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Ugandan rebels
According to reliable Uganda sources,
The Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, is in a confrontation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after saying he will not hand over to The Hague the leaders of his country's rebel Lord's Resistance Army indicted for war crimes.
Museveni said that Joseph Kony, the LRA leader, and his
commanders will instead be brought before
"traditional" Ugandan courts which emphasise apologies and
compensation rather than punishment as part of a deal to end a
21-year civil war marked by the abduction of children as combatants,
mass rape of women and the mutilation and murder of civilians.
Museveni said local trials were the wish of the victims and leaders in the areas hit by the conflict.
"What we have agreed with our people is that they should face traditional justice, which is more compensatory than a retributive system," he said on a visit to London. "That is what we have agreed at the request of the local community. They have been mainly tormenting people in one area and it is that community which asked us to use traditional justice."
But critics have accused Museveni of misusing the ICC indictments as a bargaining tool to press Kony into a peace settlement. The court issued arrest warrants in 2005 for Kony and four of his commanders, two of whom are now believed to be dead, after Museveni appealed for the ICC to investigate the rebels' crimes.
Under international law, Uganda is obliged to send the accused men for trial at The Hague. But the matter has opened a rift between African governments, which believe such trials should be subordinated to local peace deals and reconciliation, and countries such as Britain, which back the ICC as establishing international justice.
The Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, is in a confrontation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after saying he will not hand over to The Hague the leaders of his country's rebel Lord's Resistance Army indicted for war crimes.
Museveni said that Joseph Kony, the LRA leader, and his
commanders will instead be brought before
"traditional" Ugandan courts which emphasise apologies and
compensation rather than punishment as part of a deal to end a
21-year civil war marked by the abduction of children as combatants,
mass rape of women and the mutilation and murder of civilians.Museveni said local trials were the wish of the victims and leaders in the areas hit by the conflict.
"What we have agreed with our people is that they should face traditional justice, which is more compensatory than a retributive system," he said on a visit to London. "That is what we have agreed at the request of the local community. They have been mainly tormenting people in one area and it is that community which asked us to use traditional justice."
But critics have accused Museveni of misusing the ICC indictments as a bargaining tool to press Kony into a peace settlement. The court issued arrest warrants in 2005 for Kony and four of his commanders, two of whom are now believed to be dead, after Museveni appealed for the ICC to investigate the rebels' crimes.
Under international law, Uganda is obliged to send the accused men for trial at The Hague. But the matter has opened a rift between African governments, which believe such trials should be subordinated to local peace deals and reconciliation, and countries such as Britain, which back the ICC as establishing international justice.
Creative mind
Wabongo washerehekea!!
