Uganda can try Kony, says ICC's Ssebutinde

The possibility of having Joseph Kony and his top commanders tried in Uganda were rekindled yesterday when a judge working with the International Criminal Court (ICC) said an opportunity still exits.

Justice Julia Ssebutinde said the country can still regain its powers to prosecute the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) leaders since the law establishing the ICC provides room for deferral of the indictments. 

“In principle, Uganda can still file a formal inter-party request for the ICC to withdraw from a case, under Article 19 of the Rome statute, which established the court,” Justice Ssbutinde said. Ssebutinde, who heads the ICC tribunal trying former Liberian leader Charles Taylor for war crimes and crimes against humanity was speaking as chief guest at the second annual Abu Mayanja memorial lecture on the theme; “Alternative justice system in context of northern Uganda conflict”. 

Mayanja died on November 5, 2005 after retiring from active politics. He was a co-founder of Uganda’s first political party – the Uganda National Congress in the 1950s. Mr Mayanja served in posts as deputy prime minister, attorney general and minister of justice and constitutional Affairs between 1988 and 1994 under the NRM government. 

Justice Ssebutinde discussed the role of the ICC in the last 10- years and told participants in Kampala that the country has a reason to celebrate the strides so far made by the ICC in its quest to punish perpetrators of human rights abuses. 

President Museveni in 2003 invited Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC prosecutor to investigate possible crimes against humanity in northern Uganda where a war between the LRA rebels and government has taken place. 

Subsequently in 2005, the ICC issued arrest warrants for five senior members of the LRA charging them with attacking civilians and the forced enlistment of children into murderous militias. Justice Ssebutinde said the indictments forced Kony to come to the negotiating table. But in return, Kony wants the ICC charges dropped. Justice Ssebutinde’s statement comes after the LRA leader has twice in the last three months failed to show up for the signing of the final peace accord sighting the ICC warrants as the only obstacle to peace. 

Religious and cultural leaders from Acholi and many parts of the country, including politicians have called for a truth and reconciliation process, which would require the ICC to step a side in vain. But Justice Ssebutinde who is familiar with operations of The Hague based court in her statements carried a notch higher the hope for a situation that would see the ICC step aside. 

“However, she said, a state party like Uganda under the ICC has only one opportunity to apply for the international court to withdraw from a case it has already investigated and set to try the suspects”. “Uganda would have to get right its first application to be allowed to try Kony and his commanders,” Justice Ssebutinde warned 

“The government would convince the ICC that it is now willing and committed to using its local courts system to try the LRA,” she said. 
Justice Ssebutinde said before the government applies for the withdrawal, it should ensure that the necessary legislation that will try the suspects are in place and are functional. 

The Judge said: “Government will have to convince and persuade the court (ICC) it has sufficient infrastructure to handle these serious cases”. These would include, efficient investigating and prosecutorial departments, which she said are still weak and might require a lot of work to bring them to the required caliber. 

Justice Ssebutinde said a mechanism of witnesses’ protection among others will have to be in place before the government attempts to apply for the ICC withdrawal if they are serious about getting it right. The Ugandan judiciary recently announced the creation of a Special High Court Division to try war crimes. 

The ICC was established under the Rome Statute which in principle assigns the Court a role that is complementary to national systems, and comes in when a member State is unwilling or unable to carry out the investigation or prosecution.

Source: www.monitor.co.ug