ICC says Ugandan LRA arrest warrants remain in effect

February 20, 2008 (THE HAGUE) — The office of the prosecutor of International Criminal Court (ICC) Thursday insisted arrest warrants for Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, rebels in Uganda remain in effect following news Kampala has agreed to set up national courts to handle LRA crimes.

The government in Kampala said Tuesday it was close to signing a final peace deal with the rebels after an agreement on setting up national courts to try LRA members for alleged atrocities.

“The office of the prosecutor is not a party to the peace process,” the office said in a statement. “The arrest warrants against the LRA commanders were issued by the court and remain in effect.”

The ICC accuses LRA leader Joseph Kony and three other commanders of raping and mutilating civilians, enlisting child soldiers and massacring thousands during a 20-year rebellion. The court issued arrest warrants against the men in 2005.

Under the regulations of the court only the judges who issued the arrest warrants could withdraw them.

As the ICC operates under the principle of complimentarity, that means it can only step in if the national legal system is nonexistent or fails, national trials for the LRA leaders could have a chance of halting ICC prosecutions. However, human right groups stress a lot will have to be done in Uganda to make national trials a viable option.

An August 2006 ceasefire halted the conflict, and both sides have been engaged in peace talks in Juba, South Sudan.

The protocol setting up national courts forms part of the agreement on accountability and reconciliation signed last year,” according to the Ugandan government who hailed it as a step closer to a final peace deal.

The two sides agreed traditional justice systems would be set up to handle the LRA’s lesser crimes while a special divisional court would be established to try the rebels’ more serious violations.

However Amnesty International said Wednesday that members of Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army should be tried by the International Criminal Court, not domestic tribunals.

Christopher Keith Hall, senior legal adviser with Amnesty’s international justice project, said: “It is not acceptable for the Ugandan government and the LRA to make a deal that circumvents international law.

“Many of these people have been charged with horrific crimes and international warrants have been out for their arrest for more than two and a half years.

“They must be handed over to the ICC so that their guilt or innocence can be determined once and for all. The people of Uganda deserve no less.”

Human Rights Watch welcomed the agreement but also expressed reservations about the efficacy of the proposed courts.

LRA leader Joseph Kony and three other commanders have been indicted by the ICC in The Hague on charges of raping and mutilating civilians, enlisting child soldiers and massacring thousands during a 20-year rebellion.

The conflict ended in August 2006 and both sides have been involved in peace talks in Juba, south Sudan.

(ST)

Some information for this report provided by AFP