LRA case to determine fate of ICC
Mar 16, 2008
The latest news from Juba is that Joseph Kony will not sign a peace deal before the International Criminal Court (ICC) lifts the international arrest warrants issued against him and his commanders. In July 2005, the ICC issued international arrest warrants for Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti (said to
Asuman Bisika
The latest news from Juba is that Joseph Kony will not sign a peace deal before the International Criminal Court (ICC) lifts the international arrest warrants issued against him and his commanders. In July 2005, the ICC issued international arrest warrants for Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti (said to have died in October 2007), Raska Lukwiya (died in combat in 2006), Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen. They were indicted on 33 counts, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, abduction, sexual enslavement, mutilation and forcibly using children as guerrilla fighters.
The Government says the rebels must first sign the peace agreement before the ICC can be urged to do something about the warrant. President Yoweri Museveni was on March 11 quoted by BBC as saying that Kony and his indictees would be tried in Uganda under customary justice. But Kony wants something more solid than that. Although trial in Uganda seems to be a favour to the LRA leaders, it is also in the interest of the Government to have Kony’s trial here in order to give the Government leverage during the process of enacting a law creating a special tribunal for the trials. The Government’s biggest weapon against the LRA rebels has been the ICC’s international arrest warrants. After the issuing of the warrants, the majority mainstream political supporters of the rebellion went slow or became silent. Even Sudan felt the heat of the international arrest warrants. In fact, the warrants have done more than what the military has done in 20 years.
Yet withdrawing the warrants is not as easy as it sounds. The indictment against Kony and the four top LRA leaders was the ICC’s first case although DR Congo’s former rebel leader Thomas Lubanga was the first to be arraigned before the court. Other than Lubanga’s case, the ICC has no any other cases lined up for trial.
The ICC is, therefore, most likely to frown at the prospect of dropping charges against Kony and his commanders. With the reluctance of some world players to recognise it, the ICC has to work hard to justify its existence by successfully trying cases like that of Kony and his fellows.
The writer is a journalist
The latest news from Juba is that Joseph Kony will not sign a peace deal before the International Criminal Court (ICC) lifts the international arrest warrants issued against him and his commanders. In July 2005, the ICC issued international arrest warrants for Kony, his deputy Vincent Otti (said to have died in October 2007), Raska Lukwiya (died in combat in 2006), Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen. They were indicted on 33 counts, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, abduction, sexual enslavement, mutilation and forcibly using children as guerrilla fighters.
The Government says the rebels must first sign the peace agreement before the ICC can be urged to do something about the warrant. President Yoweri Museveni was on March 11 quoted by BBC as saying that Kony and his indictees would be tried in Uganda under customary justice. But Kony wants something more solid than that. Although trial in Uganda seems to be a favour to the LRA leaders, it is also in the interest of the Government to have Kony’s trial here in order to give the Government leverage during the process of enacting a law creating a special tribunal for the trials. The Government’s biggest weapon against the LRA rebels has been the ICC’s international arrest warrants. After the issuing of the warrants, the majority mainstream political supporters of the rebellion went slow or became silent. Even Sudan felt the heat of the international arrest warrants. In fact, the warrants have done more than what the military has done in 20 years.
Yet withdrawing the warrants is not as easy as it sounds. The indictment against Kony and the four top LRA leaders was the ICC’s first case although DR Congo’s former rebel leader Thomas Lubanga was the first to be arraigned before the court. Other than Lubanga’s case, the ICC has no any other cases lined up for trial.
The ICC is, therefore, most likely to frown at the prospect of dropping charges against Kony and his commanders. With the reluctance of some world players to recognise it, the ICC has to work hard to justify its existence by successfully trying cases like that of Kony and his fellows.
The writer is a journalist