Trial Justice: ICC and the Lord’s Resistance Army

Trial Justice: The International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is an assessment of the ICC’s efforts to bring justice to the people of northern Uganda.
The author, Tim Allen, begins the book by giving an overview of the making and development of international criminal trials. He then delves into the intricate maze of the making of the LRA and its atrocities.
The author acknowledges and goes through the hurdles the ICC has to overcome if it’s to bring justice to the affected communities.

Besides the ICC, the author also explains the existence of traditional justice systems in northern Uganda and the divergent views about the ICC-based trail of LRA commanders against the traditional way of trying perpetrators of the atrocities.

The book paints a picture of the wider implications of the 20-year war on northern Uganda, but unfortunately it does not put into consideration the established procedures of negotiation with perpetrators of violence.
In Trial Justice, the author goes into unchartered waters of transitional justice. He studies the controversial involvement of the International Criminal Court in one of Africa’s longest civil conflicts.

The author draws the parallels between two realities; the legal and normative developments on one hand, and a highly intricate local conflict with its own highly peculiar dynamics on the other.
The book also looks at the contrast between the local form of justice known as mato-oput and the Western judicial system being implemented by the ICC.

Since the victims and culprits are members of the same community and sometimes ethnically related, the author tries to show the challenge the ICC has to overcome in convincing the people of northern Uganda that it is the ICC way to go if they are to achieve justice.
The book is a publication of Zed Book and is available in leading bookstores in Kampala at Shs35,000.

Book review
Book title: Trial Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Lord’s Resistance Army
Author: Tim Allen
Publisher: Zed Book
Available at: Bookstores in Kampala
Price:
Shs35,000 Reviewed by: Henry Lubega