ICC moves against Ugandan rebels
Posted by BBC News
October 7, 2005
The International Criminal Court has issued its first arrest warrants, for five leaders of the Ugandan rebel movement, the Lord's Resistance Army.
No names have been revealed, but the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, is believed to be among them.
The rebel movement has been fighting the government for almost 20 years and is accused of widespread abuses.
These include murder, mutilation, torture, rape and the abduction of children.
Thousands have been killed in the conflict and 1.5 million people have been displaced.
Peace talks
The court in The Hague, the world's first permanent war crimes court, was set up in 2003. It was set up to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It has made no formal statement about the arrest warrants.
However, the head of the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, William Swing, said details of the warrants had been sent last week to the Ugandan authorities, as well as Sudan and Congo, where some of the rebels are based.
"It is a very historic development," Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch told the Associated Press news agency.
"Victims have been suffering at the hands of the LRA for near than 20 years in northern Uganda."
But he added that he hoped the court would also investigate the Ugandan army, which is also accused of abuses against civilians during its war with the rebels.
The warrants spell the end of an effort to hold peace talks with the LRA rebels, says the BBC's Will Ross in Kampala.
The peace talks, backed by several Western countries, produced a historic face-to-face meeting between government ministers and senior LRA rebel commanders almost two years ago.
Since then little has been achieved, our correspondent says, with observers accusing both the LRA and the Ugandan government of not putting enough effort into negotiating an end to the war.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4317852.stm
October 7, 2005
The International Criminal Court has issued its first arrest warrants, for five leaders of the Ugandan rebel movement, the Lord's Resistance Army.
No names have been revealed, but the leader of the LRA, Joseph Kony, is believed to be among them.
The rebel movement has been fighting the government for almost 20 years and is accused of widespread abuses.
These include murder, mutilation, torture, rape and the abduction of children.
Thousands have been killed in the conflict and 1.5 million people have been displaced.
Peace talks
The court in The Hague, the world's first permanent war crimes court, was set up in 2003. It was set up to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It has made no formal statement about the arrest warrants.
However, the head of the United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, William Swing, said details of the warrants had been sent last week to the Ugandan authorities, as well as Sudan and Congo, where some of the rebels are based.
"It is a very historic development," Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Programme at Human Rights Watch told the Associated Press news agency.
"Victims have been suffering at the hands of the LRA for near than 20 years in northern Uganda."
But he added that he hoped the court would also investigate the Ugandan army, which is also accused of abuses against civilians during its war with the rebels.
The warrants spell the end of an effort to hold peace talks with the LRA rebels, says the BBC's Will Ross in Kampala.
The peace talks, backed by several Western countries, produced a historic face-to-face meeting between government ministers and senior LRA rebel commanders almost two years ago.
Since then little has been achieved, our correspondent says, with observers accusing both the LRA and the Ugandan government of not putting enough effort into negotiating an end to the war.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4317852.stm
posted by chocolate_eyes @ 10:21 PM
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