Don’t involve govt in reparations process, Ongwen victims tell ICC

Victims of the former child soldier and ex-commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Dominic Ongwen have asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) not to involve the Uganda government in the reparation proceedings, citing alleged “questionable integrity”.

The victims have instead recommended that the Hague-based court channels reparation packages to them through individuals that also suffered atrocities during Ogwen’s reign of terror.

Mr Martin Okwir of the ICC’s Kampala Field Outreach Unit said the judges are aware of the concerns raised by the victims but have yet to make a pronouncement on the matter.

Mr Okwir said during their recent engagements with key stakeholders in northern Uganda, the concern that the government should not be involved in the reparations process surfaced prominently.

“Whenever someone mentioned that we use the office of the RDC (Resident District Commissioner), everybody said no. Of course, we are explaining to them that you cannot operate in a country and isolate the government,” Mr Okwir said during a stakeholders’ meeting in Lira City on Wednesday.

He added: “For instance, if they say we want to build a hospital here that for the next 10 years it would be helping people who got health issues during the conflict as a reparations programme and the hospital will be funded by the trust fund for victims and then the hospital is set up. What happens after 10 years? It has to be handed over to the government. How do you do that when you have been saying you are not going to work with the government?” 

The ICC officer said he has advised the government to look at this development as a way to improve their relations with the people. 

“You need to do better so that people are happy to hear that you are going to be part of the process,” Mr Okwir said.

  On May 6, 2021, the ICC sentenced Ongwen to 25 years in jail for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

More than 4,000 victims participated in the trial, and many more are expected to participate in the reparation phase, making Ongwen’s case the largest and potentially most complex case considered by the ICC so far in reparation proceedings. 

Even though Uganda adopted a National Transitional Justice Policy in 2019 to ensure justice, accountability and reparations for victims of the conflict, the victims have largely received no reparations so far. 

In 2005, the ICC issued arrest warrants against LRA leader Joseph Kony and four of his top commanders over the crimes committed during the insurgency.

Those indicted include Vincent Otti, Okot Odhiambo, Raska Lukwiya, who have since died, and Ongwen.

Mr Okwir said victims of the insurgency in areas which were terrorised by the suspects who have since died will not receive compensation.

ICC estimates that about 60,000 people who suffered as a result of the actions of Ongwen will benefit from the reparations programmes. 

“We do not know what the reparations package will look like. In our experience, the judges ask different stakeholders to make submissions to the judges on what the reparations programmes should look like,” the outreach coordinator said. 

He added: “If there is a guilty decision by the appeals then the reparation order will come detailing how it should be done.” 

In a related development, a coalition of 10 Ugandan and international organisations has requested the ICC to put the victims at the centre of the ongoing reparations proceedings by way of a third-party intervention (also called “amicus”).

The organisations include Avocats sans Frontières (ASF), Emerging Solutions Africa (ESA), the Essex Transitional Justice Network at the University of Essex, the Global Survivors Fund (GSF), the Gulu Women’s Economic Development and GlobaliSation (GWED-G), the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies at Gulu University, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), REDRESS, Watye Ki Gen, and the Women Advocacy Network (WAN).

In the submission, the organisations request the ICC to consider the importance of delivering prompt and effective reparations to victims, noting the procedural delays and inconsistent approaches that have characterised prior reparations proceedings and hamper victims’ right to redress.

Govt reacts

The Pader Resident District Commissioner, Mr Milton Odongo, said no programme can be implemented in the country without the involvement of the government.

“My position is that the support to the communities affected by the LRA war should pass through the government for effective implementation and monitoring,” he said in an interview yesterday.

Mr Odongo said the reparations programmes will not be mismanaged by the government as alleged by the LRA victims.

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