ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. PHOTO | FILE
By HENRY MUKASA
In Summary
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal
Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda is expected to arrive in Kampala today for a
five-day official visit.
Ms Bensouda will visit areas affected by the
two-decade Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency in Gulu, Lira and
Soroti districts. She will also hold talks with government officials,
parliamentarians, judicial officials, lawyers, before addressing a press
conference at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala.
Gulu was the epicentre of the two-decade atrocious
LRA rebellion. During the war that spanned from 1987 to 2006, crimes
against humanity, which are a subject of litigation before the world
court, were committed.
There were massacres, abductions, torching of
huts, ransacking villages, maiming of residents, enslaving of girls and
conscription of boys.
The UN OCHA estimates that 1.3 people were
displaced during the rebellion while hundreds were killed. The ICC
coordinator for Eastern and Central Africa, Ms Maria Kamara, confirmed
the visit.
Cooperation
“The purpose of the visit of the Prosecutor is to
provide updates on the activities of her office, in particular in
relation to the case of Mr Dominic Ongwen, and discuss issues of mutual
interests,” Ms Kamara said.
The Minister of International Relations, Mr Henry
Okello Oryem, disclosed that Ms Bensouda’s visit is part of the
agreement government made to fully cooperate with the ICC in the
prosecution of the indicted LRA commanders.
“We agreed as Uganda that we shall cooperate with
the ICC so that the prosecution is successful. Government is a witness
in the case,” Mr Oryem said.
The minister said the ICC chief was there to
acquaint herself with the background of the war that devastated the
North, with its unique cases of victims turned aggressors.
“Ongwen’s is a unique case. He was an innocent
child who was abducted (before he rose to the position of commander in
the LRA where he was accused of committing crimes),” Mr Oryem said. “She
wants to understand these unique scenarios.”
Ms Bensouda will hold talks with President
Museveni, Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, the Attorney General Peter
Nyombi and other senior officials. She will also meet a selected group
of Ugandan legislators.
Background
In December 2003, President Museveni referred the
LRA situation to the then ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. In January
2004, the President and Mr Ocampo addressed a joint press conference at
International Hotel, Hyde Park London on how Uganda would cooperate with
the ICC to lead to the arrest the leadership of the LRA led by Joseph
Kony.
Subsequently, in October 2005, the ICC issued arrest warrants
for five senior LRA commanders Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti (deputy), Okot
Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya and Dominic Ongwen.
Ongwen surrenders
Of the five indictees, it’s only Kony who is
believed still be alive, marauding between the thick forests of the DRC
and Central Africa Republic and the desert in Sudan.
Ongwen surrendered early this year in Central
African Republic. He was later transferred to The Hague where charges
for war crimes were read out to him last month. He takes plea in
October.
Otti was reportedly killed by Kony while Okot
Odhiambo is said to have died in crossfire in the jungles. Lukwiya was
confirmed dead in 2007.
Ms Bensouda is the third top official of the ICC
to visit Uganda. In July 2009, her predecessor, Ocampo, visited Uganda
and held closed talks with President Museveni. In January 2010, the
President of the State Parties to the ICC, Christian Wenaweser also
visited. She was here to discuss preparations for the review conference
that was due in May that year.
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