Uganda: Interaction between International and National Judicial Responses to Mass Atrocities (original) (raw)
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Stability: International Journal of Security & Development, 2013
"This practice note describes and critiques the initial years of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) involvement in Uganda from the perspective of local civil society actors. It argues that the substance and process of the ICC’s intervention fell chronically short of generating justice for those who had lived with the conflict for over two decades, and therefore created a disconnect between the priorities of those on the ground, and the priorities of the Court and its international minders. In order to unravel some of the dynamics that underpinned this disconnect, the paper asserts that the pivotal relationship between citizen and state provides a lens through which to assess any approach to generating justice in Uganda. It concludes that those promoting international justice need to be more cognisant of the fact that international justice mechanisms are obsolete unless they can move from theory to practice and make a genuine difference in people’s lives. In this regard, a better understanding and awareness of the political and social context in which they are operating, as well as greater self-critique and honesty, is critical."
Multilayered Justice in Northern Uganda: ICC Intervention and Local Procedures of Accountability
In an effort to redress the effects of the civil war in Northern Uganda, local, state and international officials have begun to study the feasibility of re-adapting the procedures of local justice, including mato oput, a local procedure practiced by the Acholi tribe. This article examines this evolving multilayered project of justice in Northern Uganda. It addresses two features of this model: (1) the central features of local justice, in particular mato oput, and (2) the complementary relationship between mato oput, the state, and the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) victims’ unit and the victims’ trust fund. It argues that closer and more effective ties between the ICC and local procedures of justice can be developed. Not only does this relationship constitute an evolving framework for addressing the political realities of ICC intervention, but it also raises many important practical implications for reaching out to the local population.
The International Criminal Court and the transformation of post-war justice in Northern Uganda
Sentio Journal, 2021
This article looks at the interface between the International Criminal Court and transitional justice processes in Northern Uganda. It takes a doctrinal approach, drawing on qualitative work in the fields of international criminal law, human rights, and political science. The Ugandan situation demonstrates that top-down transitional justice has both positive and negative dimensions. This article argues that, while the International Criminal Court has helped transform judicial aspects, it has also contributed towards the decline of traditional justice mechanisms. Overall, the article concludes that there is still a compelling case to be made for the involvement of international criminal tribunals in postwar contexts, but that it needs to be done in such a way that promotes good domestic processes and incorporates bottom-up perspectives.
DR Congo: Interaction between International and National Judicial Responses to the Mass Atrocities
DOMAC Case Study Series, 2012
ABOUT DOMAC THE DOMAC PROJECT focuses on the actual interaction between national and international courts involved in prosecuting individuals in mass atrocity situations. It explores what impact international procedures have on prosecution rates before national courts, their sentencing policies, award of reparations and procedural legal standards. It comprehensively examines the problems presented by the limited response of the international community to mass atrocity situations, and offers methods to improve coordination of national and international proceedings and better utilization of national courts, inter alia, through greater formal and informal avenues of cooperation, interaction and resource sharing between national and international courts. THE DOMAC PROJECT is a research program funded under the Seventh Framework Programme for EU Research (FP7) under grant agreement no. 217589. The DOMAC project is funded under the Socio-economic sciences and Humanities Programme for the duration of three years starting 1st February 2008.
The continued prevalence of deadly conflicts resulting in atrocities and crimes against humanity bring to sharp contrast the competing demands of justice and the interests of conflict resolution and peace building. While contemporary transitional justice deals with questions of impunity in post conflict situations, this book examines the suitability of international justice for conflict resolution. This critique is situated in the historical development and rise to prominence of international humanitarian law and human rights conventions. It critiques the consequences of pursuing justice in on going conflicts and scrutinizes the competing interests of the punitive and retributive approach to contemporary international justice leading to prosecution, against a conflict resolution approach that favours political considerations for peace and security that may require engagement with perpetrators of war crimes in order to secure peace. The balance between peace and justice is the more difficult to strike in the context of an on going conflict such as Northern Uganda's where the pursuit of justice by the ICC risks exacerbating the conflict and diminishing the prospects for peace.
2011
There has been a change in expectations about international response to mass atrocities in the post-Cold War era and, in particular, the aftermath of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. In a bid to ensure that the world never again fails to act, the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998 and the adoption of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) principle in the 2005 World Summit mark the birth of two forms of responsibilities: responsibility to punish and responsibility to protect. The interaction of R2P with the ICC, however, reflects an inherent tension between protection of civilians and punishment of perpetrators in the temporal trajectory of international society's response to mass atrocities. Using northern Uganda as a case study, this paper explores the relationship between R2P and the ICC by questioning the temporal ordering of R2P-ICC linkages in international society's response to the twenty-five-year-old conflict. In particular, it explains why invoking ICC judicial intervention instead of R2P political action in the first place tends to be unsuccessful in stopping the ongoing mass atrocities in northern Uganda.
Sierra Leone: Interaction between International and National Responses to the Mass Atrocities
DOMAC Case Study Series, 2009
THE DOMAC PROJECT focuses on the actual interaction between national and international courts involved in prosecuting individuals in mass atrocity situations. It explores what impact international procedures have on prosecution rates before national courts, their sentencing policies, award of reparations and procedural legal standards. It comprehensively examines the problems presented by the limited response of the international community to mass atrocity situations, and offers methods to improve coordination of national and international proceedings and better utilization of national courts, inter alia, through greater formal and informal avenues of cooperation, interaction and resource sharing between national and international courts. THE DOMAC PROJECT is a research program funded under the Seventh Framework Programme for EU Research (FP7) under grant agreement no. 217589. The DOMAC project is funded under the Socio-economic sciences and Humanities Programme for the duration of three years starting 1st February 2008.