{UAH} UGANDANS RARING TO GIVE EVIDENCE FOR AND AGAINIST LRA'S ONGWEN

Ugandans raring to give evidence for and against LRA’s Ongwen

 

LRA Commander Gen Dominic Ongwen (middle) under arrest by Ugandan forces after he gave himself up.

By Nkonge I Kaggwa in Kampala – Uganda

A Number of politicians and former abductees in Northern Uganda are falling over themselves to travel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to give evidence in the case of former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) commander Dominic Ongwen who has been handled over to the ICC after handing himself over in the Central African Republic early this year. 

Addressing a press conference here in Kampala, the Chairperson of the Acholi Parliamentary group and Member of Parliament representing the Forum for Democratic Change in Aswa County, Gulu District, Mr Reagan Okumu confirmed that the people of Northern Uganda are now lining up witnesses to testify both for and against Gen Ongwen, himself a former abductee. The witnesses being lined up shall include, Titus Obari and his wife who is now a councillor and once LRA abductees, Ombakatira and Atima Ngom who was a formal wife to Ongwen.

Okumu who was a member of the presidential team tasked with helping bring peace to Northern Uganda and was among the arbiters of the 19 year long rebellion in the Northern parts of the country, was involved in the negotiations between the LRA and government to put an end to the war in 2007 in the Juba peace deals whose results are up to date unknown. He revealed that a group of legal experts have been lined up to ensure that Ongwen gets justice. He pointed out that the surrendering of Ongwen is a blessing to the people of Acholi and Lango sub-regions as a lot of lies had been fade to Ugandans including the ICC. “Ongwen is now in the hands of the ICC. No doubt about that, no dispute at all. Now what we wait for is the future date to see when he is to appear before the ICC,” Okumu said. He reiterated that people have always wanted to know what happened to its people and want to know their future He said all this is now in the hands of the ICC. “Ongwen’s prosecution in this court is a blessing in disguise,” he added.

He disclosed that his people have evidence that government committed atrocities in the war and pledged to produce a publication containing all evidence soon. “Data set to be published has names, dates, places and time, where and when the atrocities were committed .We have collected data right from Soroti up to the Acholi sub-region, the balance sheet of crimes at 50-50 between 1986 to 1993, when over 90 per cent of the deaths committed was done by government forces and between 1994 to 2006 when atrocities were committed as revenge when Betty Bigombe (a former state minister for Northern Uganda) organized over 12,000 arrow groups that led to mass killings,” he claimed. When asked why they continue pursuing the past and whether it will not deter the ongoing developments in the region, Okumu satirically assured the media that the future of Northern Uganda lies in the old debate. “The old debate is what shapes the future; it continues to be relevant as the government has not yet addressed the issue of northern Uganda. The ICC has been in the issue of Northern Uganda since 1997 but nothing in terms of facts is provided to the people in the North”. He further reminded the media that the ICC was invited by government therefore a serious investigation is needed, observing that it is in a dilemma as it was constituted after 1998 when it was set up. He wondered what would happen to the period before 1998 when more of the atrocities were committed.

He added that according to available data, the balance sheet changed over 90 per cent during the period from 1994 to 2002, showing that people were killed by rebels reacting to the anti LRA attacks that led to people being ‘cut-throated’ (beheaded) and shot to death. “There are mass graves for government forces at Namukoora, Bucholwo, Padibe, Acholi Burr, Paweri; mass graves by the NRA (National Resistance Army which is now the Uganda Peoples defence Forces) where people were just throated, shot and killed and buried and you find mass graves at Lukudu, Atiyak, Balonyo, and Teso regions, the result of LRA killings,” he noted.

The MP went on to say that this was now a critical moment for safeguarding speeches in case people’s wounds could be healed. “I have recordings of President Yoweri Museveni publically saying ‘we massacred them; they will no longer support the rebels; we taught them a lesson in, Kona Kilak and Awaki; they will never do it again they will never support them again,’” Okumu said.

