International Criminal Court and the Lord's Resistance Army
![handle is hein.journals/meljil8 and id is 167 raw text is: THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT AND THE
LORD'S RESISTANCE ARMY
MATTHEW HAPPOLD*
[In 2004, the conflict in northern Uganda became the first situation to be referred to the
International Criminal Court ('ICC ). Although an investigation was initiated by the Office of the
Prosecutor ('OTP') and arrest warrants were issued in 2005for five leaders of the rebel Lord's
Resistance Army ('LRA '), no defendants have as yet been brought before the Court. The referral
has been dogged with controversy from the beginning. In 2006, negotiations began between the
Government of Uganda and the LRA aimed at ending the conflict, with suggestions that any
peace agreement include an amnesty for crimes committed during the conflict. This commentary
considers the various legal and policy issues involved in the referral and the consequent
investigation. It examines the legality of Uganda 's 'self-referral' and the propriety of the
Prosecutor of the ICCs criteria for case selection. The arrest warrants and subsequent
proceedings at the Court are considered, and the implications for the Court's continuing
involvement of any amnesty are analysed. The commentary concludes by assessing the
implications of the situation for the ICC's credibility and continuing effectiveness.]
CONTENTS
I Introduction ........................................................................................................... 159
11 The Situation in N orthern U ganda ........................................................................ 162
III U ganda's Self-R eferral .......................................................................................... 165
IV Criticisms of the Referral and Investigation .......................................................... 169
V T he A rrest W arrants .............................................................................................. 173
V I Subsequent D evelopm ents ..................................................................................... 176
A A t the C ourt ............................................................................................... 176
B O n the G round .......................................................................................... 180
1 INTRODUCTION
In December 2003, the Ugandan Government referred the 'situation
concerning the Lord's Resistance Army' to the Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Court ('ICC').1 On 29 January 2004, the Court announced its first
referral.2 Six months later, the Prosecutor announced that, having determined
that the requirements in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court
('Rome Statute')3 had been met, he had decided to open an investigation into the
MA (Oxon); MSc, LLM (London); Diploma (Hague Academy of International Law);
Barrister (Middle Temple); Reader in Law, University of Hull. An earlier version of this
commentary was presented as a seminar paper at the Centre of African Studies of the
University of Edinburgh in February 2007. 1 am grateful to the Centre for the invitation,
which helped considerably to clarify my thoughts.
The press release simply stated that the referral had taken place in December 2003. In fact,
the letter of referral was dated 16 December 2003: Warrant of Arrest for Joseph Kony
(Pre-Trial Chamber II) ICC-02/04-01/05-53 (issued 8 July 2005) 9-10.
2 ICC, 'President of Uganda Refers Situation concerning the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
to the ICC' (Press Release, 29 January 2004), available from <http://www.icc-cpi.int> at
18 May 2007.
3 Opened for signature 17 July 1998, 2187 UNTS 3 (entered into force 1 July 2002).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/meljil8&div=14&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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International Criminal Court and the Lord's Resistance Army
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