scholarly journals Intercepted Communications in the Ongwen Case: Lessons to Learn on Documentary Evidence at the icc

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Diletta Marchesi
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Documentary Evidence ◽  
Radio Communications ◽  
The Road ◽  
Lord's Resistance Army ◽  
Lord’S Resistance Army

Abstract In the Ongwen judgment, the International Criminal Court (icc) deemed ‘highly probative evidence’ the Lord’s Resistance Army radio communications intercepted. However, the Defence had argued that it was unreliable evidence for several reasons. After considering the definition and regulatory framework governing the admission and assessment of documentary evidence at the icc and retracing the road intercept evidence made from Uganda to the Ongwen trial, the article will analyse the issues posed by intercept evidence, including some of the challenges the Defence raised against their reliability. The objective is to call attention to the overlooked concerns the interception of communications during the period to which the charges refer may give rise to at the icc, in particular, in terms of reliability. The article argues that intercepted communications’ peculiar weaknesses require specific attention. As a consequence, their reliability and weight should be assessed with circumspection in the overall evidentiary context.

The Lord’s Resistance Army Case: Uganda’s Submission of the First State Referral to the International Criminal Court

2005 ◽  
Vol 99 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Payam Akhavan
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Lord's Resistance Army ◽  
Peaceful Settlement ◽  
Litmus Test ◽  
First Time ◽  
Lord’S Resistance Army

On December 16, 2003, Uganda referred the situation concerning the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was the first time that a state party had invoked Articles 13(a) and 14 of the Rome Statute in order to vest the Court with jurisdiction.For both Uganda and the ICC, the case presented an important opportunity. For Uganda, the referral was an attempt to engage an otherwise aloof international community by transforming the prosecution of LRA leaders into a litmus test for the much celebrated promise of global justice. Since 1986, LRA atrocities have wreaked havoc on the Acholi people of northern Uganda. Given the absence of any vital national interests, influential states have not been inclined either to pressure Sudan to stop harboring the LRA or to help government forces confront the insurgents. Instead, the burden was placed on Uganda to negotiate a peaceful settlement with a ruthless, cult-like insurgency. The imprimatur of international criminal justice, sought through the referral to the ICC, was a means of thrusting this long-forgotten African war back onto the international stage.

Guilty Pleas and Plea Bargaining at the icc: Prosecutor v. Ongwen and Beyond

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheryn Omeri
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Plea Bargaining ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Guilty Plea ◽  
Lord's Resistance Army ◽  
Television Interview ◽  
Lord’S Resistance Army ◽  
Brigade Leader

In 2015, after over ten years in operation, the International Criminal Court (icc) came as close as it has arguably ever come to receiving a guilty plea from an accused. In a television interview, alleged former brigade leader in the Lord’s Resistance Army, Dominic Ongwen, apparently asked Ugandans to forgive him for ‘all the atrocities I committed’. This caused speculation about whether the Office of the Prosecutor (otp) would and should enter into plea negotiations with Ongwen with a view to obtaining a guilty plea. This article explores the legal, practical and ethical questions associated with the seeking and obtaining of guilty pleas in the context of proceedings before the icc. It aims to provide pragmatic suggestions for the obtaining of guilty pleas while observing the highest standards of fairness to accused persons.

The International Criminal Court and the Lord's Resistance Army Leaders: Prosecution or Amnesty?

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 361-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manisuli Ssenyonjo
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Trial Chamber ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Senior Leaders ◽  
Lord's Resistance Army ◽  
Lord’S Resistance Army ◽  
Ugandan Government

AbstractOn 13 October 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Pre-Trial Chamber II unsealed the warrants of arrest for five senior leaders of the Lord's Resistance Army/Movement (LRA/M) for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Uganda since July 2002. While these warrants were yet to be executed, the Ugandan government entered negotiations with the LRA/M rebels. As a result Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, disregarding the ICC arrest warrants, announced a 'total amnesty' for the LRA combatants in July 2006 on the condition that the rebels renounced terrorism and accepted peace. Following the amnesty offer, an agreement on cessation of hostilities between the Ugandan government and the LRA/M was concluded with effect from 29 August 2006. This article considers the question whether a 'total amnesty' to individuals indicted by the ICC may be binding upon the ICC.

Individual Criminal Responsibility in International Human Rights Law: The Contribution of the International Criminal Court

1970 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Mohammed
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Responsibility ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
The Road ◽  
Individual Criminal Responsibility

The road to developing an international institutional capacity to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide has been a long one, and has in many ways concluded with the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC). By looking at the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), as well as the ICC, this paper traces the evolution of the concept of individual criminal responsibility to its present incarnation. It argues that while the ICC presents its own unique ‘added value’ to the prosecution of international criminals, its application of justice continues to be biased by the influence of powerful states.

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