Uganda LRA rebels dismiss amnesty offer for leader – report
July 7, 2006 (KAMPALA, Uganda) — Rebels fighting a 19-year civil war in northern Uganda have dismissed a conditional amnesty for their leader, saying President Yoweri Museveni’s offer was irrelevant now that the two sides were about to begin peace talks, a state-owned newspaper reported Friday.
Museveni has agreed to begin peace talks next Wednesday in neighboring Sudan with the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army. If those talks go well and the group abandons terrorism, he promised their leader, Joseph Kony, wouldn’t be arrested to face charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court.
“The statement of offer of amnesty is redundant and it’s not applicable in the situation of negotiations,” the New Vision said, quoting Kony’s legal adviser Krispus Ayena Odongo. “Amnesty presupposes surrender … The amnesty (offer) doesn’t help in finding a solution to the problem of the north.”
“Amnesty presupposes that the other party is defeated. It’s beside the point,” rebel spokesman Obonyo Olweny said.
The Netherlands-based International Criminal Court last July issued arrest warrants for Kony and four of his lieutenants for crimes against humanity including the killing of thousands of civilians and enslaving thousands of children. The court called on Congo, Sudan and Uganda to arrest the five.
Thursday, the U.S. criticized Museveni’s amnesty offer.
“The United States respects Uganda’s decision on this matter, but we believe those who have committed atrocities in this long-standing insurgency should be held accountable for their deeds,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Ugandan rebels may be talking peace, but secretly reorganizing and rearming. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, however, stopped short of challenging Museveni to break off peace efforts with the rebels or to retract his offer of amnesty if the talks succeed.
Museveni has assured Kony that his government won’t renege on its promise of amnesty even under international pressure. He said the U.N. mission in Congo should have arrested him because it knew his location in that country’s Garamba National Park.
(ST/AP)