Kony, you can bargain with the ICC but you can’t escape
Apr 01, 2008
</b>OPIYO OLOYA</b><br>PERSPECTIVE OF A UGANDAN IN CANADA<br><br>Dear Mr. Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, the impending signing of the peace agreement between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the people of Uganda is a welcome sign that we can begin to think about more important things rathe
OPIYO OLOYA
PERSPECTIVE OF A UGANDAN IN CANADA
Dear Mr. Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, the impending signing of the peace agreement between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the people of Uganda is a welcome sign that we can begin to think about more important things rather than fighting a meaningless war that has taken its toll on northern Uganda.
There is nothing more important right now than getting the people of northern Uganda back on their feet after two decades of rotting away in camps and losing everything they ever owned.
It is time to restore the meaning of family and kinship so that children who have known only war can begin to think again about their place in society. Those youngsters who were abducted by the LRA against their will and turned into killers can also dream again of returning home. In other words, without a monkey throwing a spanner into the works at this point, peace will surely return to northern Uganda.
Your commitment to this process is greatly appreciated and commendable.
There is however one thing that needs to be taken care of, an important business that could cause hiccups to the peace process. The issue is what to do with you, as the leader of the LRA. According to media reports, you are not keen to put down your weapons because of suspicion that someone might grab you and take you to the Hague to face the music for crimes against humanity.
You will sign the peace agreement, but you will retreat back to your jungle camp in the Congo until the International Criminal Court lifts the indictment against you and four others in the LRA. Well, here are a couple of scenarios to consider: Foremost, your fear of being sent to the Hague is actually well founded because, given the atrocities perpetrated over the last several years in Uganda, you will need to stand before a court of law to state what you know about those atrocities.
To simply say, “I didn’t do any of it,†will not carry much weight anywhere. Secondly, the government of Uganda is likely powerless to lift the ICC indictments against you and your top lieutenants. Here, think of the ICC indictment as a bullet which once has left the gun, cannot be recalled. The people of Uganda ceased to have control over the case once it was referred to the ICC. This is one case where there is no getting past the will of the international community. So strong is the resolve to see the LRA top leadership prosecuted that there will never be any rest until you are in the dock. So what to do?
As I argued in this column a few weeks ago, there is a way out of being sent to The Hague, but not out of prosecution altogether. Under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, the ICC can step in to prosecute a case when a state is “unwilling or unable†to prosecute the accused.
Your lawyers can make the argument that Article 17 permits the ICC to find a State “unwilling or unable†only if the State’s legal proceedings are designed to make a perpetrator more difficult to convict. In simple terms, your lawyers need to state that you and your men are willing to be tried in a fair and open court in Uganda.
What your lawyers cannot argue is that you should be tried in a traditional court that includes mato oput. Talks about traditional form of justice and so forth will not fly with the ICC. Accordingly, this means you should not insist on ICC dropping the indictments (because it won’t), but rather insist that the venue for the trial be changed to northern Uganda.
You also need to accept that the ICC and the international community need to participate in the creation of the court that will try you. What you cannot dictate is what the court will look like when it is ready to start the trial. Now, the skeptics will ask why you should give up your freedom just so that you can be tried and possibly jailed for life. Well, you don’t have to give up something you do not have anymore. You and your commanders ceased to be free citizens once the indictments were levelled against you for atrocities committed in northern Uganda.
Yes, you are innocent until proven guilty, and technically you are still free, but with such a serious charge pending against you, you do need to prove your innocence before you can be allowed much wider freedom. The most you can hope for is that you will be tried and, if convicted, jailed in your backyard rather being sent to the Netherlands to wither away the rest of your natural life in a foreign land.
Here are your available options then. You can begin sending a strong signal to the ICC that you are willing to surrender to the government of Uganda to prepare for trial in Uganda. As part of the deal, you need to be categorical that you will submit to the full play of international law, and that you will welcome the occasion to clear the air on what you did and did not do.
The second option is to simply remain in the bush until the day, by natural means or contrivance, you meet your demise. The one thing you cannot and will never count on is walking out of the bush as some kind of hero, strutting free around town in northern Uganda, sipping cafe latte in well-heeled coffee houses, and living the quiet life of a country gentleman. That just won’t happen.
