International Criminal Court investigation in Uganda

The International Criminal Court investigation in Uganda or the situation in Uganda is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court

International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...

(ICC) into the Lord's Resistance Army

Lord's Resistance Army

The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged since 1987 by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, operating mainly in northern Uganda, but also in South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo...

insurgency which has been taking place in northern Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

and neighbouring regions since 1987. The Lord's Resistance Army is a Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

-based group led by Joseph Kony

Joseph Kony

Joseph Kony is an African terrorist who is the head of the Lord's Resistance Army , a guerrilla group that is engaged in a violent campaign to establish theocratic government based on the Ten Commandments in Uganda...

that is accused of numerous human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

violations including massacres, the abduction of civilians, the use of child soldiers, sexual enslavement, torture, and pillaging. Following the referral of the situation to the ICC by the government of Uganda in in December 2003, warrants of arrest were issued in 2005 for Joseph Kony, Raska Lukwiya

Raska Lukwiya

Raska Lukwiya was the third highest ranking leader of the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group founded in northern Uganda. Believed to be a native of Uganda's northern Gulu District, Lukwiya served successively as Brigade General, Deputy Army Commander and Army Commander of the LRA, the last being...

, Okot Odhiambo

Okot Odhiambo

Okot Odhiambo is a senior leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan rebel group which operates from Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Odhiambo was one of five people for whom the International Criminal Court issued its first ever arrest warrants in July 2005,...

, Dominic Ongwen

Dominic Ongwen

Dominic Ongwen is the Brigade Commander of the Sinia Brigade of the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group founded in northern Uganda. As the head of one of the four LRA brigades, Ongwen is a member of the "Control Altar" of the LRA that directs military strategy...

, and Vincent Otti

Vincent Otti

Vincent Otti was deputy-leader of the Lord's Resistance Army , a rebel guerrilla army operating mainly in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. He was one of the five persons for whom the International Criminal Court issued its first arrest warrants on 8 July 2005...

, becoming the first people to be indicted by the Court. The proceedings against Lukwiya were terminated in July 2007 following his death on 12 August 2006.

Background

The Lord's Resistance Army

Lord's Resistance Army

(LRA) is a Christian Christian

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

-based rebel group that has been active in Uganda and neighboring countries since 1987. The LRA is led by Joseph Kony

Joseph Kony

, a former faith healer who founded the group on the theology of Alice Auma

Alice Auma

Alice Auma was an Acholi spirit-medium who, as the head of the Holy Spirit Movement, led a millennial rebellion against the Ugandan government forces of President Yoweri Museveni from August 1986 until November 1987...

's failed Holy Spirit Movement

Holy Spirit Movement

The Holy Spirit Movement was the Ugandan rebel group led by Alice Auma, a spirit-medium who claimed to receive direction from the spirit Lakwena. Alice, an ethnic Acholi, was purportedly directed to form the HSM by Lakwena in August 1986...

. Kony claims to communicate with and receive instructions from spirits and God. He also claims that his insurgency is for the betterment of the Acholi people, although he has been quoted as saying, "if the Acholi don't support us, they must be finished".

Referral

The government of Uganda referred the situation to the Court on 16 December 2003. The referral was communicated via a letter sent by President

President of Uganda

-List of Presidents of Uganda:-Affiliations:-See also:*Uganda*Vice President of Uganda*Prime Minister of Uganda*Politics of Uganda*History of Uganda*Political parties of Uganda...

Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is a Ugandan politician and statesman. He has been President of Uganda since 26 January 1986.Museveni was involved in the war that deposed Idi Amin Dada, ending his rule in 1979, and in the rebellion that subsequently led to the demise of the Milton Obote regime in 1985...

to the Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno Ocampo

Luis Moreno Ocampo

José Luis Moreno OcampoMoreno Ocampo's surnames are often hyphenated in English-language media to distinguish Moreno as a surname, rather than a given name. is an Argentine lawyer who has been the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court since June 16, 2003...

