joined the Special Court in January 2005. She was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Trial Chamber II is currently hearing the case in which former Liberian President Charles Taylor is being charged with war crimes against humanity, including mass murder, terrorism and sex slavery.
This puts Sebutinde at the forefront in this high-profile case involving the prosecution of an alleged international mafia. Taylor has pleaded “not guilty†to all the charges.
Sitting in The Hague, Netherlands on June 4, 2007, Sebutinde was not happy about Taylor’s boycott of this first international war crime prosecution of a former African leader. She gave him a terse warning that made worldwide media headlines; CNN, The New Vision, BBC and Washington Post.
In her warning to Taylor, through his lawyer Karim Khan, she was quoted as saying: “The accused does not have the option to appear before this court as and when he chooses to.â€
Her trademark drive to say it as is, regardless of Taylor’s well-known domineering appeal, could not go unnoticed, the reason more headlines gave prominence to the Judge’s warning to Taylor than his boycott.
To the defendant’s lawyer, who at one time rose to walk out during the proceedings, Sebutinde retorted: “There is a directive of this court asking you to sit down and to represent your client, which you apparently have defied, and now you are walking out with further defiance, without leave.
“...if you are not inclined to obey the directive of the court, make it abundantly clear by walking out, if that’s what you plan to do,†stern words that made the lawyer give in and stay put, before the Judge ordered the court to ensure Taylor had another four people including a lead counsel to boost his defence team by July 31.
One would wonder whether Sebutinde has a social life, aside from work in the chambers.
According to her husband, John Sebutinde: “She has a private life, which she’s not comfortable with appearing in the press. Not that she’s hiding anything or living a weird life of some sort, but part of her rights involve entitlements to privacy.â€
From the husband’s choice of words, you would not help thinking part of the wife’s profession rubbed off onto him — talk about the legalese in his diction.
“That’s personal, let’s leave her to concentrate on her stressful assignment. We don’t have to stress her any more than she already is,†he adds.
So doesn’t John sometimes feel intimidated having a wife of such international acclaim? He says he is not bothered by such things, but is proud of it together with their two daughters, aged 26 and 21.
Sebutinde went to secondary school in Gayaza High and Kings College Budo before joining Makerere University for her Bachelor of Laws.
The second-born of four children (three girls and a boy), Sebutinde, according to a close friend, always exuded a rare streak of integrity and shrewd judgment typical of a born leader, a thing that her father and deceased mother nurtured by sending her to good schools since they could afford the cost.
Thinking of bribing Sebutinde? Think twice because you do not want to appear before her for attempting to corrupt justice. Blame it on her British training, if you have issues with her being too ethical to be Ugandan. It is what she does best — dispensing justice fearlessly and impartially, the pillar of her greatness.
She will send you to the gallows without butting an eyelid. Not that she is a sadist, she is only doing her job. On Thursday, Justice Julia Sebutinde, the Presiding Judge of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, sentenced three rebel militia commanders found guilty of murder, rape and enlisting child soldiers during the country’s 10-year civil war to 50 years in jail.
Sebutinde ordered that Alex Tamba Brima, 35, and Santigie Borbor Kanu, 42, be jailed for 50 years each, while Brima Bazzy Kamara, 39, was sentenced to 45 years behind bars.
Their sentences were the first ever handed down by the court, which is trying the main perpetrators of the war crimes committed during the West African country’s 1991-2001 conflict.
However, deep down in her heart, Lady Justice Sebutinde is a compassionate and kind person — at least from what she has told the press.
But do not be duped by those virtues as to expect soft landing, if you turn up on the wrong side of the law. If the verdict is supposed to read ‘guilty’, do not expect it to mutate into an overnight miracle of some sort — not in Sebutinde’s court, not in a million years.
She is candid, thorough and courageous — virtues that have placed her way up on a pedestal.
And if you take a random man-on-the-street opinion check about her, no doubt, a response pregnant with respect is what you will most likely elicit from more than half your respondents. But be sure not to ask the Police or Uganda Revenue Authority, they might not exactly be objective in judging her for reasons we all know too well (read on if you do not).
Like a soccer fan would say, Sebutinde is ‘big size’.
And if she were a movie star, she would definitely be on the hotshot A-list of Hollywood goddesses for such star-studs as Oceans 11, 12 and 13.
Not that she is the best thing that ever occurred to justice in Uganda, but the ‘no-nonsense’ adjudicator has walked a praise-worthy line up there.
That is why many will concur that Sebutinde is not your ordinary African woman, rather, a value-added one with a premium to her name, all portrayed through the rare courage and heroism that she exudes as she goes about her duties.
A British-trained lawyer with a Masters degree from the University of Edinburgh, Sebutinde was called to the Uganda Bar in 1979. She had from 1978-1991 worked within the Ministry of Justice and risen to the level of Principal State Attorney / Principal Legislative Counsel.
Her dossier grew stronger during her 1991-1996 assignment with the Commonwealth Secretariat, London, as a legislative consultant.
