Nation Ready to Try Col. Gadaffi

Cyprian Musoke

11 June 2011

INIDICTED Libyan Leader Col. Muammar Gadaffi and that of Sudan Gen. Omar Bashir are some of the cases that could be tried in Uganda by the newly formed International War Crimes Tribunal, after its status was elevated from a war crimes division of the High Court.

In an interview with Sunday Vision on Thursday, Judiciary spokesperson Justice Elias Kisawuzi said once the charges preferred against the two by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo do not exceed those within the jurisdiction given to the tribunal, their cases could be referred here.

Asked whether the recently indicted ministers in Kenya can be referred and tried here, Kisawuzi said: “Yes, they can be tried here because this court now complements the Internal Criminal Court. We now have the equivalent of Geneva or Hague in Africa.”

All African countries like Kenya, Libya and Sudan whose leaders were recently indicted by the ICC, he added, will be looking at the possibility of requesting for the referral of their cases to Uganda.

The scenario would be similar to the Special Tribunal on Sierra Leone headed by Ugandan judge Justice Julia Ssebutinde that is trying Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor at the Hague.

Kisawuzi said most international war crimes and crimes against humanity can now be tried in the Uganda International War Crimes Tribunal, the first of its kind in Africa.

He said the elevation that Uganda was earlier notified about was eventually communicated in a gazette dated May 31, 2011, signaling the start of its jurisdiction in international war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“The gazette provides for the establishment, composition, administration and rules of procedure of the new court and a court users committee. It now has powers to try offences ranging from genocide, crimes against humanity, terrorism, human trafficking, piracy and any other international crimes as provided for under the Penal Code, Geneva Convention and ICC Act,” he said.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Act was domesticated in 2010 by the Parliament so that its provisions can be applicable in the then newly established war crimes division at the High Court.

The tribunal will be headed by a panel of three judges; Justice Akiiki Kiiza, Justice Owiny Dollo, and Justice Elizabeth Nahamya.

“The first case they will handle will be that of captured LRA Commander Col. Thomas Kwoyelo on July 7 and will sit in Gulu. Even the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel leader Joseph Kony can be tried there as well as any other person indicted by the ICC,” Kisawuzi said.

Foundation for Human Rights Initiative boss Livingstone Ssewanyana, who is part of the Coalition on the ICC, welcomed the development, saying it demonstrates Uganda’s commitment to ensuring justice and ending impunity by ensuring that those who commit offences do not go unpunished.

“We, however, urge the authorities, to go beyond rhetoric to action because the court can be there without cases. We should ensure perpetrators of injustice are brought before it so that Uganda is a hub of peace and justice,” he said.

Justice Akiiki Kiiza, before being posted to the High Court, worked as the Chief Magistrate of FortPortal Magisterial Area, Senior Magistrate in Kalisizo district, Senior Magistrate in Mbabara and Luwero districts and Magistrate Kabale Magisterial Area as well as several other portfolios.

Jutsice Owiny Dollo was once Minister for Northern Uganda Reconstruction programme and Leader of the Acholi Parliamentary Group to the Kacoke Madit peace talks in 1998.

Justice Elizabeth Ibanda Nahamya served with Sierra Leone’s UN-backed war crimes court. The court was set up in 2002 to try those most responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law in the civil wars that plagued the country, starting in 1996.

After the creation of the special crimes division at the High Court there was controversy with a section of lawyers citing contradictions between the national laws and those of the ICC. While the ICC cannot issue death sentences, the death sentence is still on the national law books and can be applied in cases of murder.

Others saw the move of creating the special crimes division at the High Court as an attempt to convince the International Criminal Court (ICC) to drop indictments against top LRA commanders.

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