. The two met following the referral to establish the methods of cooperation between the Office of the Prosecutor and the government of Uganda. The two held a press conference in London on 29 January 2004 to publicly announce the referral. On 5 July 2004 the situation was assigned to Pre-Trial Chamber II by ICC President Philippe Kirsch

Philippe Kirsch

Philippe Kirsch, OC, QC is a Canadian lawyer who served as a judge of the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2009 and was the court's first president....

. Moreno Ocampo announced the beginning of an official investigation on 29 July 2004.

Charges

Moreno Ocampo applied to Pre-Trial Chamber II for warrants of arrest for Kony, Lukwiya, Odhiambo, Ongwen and Otti on 6 May 2005 and the warrants for all five men were issued under seal on 8 July of that year. The warrants were unsealed on 13 October 2005..

The five men are all indicted in the same case and the indictment lists 33 crimes: 21 counts of war crimes (listed below as WC) and 12 counts of crimes against humanity (listed below as CAH). The statute column contains the reference to the crime in the articles of the Rome Statute. Not all of the counts apply to all of the men, however they all apply to Joseph Kony and all but one applies to Vincent Otti. The counts on the indictment are as follows.

Count	Crime	Statute
1	Sexual enslavement (and attempted)	Article 7(1)(g)
2	Rape	Article 7(1)(g)
3	Inducing of rape	Article 8(2)(e)(vi)
4	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)
5	Enlisting of children	Article 8(2)(e)(vii)
6	Enslavement	Article 7(1)(c)
7	Cruel treatment	Article 8(2)(c)(i)
8	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)
9	Pillaging	Article 8(2)(e)(v)
10	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)
11	Enslavement	Article 7(1)(c)
12	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)
13	Enlisting of children	Article 8(2)(c)(i)
14	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)
15	Pillaging	Article 8(2)(e)(v)
16	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)
17	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)
18	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)
19	Pillaging	Article 8(2)(e)(v)
20	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)
21	Enslavement	Article 7(1)(c)
22	Inhumane acts	Article 7(1)(k)
23	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)
24	Cruel treatment	Article 8(2)(c)(i)
25	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)
26	Pillaging	Article 8(2)(e)(v)
27	Murder	Article 7(1)(a)
28	Enslavement	Article 7(1)(c)
29	Inhumane acts	Article 7(1)(k)
30	Murder	Article 8(2)(c)(i)
31	Cruel treatment	Article 8(2)(c)(i)
32	Attack against a civilian population	Article 8(2)(e)(i)
33	Pillaging	Article 8(2)(e)(v)

Court proceedings

The prosecution of the five suspects was initially consolidated into one case. However, Raska Lukwiya was dropped as a defendant following the confirmation of his death.

The Prosecutor v. Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo and Dominic Ongwen

Currently all four suspects are at large as fugitives and their whereabouts are unknown. On 1 June 2006 Interpol

Interpol

Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...

issued red notices

Interpol notice

An Interpol notice or international notice is issued by Interpol to share information between its members. There are seven types, six of which are known by their colour codes: Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, Black, Orange....

for all the suspects. Kony and Ongwen are still believed to be leading the LRA, which has since been accused of perpetrating additional crimes. Both are suspected to be in either Uganda or a neighboring country. In 2009 Odhiambo told Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse

Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...

that he had defected from the LRA, but would only surrender if there was a guarantee that he would not be turned over to the Court. In December 2007, BBC News

BBC News

BBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...

reported that on 2 October 2007 Otti had been executed on orders from Kony. Kony later confirmed Otti's death to a mediator between the Ugandan government and the LRA, however because the death has not been independently verified the Court still considers him to be at large and the proceedings against him have not been suspended.

Raska Lukwiya

Lukwiya's case was joined with their other defendants until proceedings against him were terminated following the confirmation of his death. Lukwiya was killed on 12 August 2006 in a battle with the Ugandan military. Following the Uganda government's confirmation of his death, the Court terminated proceedings against him on 11 July 2007.

External links

Situation in Uganda – International Criminal Court

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