Be patient over Ongwen trial, says ICC registrar

Duty. The ICC registrar, Mr Herman Von Hebel (left), inspects the orthopaedic workshop at Gulu Regional Referral Hospital on Monday. Mr Hebel said he intended to be with the affected community because the trial is all about the victims who suffered the alleged crimes committed by LRA’s Ongwen. PHOTO BY JULIUS OCUNGI

What you need to know:

  • Support. Mr Hebel says victims of the crimes are being helped by the ICC Trust Fund that is dealing with so many projects to provide all forms of assistance.

Gulu. As thousands of locals who survived or lost loved ones in the two-decade long LRA war await ‘quick’ justice, their expectations to have justice served may ‘take time’ due to complicated judicial processes, a senior official at the ICC has said.
Mr Herman Von Hebel, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Registrar, who made his first visit to northern Uganda ahead of former LRA rebel commander Dominic Ongwen’s opening trial yesterday, said justice in general is ‘complicated’.
The ICC registrar is charged with managing all the administrative functions of the ICC, including the headquarters, detention unit, and public defense office.
The trial of Ongwen, who was forced into the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rank as captive and child soldier, kicked off yesterday at The Hague-based court in the Netherlands. “The process of the court (ICC) is complicated. The role of the prosecutor, the defence and the victims to participate through their defence counsel is also a complicated process,” Mr Hebel told Journalists on Monday in Gulu Town when asked of the delayed judicial procedures in the Ongwen’s case.
Mr Hebel said despite the slow judicial processes, his visit coupled with interaction with the affected communities, will alleviate concerns people have had over Ongwen’s delayed court case.
He also hinted that those affected by the atrocities allegedly committed by Ongwen and his LRA associates will be compensated after he is found guilty, but noted that the compensation is a long process too.
Currently, he said, victims of the crimes are being helped by the ICC trust fund that is dealing with so many projects to provide all forms of assistance to the victims.
Speaking about his visit, Mr Hebel said he intended to be with the affected community because the trial is all about the victims who suffered the alleged crimes committed by the LRA’s Ongwen.
But Mr Denis Kilama, one of the survivors of the 2004 Lukodi Massacre in Gulu, appealed for a quickened trial.
“Ongwen has been at the ICC detention facility for more than a year now; we expected his trial to be speedy so that we can get relieved and move on with life,” Mr Kilama said.
Mr Ongwen, a former child soldier-turn rebel commander has been at ICC’s detention since January last year following his capture in the Central African Republic in 2015.
He is one of the five LRA commanders indicted by ICC in 2005 and faces 70 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity he allegedly committed in Northern Uganda between 2003 and 2004.

Ongwen’s crimes

As alleged former commander in the Sinia Brigade of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Dominic Ongwen is accused of 70 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to attacks against the civilian population in the former IDP camps of Lukodi, Pajule, Odek and Abok between October 2003 and June 2004, including: attacks against civilian population; murder and attempted murder; rape; sexual slavery; forced marriage; torture; cruel treatment of civilian among others.