The Lord’s Resistance Army Case: Uganda’s Submission of the First State Referral to the International Criminal Court

Abstract

On December 16, 2003, Uganda referred the situation concerning the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was the first time that a state party had invoked Articles 13(a) and 14 of the Rome Statute in order to vest the Court with jurisdiction.For both Uganda and the ICC, the case presented an important opportunity. For Uganda, the referral was an attempt to engage an otherwise aloof international community by transforming the prosecution of LRA leaders into a litmus test for the much celebrated promise of global justice. Since 1986, LRA atrocities have wreaked havoc on the Acholi people of northern Uganda. Given the absence of any vital national interests, influential states have not been inclined either to pressure Sudan to stop harboring the LRA or to help government forces confront the insurgents. Instead, the burden was placed on Uganda to negotiate a peaceful settlement with a ruthless, cult-like insurgency. The imprimatur of international criminal justice, sought through the referral to the ICC, was a means of thrusting this long-forgotten African war back onto the international stage.

In Search of Justice, Peace, and Reconciliation in Northern Uganda

“…The LRA was able to establish bases in southern Sudan with the support of the Sudanese government. It has been noted that the Sudanese government supported the LRA rebellion for the following two reasons: one, it needed the support of the LRA to fight its war against the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel group in Sudan; and two, it linked Museveni's government with the SPLA rebellion (Akhavan 2005). The LRA rebel movement thus became strong militarily and logistically.…”

Punishing Genocidaires: A Deterrent Effect or Not?

“…This issue has also arisen in the practice of the International Criminal Court, specifically in regard to ongoing investigations in Uganda and Darfur. As for the prosecution's activities in Uganda, some observers have voiced concern that the threat of accountability against the leaders of the infamous Lord's Resistance Army, will complicate, if not render impossible peace, complicating negotiation efforts by the Ugandan central government (Akhavan 2005). There is no certainty as to whether this assertion is correct, and thus, one could also suggest the opposite -that is, that the deterrence argument has had its effect on Ugandan government forces, too, possibly deterring further human rights violations on their part.…”

The Logics of Supranational Human Rights Litigation, Official Acknowledgment, and Human Rights Reform: The Southeast Turkey Cases before the European Court of Human Rights, 1996–2006

“… 4. The ICC is able to investigate international crimes when parties to the ICC statute are “unwilling or unable” to do so themselves (Akvahan 2005). As of 2009, the ICC is investigating war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Uganda, in Central African Republic, and in Darfur, Sudan. …”