Uganda: From Rome to Kampala in Search of International Justice

6 June 2010
Gabby Mgaya
AllAfrica.com

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Dar Es Salaam — IT all started in Rome eight years ago when the Statute of the International Court of Justice (ICC) came into force, which marked the entity's establishment.

Eight years later last week, a meeting to review the statute is taking place in the Ugandan Capital Kampala, with the most nagging issue on the agenda being a proposal to give the International Criminal Court in The Hague the power to prosecute the crime of aggression.

The court has come a long way since then, with the intervening period proving an intense period of institution building, legislating, investing and reaching out to affected communities.

It is not a secret that the world has experienced - and continues to experience - worst atrocities against innocent people in form of civil wars, systematic murder, wars of aggression, genocide, use of certain weapons that are gaseous or poisonous and human rights abuse.

The world both recalls and follows with compelling awe, past and continuing civil wars in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Southern Sudan, Darfur, Somalia and Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi. The civil war in Rwanda reached its climax with the genocide in 1993 in which more than 1 million lives were lost.

That is Africa. Worldwide, the world recalls with horror the wanton killings of innocent citizens in the former Yugoslavia, Cambodia, Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq and several other places.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing in this entire sad situation is the fact that most such crimes have gone unpunished. Its perpetrators continue to roam the streets and country sides whereas their appropriate place should have been behind bars.

Even the choice of Uganda as the venue for this important conference is in the view of many observes an appropriate and a symbolic one. Uganda has got some of the world's excellent international conference facilities in Africa.

But the east African country has also had its share of massive human right abuses going back to the days of reign of Dictator Idi Amin Dada. To date, parts of Northern Uganda are experience one of the most devastating civil wars perpetrated by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), which is an ICC's major concern. The court seeks to arrest LRA's leader Joseph Kony.

Amidst tight security, more than 100 nations, contingents of human-rights groups and lawyers from around the globe, began meeting on Monday to tackle a myriad of issues that could fundamentally expand the power of international law.

The ultimate recommendation expected is to open the door to criminal accusations against powerful political and military leaders for attacks the court deems unlawful. These could range from full-scale invasions to pre-emptive strikes.

The court, the world's first permanent criminal court, already has a mandate to prosecute three groups of grave crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The massive turn-out at the Kampala conference is testimony to the importance nations, pressure groups and NGOS, human rights groups and lawyers from all over the globe attach to the crimes of war and impunity.

Tanzania is being represented by a delegation led by President Jakaya Kikwete who joined other prominent leaders including United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon and ex-UN Chief Kofi Annan. It is interesting to note that the meeting is also being graced by a number of war victims.

Tanzanians know the dire consequences of civil wars and genocide in neighbouring countries that has manufactured thousands of refugees who moved in to save their dear lives.

The fact that Tanzania hosts the International Rwanda Tribunal that has been trying genocide suspects is both a sign of international acceptance of the country as an island of peace in the troubled Great Lakes Region and its quest to see that justice is done to the victims of the genocide in its partner East African Community (EAC) member state. It is also meant to deter any future such action.

There are many expectations on the ICC treaty review meeting in Kampala. It is hoped that it would ensure that genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes no longer go unpunished.

There have been significant achievements. By March 2010, Bangladesh had ratified the Rome Statute. Uganda and Burkina Faso has enacted complementarily and cooperation of legislation. Other countries have also responding to the call to implement, ratify and enact ICC legislation before the Kampala conference.