He recalled events of “Operation North” that was headed by the then Minister of State for Defense General David Tinyefunza in 1993, saying it was the worst anarchy for the people in Northern Uganda. “They had to cut off Northern Uganda from Karuma and many people were being killed, the Catholic Church that had its communication gadgets confiscated and the army was everything, Okumu claimed. He said that Tinyefunza had then become ‘semi-god, the judge and everything as he was so powerful. It was a disaster only stopped by the ICC because it was abusing the rules of engagement during war.” Titus Obari who was abducted at 15 with his two other brothers said he is ready to defend Ongwen at the ICC. He recounted how he was able to escape from the LRA. “I escaped when I was taken to the sick bay. I know what it is when one is abducted. What is most important is rehabilitation of the formerly abducted,” he said. Ongwen faces a list of seven counts of alleged individual criminal responsibility including crimes against humanity, enslavement, murder and inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily harm.

In a testimony he gave in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in January 2004 about events then taking place in Northern Uganda, Mr Okumu had this to say: “The question of indiscipline among [Ugandan] troops – the commanders are bad. They harass the population, induce young girls to sex and young children in the camps are being lured into being soldiers and home guards. The children have no future. Schools have been displaced. Teachers are themselves displaced. Health workers don’t want to risk their lives to go to camps. Human values are lost in these camps. There is moral degeneration. As a member of the presidential peace team, I feel stupid when I can’t do much for my people. I am just hanging on to give people hope, but not that the presidential team will deliver anything.”

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has tasked the ICC to show its relevance by revitalizing its activities in northern Uganda and the country as a whole. In a press statement he issued this week, Daniel Bekele the Africa director at the HRW challenged the court that after the indictment of Gen Ongwen by the ICC, the court suspended its outreach programs in Uganda because of lack of developments that rendered its activities irrelevant. However under the Rome Statute ICC can hold trials outside its seat in The Hague and in countries where crimes have been committed.

Bekele encouraged ICC to explore the Rome Statute so as to conduct some of the proceedings against Ongwen in at least one part of the country to help promote the affected communities access the proceedings. The ICC through its local chapters like the Coalition of the International Criminal Court Uganda chapter and the Human Rights Network Uganda had in the past carried out several sensitization programs in Uganda including journalists, legislators and local people in the affected areas, but had stopped because three of the rebels indicted were believed dead while the two commanders Generals Joseph Kony and Dominic Ongwen, had run to the jungles of the DR Congo and the CAR. He confirmed that Ongwen will have an initial appearance at the court, where the judges are set to first verify his identity and determine his needs for interpretation in the court proceedings in pursuance of the prosecutor’s responsibility of offering sufficient evidence to establish substantial grounds to convince court that Ongwen committed the crimes before charges are confirmed. Bekele observed that Ongwen’s transfer to the ICC does not diminish the importance of focused efforts to arrest Joseph Kony.

The people of Acholi and Lango sub region where most of the atrocities happened however had mixed reactions when they received the news that former LRA commander is to be presented to the ICC to answer his for crimes as some are willing to be his witnesses. The LRA led by the Ugandan warlord Kony has been fighting the government of Uganda for nearly three decades. The armed group has killed, maimed, and abducted thousands of civilians many of them children, in remote areas of northern Uganda and north eastern DR Congo, South Sudan and CAR. In December 2003, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni referred the LRA situation to the ICC making him the first Head of State to refer a case to the newly instituted court which opened an investigation into northern Uganda and issued warrants of arrest for Ongwen and four other LRA leaders including Kony in 2005. “Kony remains at large, and his fighters remain a serious threat to civilians in the border region between the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and north eastern Congo,” Human Rights Watch said.

In December 2009, troops allegedly under Ongwen’s command, are said to have killed at least 345 civilians and abducted another 250 including at least 80 children during a four-day rampage in the Makombo area of north eastern Congo making it one of the worst massacres during the LRA’s long, brutal history. “The ICC prosecutor should consider expanding the charges to crimes committed outside Uganda for areas under the court’s jurisdiction, such as Congo and the Central African Republic,” Bekele noted.

Judicial proceedings against Ongwen have already raised important issues regarding his status as a former child soldier though the crimes he is charged with were committed as an adult. His abduction was a war crime. He was denied parental care and spent formative years under the control of adults who used violence and extreme brutality as a form of discipline and punishment which are mitigating factors that should be considered during possible sentencing, in the event of trial and conviction. They could also be relevant to his legal defense.

EM

On the 49^th Parallel          

                 Thé Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Ssabassajja and Dr. Kiiza Besigye, Uganda is in anarchy"
                    Kuungana Mulindwa Mawasiliano Kikundi
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