ICC indicts Ugandan rebel leaders
In a development praised as "historic" by Human Rights Watch, the new International Criminal Court has issued its first arrest warrants. While some feared (despite many safeguards to the contrary) the ICC would become an instrument of anti-American hatred, the Court's first warrants were issued against five top figures in the so-called Lord's Resistance Army.
The LRA's nominal political objective is to overthrow the Ugandan regime and replace it with a government based on the Ten Commandments. But no one familiar with their unimaginable savagery can take these purported claims the least bit seriously, since they seem intent on VIOLATING all of the Commandments. The LRA's real target is the civilians of northern Uganda.
The LRA's fanatical leader, the self-styled prophet Joseph Kony, is wanted for many alleged atrocities, including torture and mutilation, abduction, sexual violence, forced recruitment and the killing of people the LRA considers are supporters of Yoweri Museveni, Uganda's leader.
A full catalogue of the LRA's violence against children has been compiled by Human Rights Watch. Though the organization additionally recommends that the ICC also investigate alleged abuses by the Ugandan army as well.
posted by Brian @ Friday, October 07, 2005
2 comments
2 Comments:
It's good that some legitimate judicial body is willing to charge and attempt to bring to justice this murderous dog Kony and his many field commanders, and I do hope that there will be serious investigations into the Ugandan government and the UPDF's alleged involvement in the atrocities and crimes carried out against the people of northern Uganda. Let's not leave out the Khartoum regime and the SPLM/A who allegedly gave the LRA shelter and cover (and only God knows what else) for all of those 19 years.
According to the Uganda New Vision online, Betty Bigombe (chief mediator between the LRA and the Ugandan government) claims that any chance to get the LRA militia leaders to lay down their arms, release the child soldiers, and/or surrender have been dashed by the issuing of the ICC arrest warrants. See this UgandaCAN blog post for October 9th: http://www.ugandacan.org/item/544
Like the author of the BBC article referenced in your post here, now that the warrants have been issued, who is going to do the arresting?? INTERPOL!?
"claims that any chance to get the LRA militia leaders to lay down their arms, release the child soldiers, and/or surrender have been dashed by the issuing of the ICC arrest warrants."
I've heard this criticism before and I don't accept it for one simple reason: they've tried other amnesties before to get the LRA types to surrender and it's obviously had no success. So to continue to sweep justice under the carpet in the ephemeral hope of some miraculous change of heart by the LRA savages is simply an untenable position. How long do we pin all our hopes on the impossible and the implausible? It's like planning your retirement on winning the lottery.
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