We are proud of the speedy proceedings in Ongwen trial, says ICC

Officials from the International Criminal Court have said they are happy and proud of the speed of the ongoing trial of former Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen.

Ongwen, a former commander of the Sinia Brigade of the LRA rebels was indicted of 70 charges related to war crimes and crimes against humanity before trial begun in December 2016.

Prosecution recently completed their case and now awaiting Ongwen’s lawyers to file his defence.

Addressing journalists in Kampala on Tuesday, Dahirou Sant- Anna the international cooperation adviser for the ICC who spoke on behalf of the Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda said they have covered more ground than expected, a thing he said was a positive in relation to disposing off the case.

“Apart from Ahmad Al Faqi Al Mahdi’s case (from Mali pleaded guilty), the Ongwen case is the first we have gone about so fast and we are proud of it,”Dahirou told journalists.

In 2005, the International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants against five members of the Lord’s Resistance Army including their top most leader Joseph Kony and his commanders including Dominic Ongwen, Okoth Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya and Vincent Otti.

However, three of these have since died remaining with only Ongwen who is undergoing trial whereas Kony is still at large.

According to the official from ICC, the prosecution relied on evidence from over 100 witnesses who included among others victims, UPDF officers and former forced wives to Ongwen who all pinned him on orchestrating crimes against humanity during the war in Northern Uganda.

“Some of the evidence was in form of written statement from witnesses. Former LRA fighters also testified including child soldiers captured by his brigade but later run away from the group.”

He however noted that some of the witnesses opted to be protected while testifying because of security reasons but said he was confident the prosecution have a good case.

The representative of the ICC prosecutor revealed that by the end of this month, the defence lawyers are expected to have provided the evidence they intend to rely on during the defence, adding that they expect the case to be disposed of fast.

ICC influenced?

Many African  countries have in past bashed the International Criminal Court as a tool used and influenced by the West to torment Africans.

In 2004, President Museveni took a swipe to the ICC for their then trial of Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta, describing The Hague based court as “a biased instrument of post-colonial hegemony.”

Museveni averred that Africa should urgently reconsider its engagement with ICC on account of its humiliating treatment of the continent.

In 2016 during his inauguration ceremony, he described the ICC as a bunch of useless people.

However when asked about comments in relation to the court being influenced by western countries, the ICC prosecutor representative rubbished it as baseless.

“We receive no particular strategy from anyone on how to prosecute a particular person or mitigate a case,” he noted.

He added the court is investigating acts of crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, Ukraine and many other countries that are outside Africa.

The ICC was formed under the 1998 Rome statute and will be celebrating 20 years since its formation.

According to the ICC outreach officer, Maria Mabinty Kamara, the celebrations will commence on July 17 and to be held in various African countries including Uganda, DRC, Central African Republic,Ivory Coast and Mali.