Most members of the LRA are believed to be aged 11 to 15, but some are
younger - they are frequently beaten and forced to become porters

************


----- Original Message -----
From: "Omule" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "UPC" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2004 10:03 AM
Subject: Fw: ICJ should not be manipulated by Ugandan President, Yoweri
Museveni


>
> Below is a copy of a letter e-mailed to the ICJ by a concerned African
> neighbor. I have deleted his name and address.
>
> Omule
>
>
> _____________________________________________________
> ----- Original Message -----
> Subject: ICJ should not be manipulated by Ugandan President, Yoweri
Museveni
>
>
> > The President
> > International Court of Justice
> > The Hague
> > The Netherlands
> >
> > Dear Sir:
> >
> > To start with, let me say that I am not a Ugandan national and that I
> copied
> > the news item, which appears after my letter, from the BBC website.
> >
> > I could not believe that President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has the
> > audacity to try to involve the ICJ  in a game of this kind by which he
is
> > trying to make himself blameless for the war crimes that are taking
place
> in
> > his hapless country.
> >
> > Museveni is a known mass murderer, a criminal against humanity and a war
> > criminal.  For the past twenty years or so since fighting a civil war in
> the
> > 1980's to gain power by the force of arms, Museveni has been denying the
> > people of Uganda freedom and democracy.  His regime has been so brutal
> that
> > it has caused a civil war to be waged against him and his government.
> >
> > Museveni has not only been perpetrating mass murder and war crimes in
> Uganda
> > but also across the border with his encouragement of an armed revolt in
> > Rwanda.  This led to a genocide by Hutus against Tutsis and moderates
> Hutus
> > and also a genocide by the Tutsi-dominated government of President Paul
> > Kagame against Hutus, particularly the more than 250,000 ( a quarter
> > million) Hutu refugees his army pursued and killed in the Congo and
whose
> > bodies were disposed off by mass incineration.  Museveni has also been
> > making armed forays into Congo and the Sudan, which have claimed
thousands
> > and thousands of humain lives and left behind them trails of
devastation.
> >
> > What makes this request by Museveni to the ICJ to prosecute the leaders
of
> > the Lord's Resistance Army ridiculous is this: who will arrest and
deliver
> > the LRA leaders to the ICJ when his own regime has been unable to do so?
> He
> > has tried every trick in the book to trick the LRA leaders so that he
> could
> > arrest or murder them but to no avail.  In the civil war the LRA is
> > currently gaining an upper hand in the fighting with its operations
> > spreading to other regions of Uganda from its base in northern Uganda.
> >
> > A large part of the crimes that are attributed to the LRA are actually
> > committed by the armed forces of President Yoweri Museveni.  In a number
> of
> > past interviews including with the BBC, Museveni has acknowledged, while
> > answering questions as to whether Ugandan troops were not also
> perpetrating
> > murders of civilians, that "Ugandan soldiers are not saints."  In a
recent
> > interview with the BBC Museveni admitted that he himself has killed
people
> > by his own hand.
> >
> > More objectively, in the Ugandan situation, Amnesty International and
the
> > Human Rights Watch  in Washington have been blaming both the the Ugandan
> > regime and the LRA for war crimes.
> >
> > I think it is a fair opinion that if the ICJ is to prosecute anybody for
> war
> > crimes in Uganda, the prosecution and trial should cover Museveni
himself
> > and members of his armed forces and government who may be found to have
> > personally committed or ordered the commission of crimes against
humanity
> > and also anybody in the LRA who may have committed crimes.
> >
> > For the ICJ solely to persecute the LRA leaders at the request and
> > instigation of Yoweri Museveni would be to allow the ICJ to become a big
> > joke in the game of manipulation by the Uganda leader to score
propaganda
> > points against his enemies on whom he has heaped all the blame for
> > atrocities of the civil war.
> >
> > I hope that the ICJ will not fall prey to this devilish plot by a
> > self-confessed murder and a confirmed war criminal and criminal against
> > humanity.
> >
> > The ICJ should tell Museveni to settle the conflict peacefully so that
the
>
> > people of Uganda can enjoy peace, have freedom and democracy and begin
to
> > rebuild their ravaged country and their lives.
> >
> > Sincerely yours,
> >
> >
> > read BBC nws item appearing bellow:
> >
> >
> > Last Updated: Thursday, 29 January, 2004, 16:36 GMT
> >
> > E-mail this to a friend   Printable version
> >
> > Court probes Uganda rebel abuses
> >
> >
> > Children are frequently abducted by the LRA rebels
> > The International Criminal Court is to investigate the Ugandan rebel
> > organisation, the Lord's Resistance Army.
> > The court announced the decision during a meeting between the chief
> > prosecutor and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
> >
> > It is the first time a state has asked the court to act.
> >
> > In a statement the court, based in the Hague, said that locating and
> > arresting the leadership of the LRA was a key issue.
> >
> > The court said that the 17-year conflict in Uganda had seen 20,000
> children
> > being abducted and abuses including rape, murder and beatings.
> >
> > It said that if the prosecution was to go ahead it would require the
> > co-operation of the Ugandan authorities.
> >
> > President Museveni first sought the intervention of the newly formed
court
> > in December.
> >
> > Locate
> >
> > Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has determined that there is a
> > sufficient basis to start planning for its first investigation.
> >
> > But the court - formed in 2002 - cautioned that it could take several
> months
> > to decide whether to launch a formal investigation.
> >
> > A statement released by the court said that Uganda would need to call on
> > other countries and international institutions to locate and arrest the
> > rebel leadership.
> >
> > A similar task was faced by Nato-led forces in the Balkans to capture
war
> > crimes suspects wanted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
> >
> > The LRA operates in northern Uganda, and is led by self-proclaimed
mystic
> > Joseph Kony.
> >
> > Most members of the LRA are believed to be aged 11 to 15, but some are
> > younger - they are frequently beaten and forced to become porters.
> >
> _____________________________________________________________________
>
>

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