It was during then that she was seconded to the newly-independent Republic of Namibia, winning herself attachment to the Ministry of Justice as a legislative expert.
While there, she broke the male patriarchy by changing the Marriage Equality Act, which required women to seek their husband’s consent before opening up bank accounts. It made her a hero among Namibian women. For someone who was cut out to excel in her specialty, an assignment in Uganda was brewing.
Appointed Judge of the High Court of Uganda in 1996, Sebutinde’s judgmental clout got more pronounced as she was more at home than overseas.
She became the spur-of-the-moment judge, known for being a woman to take at her word, and that, whom you will not attempt to bribe to make her swing a court case in your favour.
Little wonder that when allegations of corruption within the Uganda Police Force, the Ministry of Defence and the Uganda Revenue Authority blew up the lid between 1999 and 2003, Sebutinde became the definite chair of the three high-level commissions, which investigated the allegations.
With an ‘in-your-face’ approach, the commissions unearthed heaps of filth within these organisations, ultimately leading to the sacking of several cagey officials involved, and the sealing off of the loopholes that used to let corruption through.
So who said some of those still in these offices to date will give an honest comment about this mother of two, who is the reason they are probably not cashing in on a shady deal?
She won herself admirers and enemies alike. While the admirers praised the reports for their thoroughness, the haters regarded Sebutinde as simply a tool by the Government to claim credit in the fight against corruption. But she stood her ground and continued with her job.
In fact, the flagship section of Africa Almanac.com listed her as one of Africa’s top 100 people in 2001 for her outstanding fight against corruption. She was on the list with South Africa’s peace negotiator, Nelson Mandela, for greatly impacting the lives of a large number of people.
A criminal will love to hate her for her lack of compromise with them. But she does not need the judging anyway.
For someone who is tagged ‘Your Honour’, a title you will bestow upon her even when you hate her, Sebutinde, like a Ugandan would say, has reached, or is already there — do not ask where. And now with her current assignment with the United Nations as the elected Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber II in the Sierra Leone Special Court, Sebutinde’s star continues rising.
Succeeding Justice Richard Lussick, who ended his one-year term as Presiding Judge on January 17, 2007, Sebutinde joined the Special Court in January 2005. She was appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
Trial Chamber II is currently hearing the case in which former Liberian President Charles Taylor is being charged with war crimes against humanity, including mass murder, terrorism and sex slavery.
This puts Sebutinde at the forefront in this high-profile case involving the prosecution of an alleged international mafia. Taylor has pleaded “not guilty†to all the charges.
Sitting in The Hague, Netherlands on June 4, 2007, Sebutinde was not happy about Taylor’s boycott of this first international war crime prosecution of a former African leader. She gave him a terse warning that made worldwide media headlines; CNN, The New Vision, BBC and Washington Post.
In her warning to Taylor, through his lawyer Karim Khan, she was quoted as saying: “The accused does not have the option to appear before this court as and when he chooses to.â€
Her trademark drive to say it as is, regardless of Taylor’s well-known domineering appeal, could not go unnoticed, the reason more headlines gave prominence to the Judge’s warning to Taylor than his boycott.
To the defendant’s lawyer, who at one time rose to walk out during the proceedings, Sebutinde retorted: “There is a directive of this court asking you to sit down and to represent your client, which you apparently have defied, and now you are walking out with further defiance, without leave.
“...if you are not inclined to obey the directive of the court, make it abundantly clear by walking out, if that’s what you plan to do,†stern words that made the lawyer give in and stay put, before the Judge ordered the court to ensure Taylor had another four people including a lead counsel to boost his defence team by July 31.
One would wonder whether Sebutinde has a social life, aside from work in the chambers.
According to her husband, John Sebutinde: “She has a private life, which she’s not comfortable with appearing in the press. Not that she’s hiding anything or living a weird life of some sort, but part of her rights involve entitlements to privacy.â€
From the husband’s choice of words, you would not help thinking part of the wife’s profession rubbed off onto him — talk about the legalese in his diction.
“That’s personal, let’s leave her to concentrate on her stressful assignment. We don’t have to stress her any more than she already is,†he adds.
So doesn’t John sometimes feel intimidated having a wife of such international acclaim? He says he is not bothered by such things, but is proud of it together with their two daughters, aged 26 and 21.
Sebutinde went to secondary school in Gayaza High and Kings College Budo before joining Makerere University for her Bachelor of Laws.
The second-born of four children (three girls and a boy), Sebutinde, according to a close friend, always exuded a rare streak of integrity and shrewd judgment typical of a born leader, a thing that her father and deceased mother nurtured by sending her to good schools since they could afford the cost.
Thinking of bribing Sebutinde? Think twice because you do not want to appear before her for attempting to corrupt justice. Blame it on her British training, if you have issues with her being too ethical to be Ugandan. It is what she does best — dispensing justice fearlessly and impartially, the pillar of her greatness.