Uganda's LRA rebels may face home-grown tribunal

Local courts could offer resolution, but critics say they may not go far enough.

from the August 29, 2007 edition

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"If they are punished, it will only worsen the situation," says Ms. Angee from the displacement camp. She says that in order for victims and perpetrators to "easily live together," the rebels must be forgiven.

Okello says that the justice model will be comparable to the traditional gacaca courts used in neighboring Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. "All those who admit crimes, show remorse, ask forgiveness and pay reparations will benefit from the justice mechanism," Dr. Rugunda says.

Justice vs. peace?

Still, for many human rights groups, traditional justice would not be enough. "This can't be a slap on the wrist ... the national trials can't be used to shield the LRA from justice," says Elise Keppler, counsel with the International Justice Program at the New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Critics of local justice also are wary of the effectiveness of the seemingly simple mato oput ritual.

In response to groups that have decried a local tribunal as not harsh enough punishment, Rugunda stresses that the government does "not condone impunity."

"The ICC is supposed to only come in if the state is unwilling or incapable of handling the LRA itself," says Chris Dolan, director of the Kampala-based Refugee Law Project. "If the judicial process is vigorous enough, what's inadequate about it [the court] being in Uganda?"

Ms. Keppler worries that the special court will not satisfy international expectations. The Rome Statue of the ICC favors local prosecution, but only if it provides credible and fair prosecution with appropriate punishment.

Despite LRA leaders' calls for the ICC charges against them to be dropped, even with the local tribunals, the Ugandan government does not have the ability to unilaterally clear the indictments. And a sticking point in the tribunal creation process will be whether the government can actually detain the rebels in custody, a problem that led to the ICC's intervention.

Okello says that the public meetings about how to create the tribunals will last until the end of next month. A report will then be released in October that details the findings of the two-month-long consultations. At that point, the minister says the government will be closer to knowing what the alternative justice system will look like and when it will be set up.

"We would like to see them account for their crimes, but we are not obsessed with seeing them march off to a foreign prison," says Norbert Mao, lawyer and chairman of Gulu, one of the conflict's hardest-hit towns.

But he adds: "To think that the traditional system is enough would be to deceive ourselves."

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