No abstract

On 13 October 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber II unsealed the warrants of arrest for five senior leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army/Movement (LRA/M) for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Uganda since July 2002. While these warrants were yet to be executed, the Ugandan government entered negotiations with the LRA/M rebels. As a result Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, disregarding the ICC arrest warrants, announced a 'total amnesty' for the LRA combatants in July 2006 on the condition that the rebels renounced terrorism and accepted peace. Following the amnesty offer, an agreement on cessation of hostilities between the Ugandan government and the LRA/M was concluded with effect from 29 August 2006. This article considers the question whether a 'total amnesty' to individuals indicted by the ICC may be binding upon the ICC.

No abstract

Articles 5(3) and 34(6) of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights require that an application before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Court) will not be ‘received’ unless two conditions are fulfilled. First, the application must be filed against a State which has ratified the Protocol. Second, an application can be received only against a State which made an optional declaration accepting the competence of the Court to receive cases from Non Governmental organisations (NGOs) with observer status before the Commission and individuals. The vast majority of State parties to the Protocol have not filed (and are not likely to file in the near future) a declaration to allow NGOs and individuals, most likely to bring human rights cases before the Court, direct access to the Court. This article examines the impact of the limitation imposed on direct access to the Court by individuals and NGOs on the African Court’s jurisdiction by considering the applications decided by the Court since it started its operations in 2006 up to December 2012. It is argued that the limitation is a major challenge currently facing the Court and that it has adversely affected the exercise of the Court’s jurisdiction. It is concluded that allowing NGOs and individuals direct access to the Court will make a significant contribution to the attainment of the objectives of the African Charter and the Court’s Protocol.