"Human Rights Watch has documented many shocking abuses by the LRA in Uganda," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice program at Human Rights Watch. "But the ICC prosecutor cannot ignore the crimes that Ugandan government troops allegedly have committed."
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----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2004 12:06 PM
Subject: [unioNews] Fwd: ICC: Investigate All Sides in Uganda
From Human Rights Watch
ICC: Investigate All Sides in Uganda
Chance for Impartial ICC Investigation into Serious Crimes a
Welcome Step
(New York, February 4, 2004) -- The prospect of an impartial
investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into
serious crimes committed in Uganda is a welcome development,
Human Rights Watch said today.
The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, announced in London on
January 29 that he would begin an ICC investigation into crimes
committed in Uganda. Moreno Ocampo made the announcement at a
news conference held jointly with the Ugandan president, Yoweri
Museveni, whose government referred the crimes of the Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA) to the court. Uganda is the first
government to refer a case to the ICC since the court began its
work.
"Human Rights Watch has documented many shocking abuses by the
LRA in Uganda," said Richard Dicker, director of the
International Justice program at Human Rights Watch. "But the ICC
prosecutor cannot ignore the crimes that Ugandan government
troops allegedly have committed."
According to Human Rights Watch research, the LRA has committed
widespread abuses against civilians in Uganda, including child
abductions, summary executions, torture, rape and sexual assault,
forced labor, and mutilation. Recently, LRA abductions have
reached record levels, with an estimated 10,000 children abducted
since mid-2002 and forced to fight, kill civilians, and abduct
other children. Children who fail to comply with orders are
murdered, often by other children who are forced to kill them.
Human Rights Watch has also reported on abuses by Ugandan
government troops, the Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF).
Violations committed by the UPDF include extrajudicial killings,
rape and sexual assault, forcible displacement of over one
million civilians, and the recruitment of children under the age
of 15 into government militias.
"President Museveni's referral does not limit the prosecutor's
investigation only to crimes allegedly committed by the LRA,"
said Dicker. "The prosecutor should operate independently and has
the authority to look at all ICC crimes committed in Uganda."
The Ugandan parliament ratified the ICC treaty on June 14, 2002.
Through its referral, the Ugandan government commits to cooperate
with the ICC to investigate crimes, provide evidence, arrest and
surrender persons sought by the court, and protect witnesses and
victims. Such cooperation must extend to investigation by the
prosecutor into UPDF crimes.
Human Rights Watch cautioned that the prosecutor should conduct
his investigation in a way that does not jeopardize the security
of the children who are still in LRA captivity or escalate the
risk of further abductions. The United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance and the U.N. Children's
Fund have recently expanded their presence in northern Uganda,
but additional child protection and human rights monitors in the
North should also be deployed.
Human Rights Watch also stressed the need for an immediate
international strategy to secure the release of children in the
LRA's hands. Renewed international pressure on all the parties
involved-including the LRA and the Ugandan government-is needed
to put a stop to abductions and secure the release of children in
LRA captivity.
Uganda passed an amnesty law to insulate those accused of serious
crimes in the conflict from prosecution. An ICC press release of
January 29, 2004, states that President Museveni intends to amend
the amnesty law to exclude the LRA leadership from its
protection. Regardless of whether the Ugandan president takes
this action, under the founding treaty of the ICC, and under
international law generally, amnesties are not a bar to
prosecution for such serious crimes as genocide, crimes against
humanity, and war crimes.
For additional materials on crimes committed in Uganda, please
see the Human Rights Watch reports:
Stolen Children: Abduction and Recruitment in Northern Uganda,
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/uganda0303/ and
Abducted and Abused: Renewed Conflict in Northern Uganda,
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/uganda0703/
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