Ongwen for ICC pre-trial

Jan 26, 2015

FORMER LRA commander Dominic Ongwen will on Monday afternoon make a pre-trial appearance before Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova of the ICC

By Moses Walubiri

 

FORMER Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen will this afternoon (4:00pm) make a pre-trial appearance before Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague, Netherlands.

 

Ongwen is charged with seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the atrocities committed by the LRA during its protracted insurgency in northern Uganda.

 

Ongwen was transferred to ICC last week, following his surrender to America’s Special Forces in Central African Republic, where the rest of the LRA fugitives are believed to be hiding.

 

During the appearance, the Bulgarian judge will verify Ongwen’s identity and the language in which he is able to follow the proceedings. He will also be informed of the charges against him. 

 

According to the ICC outreach coordinator for Uganda and Kenya, Maria Kamara, there will be a live streaming of Ongwen’s pretrial appearance.

 

After Ongwen’s appearance, the Pre-Trial Chamber II will either confirm charges against him and automatically commit him for trial before a Trial Chamber or acquit him. But the decision from the pre-trial chamber, as exemplified by the case of Bahr Abu Garda over alleged crimes committed in Darfur, can take a year. 

 

The Pre-Trial Chamber at ICC is divided into two and is composed of five judges — Ekaterina, Christine Van den Wyngaert (Belgium), Cuno Tarfusser (Italy), Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi (Argentina) and Olga Herrera Carbuccia (Dominican Republic).

 

Pre-Trial Chamber I has been assigned the situation in Libya, Cambodia and the killings that resulted from the power struggle between Ivory Coast president, Allasane Ouatarra and his predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo. 

 

Pre-Trial Chamber II is dealing with cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Darfur, Mali and Central African Republic. 

 

The Pre-Trial Chamber plays an important role in the first phase of judicial proceedings until the confirmation of charges upon which the Prosecutor intends to seek trial against the person charged.

 

Ongwen is the lowest ranking of the five LRA commanders for whom the ICC issued arrest warrants in 2005 following a referral by the Uganda Government.

 

However, following the death of Vicent Otti and Raska Lukwiya, Ongwen’s imminent prosecution has left only LRA chief Joseph Kony and Okot Odhiambo still at large.

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