Update July 16, 2009: President Museveni called Sudanese President Al-Bashir to apologize for remarks in the Ugandan press which implied that Bashir would be arrested upon arrival in Uganda. The two leaders reportedly agreed that Bashir would cancel his trip to Uganda.

Bashir, Quadaffi and Museveni

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has brought a lot of global ironies to the surface.

The war crimes court is a great idea in principle, but it is a disaster in terms of implementation and a vipers’ nest of conflicts of interest and global politics. (Former US UN Ambassador John Bolton’s critiques of the court are interesting: one premise he puts forward is that there is too much power in the hands of the ICC prosecutor.)

Ocampo in Uganda Days Before Bashir’s Visit

Continuing to surprise the world with new heights of hypocrisy, ICC Prosecutor Moreno Ocampo is in Uganda, where he and Ugandan Minister Okello Oryem fielded questions from reporters.

Moreno-Ocampo said that Uganda had a responsibility to arrest Sudan’s Al-Bashir, when he comes to Uganda on a planned July 26th, 2009 visit. Uganda is a member of the African Union, which has determined it will not cooperate with the court at this time. The Sudan Tribune reports:

Last week the African Union (AU) summit in Sirte, Libya adopted a resolution instructing its ICC members not to cooperate in arresting Al-Bashir despite their legal obligations to do so.

Botswana is the only country to publicly dissent from the AU decision saying it will nab Bashir if he reaches its territory.

But on Friday Uganda issued a statement appearing to backtrack from the AU resolution it endorsed.

“As a signatory to the Rome Statute, Uganda Government re-iterates its commitment to the Statute and support to the ICC. This position is shared by the other African States Parties to the Statute who clearly expressed it during the Assembly meeting in Sirte, Libya,” the foreign ministry statement read.

It seems fitting that Moreno-Ocampo should wait for Bashir in order to facilitate the arrest process, but the ICC’s ability to implement arrest warrants is tragically toothless.

“President Bashir can be here but he should know the obligation of Uganda is to arrest him. He should know that before he comes,” Ocampo emphasised.

The ICC accuses Bashir of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. (New Vision)

Kony Handed Over to ICC or Tried in Uganda?

Minister Oryem said Kony would be handed over to the ICC, instead of tried in Uganda, contradicting President Yoweri Museveni’s statement that he wouldn’t hand over the 3 LRA commanders.

Moreno-Ocampo believes the ICC is the only route for stopping Joseph Kony. In a Guardian interview, Moreno-Ocampo states his case against Kony, who he insists, will never make peace:

“This is a fantasy, Kony will never make peace,” he said in the interview with Reuters and BBC. “When he is weak, he goes for peace negotiation. Then he gets money, he gets food, he buys weapons and he attacks again. How many times will he cheat?”

Ocampo continues with the following statements on the Juba Talks, a strategic capture and his end analysis of Kony:

“They tried the Juba talks [in 2007], they offered him everything and he refused.”

“It’s not about attacking the group as such, it’s arresting Kony himself [that matters], and I think no one has ever tried,”

“Kony is a criminal, who likes to commit crimes … He’s been doing it for 22 years, he will keep doing it for the rest of his life,”

Since appearing in a press conference with President Yoweri Museveni in 2004 to announce the LRA indictments, Moreno-Ocampo hasn’t talked about General Museveni’s pending war crimes charges for crimes committed in Uganda and Congo.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2006 about the Ugandan government’s attempts to have the Congo investigation terminated.

Uganda deflected attention from government crimes by focusing on the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army whose grisly tactics were an easy distraction. The strategy of deflection worked well, until now, when decisions must be made in terms of implementing the arrest warrants and defining legislation for the war crimes courts.

Ocampo with Museveni

US to Assist With Ugandan War Crimes Court

The United States has committed to a close partnership with Uganda, with an ongoing partnership of Ugandan troops fighting Somalis, and engaged as private guards in Iraq. The US also has rights to use Uganda’s national airport. Of late, there is a bill in the US Congress which would assist in creating a national court to try former Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.

Since Uganda is a signatory of the ICC, if the US takes up the task of setting up a court in Uganda, it will have to implement a law which would make it possible for President Museveni to face prosecution for war crimes.

The Institute for War and Peace Reporting says a law to enact the provisions of the Rome Statute has been in Parliament since 2004 but has stalled:

One point of considerable contention stems from the fact that according to Uganda’s constitution, a sitting president is immune from prosecution. However, the legislation enshrined in the ICC bill would allow for all persons including the head of state to be indicted.

Some analysts and parliamentarians have argued that in order to pass the draft legislation, Uganda would have to amend its constitution to allow for presidential prosecution.

Others, like Donat Cattin, say this argument is merely a stalling tactic employed by those who don’t want to see the bill passed. No president, he added, is immune from international law and many countries with presidential immunity have passed this kind of legislation already.

Afako, meanwhile, said the reasons for the delay are mainly political.

“[The bill] is not being legislated in a vacuum,” he said. “There’s an unfinished war… It becomes a political statement to enact the ICC bill. It’s not some dry, administrative act any more. It’s politically charged, and that’s why it’s stalling.” (IWPR)

Questions About Uganda’s Ability to Try LRA Rebels

There are various views of how the ICC issue should be handled in Uganda. Some say Uganda should try the LRA rebels, while others say the crimes are too severe and the ICC would be the best body to ensure justice is served. Others say Ugandan courts are not capable of delivering justice.

According to Wierda, an LRA trial held in Uganda – even one using existing laws – would have much more international significance than one held in The Hague.

“For the international community, it’s an important investment to have Ugandans, at this moment, build their own capacity,” said Wierda.

“I’m not saying everything is perfect and there won’t be any problems… [But] I think [a trial in Uganda] would have much more impact than a trial in The Hague.”

But many law experts believe that the crimes of which Kony stands accused are too severe, systematic and widespread to be prosecuted under Uganda’s domestic law.

“These are systematic crimes that have no principle for prosecution within our Ugandan court,” said Manoba. “It’s best for the ICC to deal with [them].”

David Donat Cattin, director of the international law and human rights programme at Parliamentarians for Global Action, agreed, saying that the country’s national law was inadequate to deal with large-scale crimes, such as the kidnap of thousands of children.

How – and if – Kony will be tried remains to be seen, particularly as the ICC bill seems no closer to being passed, four year after it was introduced to parliament. (IWPR)

Other ICC critiques focus on the aspect of even-handed justice.The ICC’s stated mandate is to investigate both sides of a conflict.

The ICC has not held individuals in the Ugandan government or President Museveni accountable for crimes committed during the LRA and Congo wars, though there are ongoing investigations.

There are direct ties between President Museveni and former Congolese Vice-President Jean Pierre Bemba, who is in the Hague currently, faces charges for a “massive campaign of rape and pillage” in the Central African Republic.

Who is Bemba?:

Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, an ethnic Ngwaka, is the son of a Congolese millionaire and was a close friend to former President Mobutu Sese Seko. Married and father of five children, he was one of the richest men in DRC. After he studied in Belgium he returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where he created various new businesses, particularly in the telecommunications, aviation and audiovisual industries.

Following the 1997 rebellion and takeover by Laurent-