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca
PERSPECTIVE OF A UGANDAN IN CANADA
Dear Mr. Joseph Kony, leader of the LRA, the impending signing of the peace agreement between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the people of Uganda is a welcome sign that we can begin to think about more important things rather than fighting a meaningless war that has taken its toll on northern Uganda.
There is nothing more important right now than getting the people of northern Uganda back on their feet after two decades of rotting away in camps and losing everything they ever owned.
It is time to restore the meaning of family and kinship so that children who have known only war can begin to think again about their place in society. Those youngsters who were abducted by the LRA against their will and turned into killers can also dream again of returning home. In other words, without a monkey throwing a spanner into the works at this point, peace will surely return to northern Uganda.
Your commitment to this process is greatly appreciated and commendable.
There is however one thing that needs to be taken care of, an important business that could cause hiccups to the peace process. The issue is what to do with you, as the leader of the LRA. According to media reports, you are not keen to put down your weapons because of suspicion that someone might grab you and take you to the Hague to face the music for crimes against humanity.
You will sign the peace agreement, but you will retreat back to your jungle camp in the Congo until the International Criminal Court lifts the indictment against you and four others in the LRA. Well, here are a couple of scenarios to consider: Foremost, your fear of being sent to the Hague is actually well founded because, given the atrocities perpetrated over the last several years in Uganda, you will need to stand before a court of law to state what you know about those atrocities.
To simply say, “I didn’t do any of it,†will not carry much weight anywhere. Secondly, the government of Uganda is likely powerless to lift the ICC indictments against you and your top lieutenants. Here, think of the ICC indictment as a bullet which once has left the gun, cannot be recalled. The people of Uganda ceased to have control over the case once it was referred to the ICC. This is one case where there is no getting past the will of the international community. So strong is the resolve to see the LRA top leadership prosecuted that there will never be any rest until you are in the dock. So what to do?
As I argued in this column a few weeks ago, there is a way out of being sent to The Hague, but not out of prosecution altogether. Under Article 17 of the Rome Statute, the ICC can step in to prosecute a case when a state is “unwilling or unable†to prosecute the accused.
Your lawyers can make the argument that Article 17 permits the ICC to find a State “unwilling or unable†only if the State’s legal proceedings are designed to make a perpetrator more difficult to convict. In simple terms, your lawyers need to state that you and your men are willing to be tried in a fair and open court in Uganda.
What your lawyers cannot argue is that you should be tried in a traditional court that includes mato oput. Talks about traditional form of justice and so forth will not fly with the ICC. Accordingly, this means you should not insist on ICC dropping the indictments (because it won’t), but rather insist that the venue for the trial be changed to northern Uganda.
You also need to accept that the ICC and the international community need to participate in the creation of the court that will try you. What you cannot dictate is what the court will look like when it is ready to start the trial. Now, the skeptics will ask why you should give up your freedom just so that you can be tried and possibly jailed for life. Well, you don’t have to give up something you do not have anymore. You and your commanders ceased to be free citizens once the indictments were levelled against you for atrocities committed in northern Uganda.
Yes, you are innocent until proven guilty, and technically you are still free, but with such a serious charge pending against you, you do need to prove your innocence before you can be allowed much wider freedom. The most you can hope for is that you will be tried and, if convicted, jailed in your backyard rather being sent to the Netherlands to wither away the rest of your natural life in a foreign land.
Here are your available options then. You can begin sending a strong signal to the ICC that you are willing to surrender to the government of Uganda to prepare for trial in Uganda. As part of the deal, you need to be categorical that you will submit to the full play of international law, and that you will welcome the occasion to clear the air on what you did and did not do.
The second option is to simply remain in the bush until the day, by natural means or contrivance, you meet your demise. The one thing you cannot and will never count on is walking out of the bush as some kind of hero, strutting free around town in northern Uganda, sipping cafe latte in well-heeled coffee houses, and living the quiet life of a country gentleman. That just won’t happen.
Opiyo.oloya@sympatico.ca