ICC to pay Kony war victims upon conviction of Ongwen

ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda (2nd R) interacts with some of the women survivors of the 2004 Lukodi massacre in Gulu District in March Last year. PHOTO BY JULIUS OCUNGI.

What you need to know:

On trial. The former LRA commander is facing 67 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Hague-based court.

Gulu. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has said victims of atrocities allegedly committed under the command of former Lord’s Resistance Army rebel Dominic Ongwen will get reparation only if Mr Ongwen is convicted at the Hague-based court.


Mr Ongwen, who surrendered early last year in Central African Republic, appeared at the ICC pre-trial chamber on January 26 last year before Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova on seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.


Mr Ongwen was among the five top LRA commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005 for alleged killing of 54 civilians in Lukodi Internally Displaced People’s camp in Bungatira Sub-county, Gulu District, in April, 2004.
Speaking at sensitisation meeting organised by Refugee Law Project in partnership with ICC to discuss the possible implications and the way forward after the pre-trial confirmation hearing of Ongwen, ICC Field Outreach Assistant for Uganda Jimmy Otim said victims will not receive reparation if Ongwen is set free.


“If the evidence presented by prosecutors is not accepted by the judges during the pre-trial confirmation hearing and it happens that Ongwen is set free, then the victims will not receive any form of reparation from ICC,” he stressed.
He noted that the primary goal of ICC is to fight impunity and promote justice, adding that giving reparation to the victims is an alternative that the court considers later when one is convicted.


Lamogi chief Rwot Martin Otinga Otto, however, said both government and ICC should commit themselves on reparation for positive transformation of war victims.

The law
Article 75 (1 & 2) of the ICC Rome statute states that courts shall establish principles relating to reparations, to or in respect of victims, including reconstitution, compensation and rehabilitation.

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