In December 2004, the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army came within a hair of negotiating a permanent ceasefire before talks collapsed. Ever since then, the government has been testing out new sticks and carrots in an attempt to coax the LRA back to the table. That finally seems to be happening, with LRA boss Joseph Kony declaring his willingness to reopen unconditional peace talks and the two sides scheduled to meet next week in southern Sudan. Matters may hit a snag, however, because one of the sticks wielded by the Ugandan government - prosecution by the International Criminal Court - is increasingly twisting out of its hand.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni referred Kony to the ICC in January 2004. Although the LRA leader richly deserves punishment for his two decades of atrocities, the move was primarily intended to coerce him into making peace, and Museveni has repeatedly stated that he would drop the charges if Kony surrenders. Since then, though, the ICC prosecutor has taken the position that only the court itself may dismiss an active case and that international criminal charges take precedence over any peace terms agreed by the Ugandan government. And now that peace talks are actually scheduled, the prosecutor has upped the ante by taking out an Interpol warrant against Kony and four other LRA commanders.
The ICC's action prompted opposition by religious and civic leaders in northern Uganda, who see a chance to end their devastating 20-year war and don't want the ICC's actions to put it at risk:
"As religious leaders, we are concerned about the announcement by Interpol. The ICC and Interpol should hold on and give room to negotiations and see how far this dialogue can go," said Monsignor Matthew Odongo, the vicar-general of the Roman Catholic diocese of the northern district of Gulu.
"This is like throwing a stone in water that had settled," Odongo added. "Any move that adds to the suffering of the people will not be good. We think that there is no contingency plan for the ICC or Interpol to arrest Kony and his commanders when government, with an army, has failed for the past 20 years."
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Odongo urged the international community to seize the opportunity presented by the upcoming meeting in Juba [in southern Sudan]. "The concern of the international community should be the immediate end of conflict, not to escalate it and continue destroying more innocent lives in northern Uganda. Can't the ICC wait and take the opportunity offered by this meeting?" he said.
Jackson Otto, a human rights activist in the region said: "Why should they time this announcement ahead of the meeting in Juba? Where have they been when all these people were suffering? Why have they waited this long. I don't doubt their capacity, but they should put peace ahead of all their intentions."
Odongo's comments highlight the real stakes in the dispute between the ICC and Uganda. The argument over jurisdiction have been ongoing for some time, but it seems irresponsible for the ICC prosecutor's office to escalate it precisely when dormant peace talks are about to be revived. Prosecuting five militia commanders, despite their atrocities, is trivial in comparison to ending a war that affects millions of people, and the ICC should follow the lead of the peacemakers rather than trying to override their efforts.
[This is a follow-up to the previous post, and has been crossposted to The Head Heeb]
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